Hi! I’m Terri Gable, owner of Studio Baboo, a Big Little Bead Store. Today we’re talking about basic beading. In this clip, I’m going to show you how to hand knot between beads. Hand knotting is traditionally used between pearls. We have here some hand knotted fresh water pearls. You can also knot between gemstone beads and many, many other types of beads.
The things you’ll need for this project are silk thread, the scissors to cut the thread, beading tweezers, a little bit of beading glue. We’re going to use pearls today, pair of chain nose pliers, our clasps parts, two clamshells and we’ll need a clasp. The first thing we need to do is test the size of our thread. It’s important to choose the thread that will cover the hole on the bead, not pull into the hole and not be so large that you’re really having a hard time getting the thread through the hole. The thread comes in several sizes. I’m going to test the size 4 first. To test the size of the thread, we’re going to tie a knot, just a simple overhand knot. We’re going to thread on one of our pearls and we’re going to push it firmly up against that knot. If you see the knot pulling into the hole at all, it means that your thread is a little bit too small. So this thread is a little bit too small. That was a size 4. Now I’m going to test the next larger size thread, again tying a knot at the end of the thread, stringing on one pearl and pushing it firmly against the hole. Here you can see when I pull on the thread; the knot sits perfectly against the hole. It covers it up, it doesn't fall inside and the thread is not so heavy that we can't get it through the pearls. So the size 6 is going to be perfect for this.
The first thing we need to do is tie a knot in the end of the thread. It's a simple overhand knot. Now I’m going through that loop two times and it's a slightly bigger knot. We need to attach our clamshell. This little knot is going to sit inside of the clamshell and eventually, that will attach our clasp. Simply take the needle, put it down through the hole that's in the center of the clamshell, draw the thread all the way through, so the knot sits in the clamshell. Now we will string on our first pearl. I slide that all the way down, so it sits right up close to the clamshell.
With the rest of our thread, we’re going to make another overhand knot. I like to just wrap it around my fingers, bringing it across to the front and draw the needle and through that loop. Here is our knot, right here. Now I’m going to show you how to move it right over there. I’m going to take your beading tweezers. They have to go inside of this loop of thread. You are going to grab the thread right here, where it is coming out of the pearl. We’re going to push that bead close up to the clamshell and now I’m just going to draw the knot.
Oops! That will happens sometimes. Just push that back over here ands tie that as firmly as you can, as close to the tip of the tweezers as you can. You’re going to pinch right here, draw those tweezers out without letting them open. Hold on this end of the thread to see that snug up right there. We have just tied our first knot. When you come to your last bead, put that on without a knot. Then you will string on your second clamshell. This time you come up through the bottom of the clamshell, so your needle is coming out of that little cup section. You will draw it all the way down, you’ll trim off the excess thread. We probably have enough thread left over to do another project. This time now we are going to untwist the ply of the thread, just twist and stroke, and twist and stroke, it takes a few moments. So the thread is untwisted all the way down below the clamshell.
Now we can take advantage of having two threads. It's much easier to tie a square knot but again, I’m going to go through that loop once, I’m going to go through it twice. It makes a bigger knot and we’ll pull that snug down into the clamshell. Then one more knot on top of that to be very secure. We’re going to use our beading glue. We want to wet that knot thoroughly. You don't need to fill that whole cup of glue but you want to get the knot wet. You’re going to glue both knots this one and the beginning one. Let the glue dry for a few minutes, probably about 2 or 3 minutes, enough time to, sort of, clean up your work area and put some of your extra things away. Once the glue is dry, we need to trim off the excess thread. Just kind of use the edge of your clamshell as the guide, just snip that off. Use your chain nose pliers to close the clamshell. A little hook, you’ll just attach your clasp, grab the little hook with your chain nose pliers and just draw that down and in, so it sits on top of the clamshell. Then you can use your thumbnails to cheat, if you need to. You’ll do the same with the other part of the clasp on the other side and you got your clasp.
That's how you knot between beads. In the next clip, I’ll show you how to make a simple pair of earrings.