The best kinds of wire are flexible beading wire and beading thread. All of these materials are easily available at your local craft store (Michael’s or Joanne’s, for example).
You can also make up your own style and length. These are simple suggestions to give you a rough idea. Note that the finished length of your beaded necklace includes the beads you’ve used and the length of the jewelry clasp of your choice.
Place your beads in your chosen design at the number zero, and measure the length of your necklace using the numbers and dashes along the sides. Use the channels for laying out beads. The tray insets are for holding beads and findings.
If using bead thread, you may wish to put a dot of super glue of hypo cement on either end to ensure that the beads and crimp stay on. ) These steps will protect the stringing material from rubbing on the ends of the crimp bead, which may cause the necklace to break.
Thread beads onto the stringing material until there are none left on your bead board.
Be careful not to pull the stringing material too tight. Leave a small amount of slack in the necklace (2-4 mm or 1/4 inch). This leaves room for the beads to move and rotate, so they don’t rub on each other or the stringing material too much. If the stringing material is too tight the necklace will be rigid and this can make the design look angular instead of slightly rounded like a necklace should be.
