How to String Beads With Beading Wire

You can now string on all of your beads. If you used a bead board, be sure to string them in the same order in which they're laid out.

For the example necklace, I knew that I wanted to string a pendant along with my beads -- and my pendant bail will not fit over the beads. To make sure the pendant was centered, I estimated the center point of my necklace ahead of time.

First, I divided my total strand length of 15.25 inches (see Step 3) by two, to arrive at a little over seven and a half inches. After stringing on seven and a half inches of beads, I strung on the pendant. Then, I counted the number of beads that were already strung (47 beads), and strung on another set of the exact same number.

Tip: If you're using the same size beads, you can estimate how many beads you'll need to string by referencing a beads-per-inch chart. You can then divide that number by two to find your center point.

String on the second crimp, and slide it down against the beads.

To create the second loop, hold the crimp with the fingers of one hand, and use your other hand to pass the wire tail back down through the crimp. Holding the top of the new loop, pull the thread tail to make the loop smaller.

When the loop is as small as you can reasonably make it using your fingers, grasp the crimp with chain nose pliers instead. Using your other hand, continue pulling the wire tail until the loop is the correct size.

Now grasp one side of the loop with round nose pliers. To make sure you grab the correct side of the loop, pull the beading wire tail. If the loop shrinks down, you have grasped the correct side; if it does not, switch to the other side of the loop.

Use your fingernail to scoot the crimp down to about one millimeter away from the last bead. (This extra space helps to make your jewelry flexible, and it reduces strain on the crimps.) Then, pull the wire tail (as needed) to bring the loop back down to its correct size.

Close the second crimp using the same two-part technique you used to close the first crimp.

Use wire cutters to trim the second wire tail. In the example, I trimmed my wire tail close to the crimp tube. If you decide to leave the tail longer, you'll need to thread it back through some of the beads. Narrow-tipped chain nose pliers can be helpful for pushing the wire through the beads.

Use two pairs of chain nose pliers (or one pair of chain nose and one pair of flat nose pliers) to attach the clasp findings to the beading-wire loops with jump rings.

Your necklace, bracelet, or anklet is now complete!