One of the challenges with beaded ropes -- long, woven tubes of beadwork -- is that they tend to collapse in on themselves and look rather floppy. You can fill them out by beading around a flexible, solid material, such as plastic tubing. But for my recent tubular herringbone stitch necklace, I wanted something softer. My solution was this fluffy cording encased in genuine silk cloth.
Hannah silk cording from Bello Modo
I picked up one yard each of these two colors from Bello Modo, which carries lots of other beautiful, hand-dyed colors as well. I found that the 1/4-inch thickness was perfect for my tubular herringbone stitch ropes, but there is also a 1/8-inch size if you like your ropes very thin.
(Note: The original 1/4-inch cording I ordered was mistakenly labeled as 1/8-inch -- and I've had to correct the tutorial since then. Please accept my apologies for not catching it sooner.)
Tubular Herringbone Stitch Necklace Pattern
Although I haven't tried it yet, you can probably substitute similar fabric cording, such as this twisted 3mm nylon from Fire Mountain Gems. You could also use plain cotton piping from a fabric store, if you can find it in the correct size (most that I've come across are a little too large).
Do you have any tips for filling beaded ropes? Please share!
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Satin rat tail also works well for beaded cords made with tiny size 15s. I like to stick a length of 1mm or 2mm inside a right-angle weave beaded cord made with 15s that gives it a little more dimension and also adds a tiny bit of contrasting (or matching) color through the spaces between beads!