Beading designs & creations would be impossible to make a reality without something to string the beads onto. Be it wire, thread, chain or elastic, the string is an integral part of beading & choosing which to use for your design is an important task.
At Silver Hills Gems we have offered chain for sale on the website for some time. Now we are pleased to announce the addition of Tigertail wire, stretchy cord & nylon thread. You can see this range by going to the "chain & string" category of the following page
http://bronnrocks.com/catalog/
TIGERTAIL WIRE
Tigertail wire is widely used by beaders & is great for stringing all sorts of beads, particularly gemstone, glass & crystal beads.
Tigertail wire is made of multiple stands of wire running together & coated in coloured nylon. Different thicknesses are available (in wire thickness is referred to as gauge) & the variation is due to different numbers of wire strands in the core. The more wires the bigger the gauge, the wider & stronger the Tigertail.
Advantages of Tigertail wire:
- Colour: The wire comes in a rainbow of colours & so you can match it to your design.
- Memory: The wire in the Tigertail has "memory". This means if you bend it in a specific place as part of your design, the wire will stay bent or kinked there for good. The thicker the wire, the greater the memory.
- Stiffness: The wire is stiff enough to be threaded through the beads alone, without the aid of a needle or other tool.
- Durability: The nature of Tigertail makes it excellent for stringing potentially sharp beads, such as gemstone chips. These will not cut the tigertail or damage it to breaking point. It is also great for heavier beads as it is very strong & will not stretch or break easily under the weightier beads.
Disadvantages of Tigertail wire:
- Memory: Although this can be a distinct advantage if you intend to include bends or kinks in your wire, it is a disadvantage if you create one by accident & then cannot flatten it back out. Luckily the smaller the gauge, the less memory the wire has & you can work the wire until the kinks are quite unnoticeable. Silver Hills Gems stock such a thin wire.
- Not for pearls: Pearls are a soft bead, they are likely to become worn away & abraded by the hard Tigertail.
- Difficult to knot: The Tigertail can be difficult to knot (though not impossible) if you wish to include knots in your design. However it does work very well with crimp beads & these can be an attractive alternative to knotting.
Silver Hills is stocking Tigertail in 100m reels of 0.38mm gauge (thickness) wire. We have white, brown, silver & gold colour available. If this proves to be a popular item we will look into stocking more colours and possibly more thicknesses. If you have a specific request, please visit the "suggestions" board of our forum:
http://bronnrocks.com/catalog/forum
S T R E T C H C O R D
Stretch cord is a beaders "must" for stretchy jewellery, particularly jewellery that is a continuous loop with no clasp. Necklaces & bracelets made with stretch cord & no clasp can be stretched onto & off the user. They make great "one size fits all" jewellery.
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To increse the strength of the string, particularly with heavier beads, you can double up the thickness & run two strings of stretch cord through your design.
To finish off your jewellery neatly, tie the stretch cord with a double overhand knot (making sure beforehand that the jewellery fits nicely over the head or hand). Then add a drop of glue to your knot to hold it firm & wait until this dries. Then snip off the excess cord from the knot, leaving just enough to thread back into the adjacent beads to keep the ends hidden neatly.
Silver Hills Gems is stocking a white stretch cord in 100m lengths.
NYLON THREAD
Nylon thread is fantastic for beading with Pearls. Traditionally a silk thread is used, but nylon is a viable cheaper alternative.
Pearls are strung onto soft thread because they are delicate. They are easily abraded by sharper strings, which can ruin their appearance
Another advantage of using thread for pearls is that it is easy to knot. When working with pearls it is best to tie a knot after each pearl. This way they are seperated for one another & so do not rub against each other, causing erosion of their surfaces. Also, if the thread should happen to break, then you would only spill a few pearls from around the break, the rest would stay securely knotted onto the thread.
Nylon thread is not the best material to work with when designing with regular beads. It frays easily & does not have the strength or durability of wire.
We at Silver Hills Gems are stocking a white nylon thread in 100m lengths.
Please visit our online catalog to see our stock of chain & string, along with a wide choice of beads to accompany them:
http://bronnrocks.com/catalog/
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