Would you also like to make these beautiful cylinder earrings? Then read on. They’re great for the holidays, but they can also be made in other colors, and for the aspiring beader, they can even be made with a pattern.
Needed supplies:
- Red Miyuki beading thread
- Miyuki delica beads size 11/0 color 602 (silverlined dyed red): 10 grams
- Miyuki delica beads size 11/0 color 433 (galvanized champagne)
- Preciosa bicone 3mm light siam: 20 pieces
- Wire protector
- Ear hooks
- Needle
We’ll start with a generous length of thread; you’ll need at least 1.5 meters. If you don’t like this threading, you can also make the mat first and then attach the fringe with a different thread. I always like to double the thread and then advance the needle a little at a time. I first strung on a stop bead, a larger bead that I thread through once to prevent the beads from sliding off the thread. We’ll start by stringing on 20 red delica beads. Then, string one bead and insert the needle back through the second bead you’ve already strung on. The beads will now be next to each other.
Next, thread another bead and go through the third bead. This will create a sort of staggered effect. It might look a bit messy at first, but once you get further along and can pull the thread a bit, it will look better and better. Complete the entire row this way. Now we’ll add a bead from the other side; this will make it easier to see where to add a bead. Thread one bead and go through the next.
Now string another bead and go through the next bead. This will create two beads next to each other. Complete the entire row this way. Now we move on to the next row, string another bead and go through the bead below it.
Keep repeating this until you can clearly see where to place each bead. You’ll get a sort of staggered effect. Complete the row and continue until you have a mat 10 beads wide at both the top and bottom.
Now we’re continuing with the fringe. You can simply continue on the side where your thread exits. There’s no top or bottom with this mat. If you have a patterned earring, be sure to end it on the correct side.
String 30 red delicas, then a gold bead, a red bead, a gold bead, a red bead, and a gold bead. Then a Preciosa bicone bead, and finally a gold delica. Skip the last delica and use the needle to go back up through all the beads. Go through the first bead on the mat and then down through the bead next to it.
Now you can start your second fringe. String 30 red delicas, one gold, one red, one gold, one red, and one gold. One Preciosa bicone and one gold delica. Skip one delica and string it back up through all the beads. Go through the first bead on the mat and down through the bead next to it.
Complete the entire row like this. Now we’re going to zip the mat. As you can see, the beads come out perfectly, and they fit together perfectly, just like a zipper. So, you’ll make a cylinder out of the mat and thread your thread through the next bead on the opposite side from where you came out. Now go back to the other side and thread your way up. Keep going back and forth until you reach the top. (The scissors don’t belong in the earring, but this was better for the photo. Unfortunately, you couldn’t see the red on red.) Now gently pull the thread, and the mat will automatically close into a cylinder.
Now we can attach the wire protector. I’ve bent it open a bit with pliers so it fits the width of the cylinder better. Pass it through the wire protector and then through a delica on the other side of the cylinder. Pass it down through two beads and then back up into the adjacent beads to reach the wire protector again. After this, you can pass it through the wire protector again to the other side for extra security.
Finally, weave in the thread by zigzagging back through your work. You can tie a small knot somewhere if you like. Then attach the ear hooks to your wire protector, and the first earring is finished. Now add the second, and you have a beautiful pair of earrings.
