Lapidaryforum.net
Beads!!!!! => Kumihimo, Cord Making, Braiding, Macrame => Topic started by: LithicStrings on December 10, 2015, 08:49:10 PM
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Lithicbeads made me this wonderful dendritic jade pendant. I made an 8 strand black silk kumihimo braid and used one of his little grossular garnet beads as a clasp. The braid is textured by using thicker strands on 4 of the bobbins and thinner on the other 4.
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Now that is way cool and the clasp is awesome. I need to attempt that. Notice that I said attempt and it will be factory cord melted on the end so it does not unravel. The cord is way way beyond me.
Jim
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Beautiful and what a clever idea for then clasp. It works so well together. Do you have a particular place you like to get your cord from?
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I buy silk from the Weaving Works in Seattle. It comes on spools and you buy as much as you need. I keep alot of black and white on hand, and can bring stones (and lithicbeads) to match up special colors. Its yarn-like, about 1 mm - not at all like the Japanese silk that is traditional, but I like the feel when wearing it and its readily available.
I sometimes use embroidery cotton instead of silk. It is shinier, and thinner, which works well if I need more control over the size of the braid. Some colors are available in spools, which makes it more economical Just regular DMC cotton.
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Thanks! I want to try kumihimo and see if I can make something that would look ok with the pendants I make. It would be nice to be able to make braids with complimentary colors to the stone and use those to display the pendants instead of just putting out the pendants. Providing a sterling chain with each one can get costly and it's been my experience that people already have favorite chains that they already own and use.
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Awesome in every way, LithicStrings :blob1: