Transcript
Hi, I’m Tam. I’m going to show you how to make a long necklace with mala prayer beads on loop cord. So basically, we’re going to make something like this, which this is a sample of a necklace I made already. Basically, this is something really long that you can wear doubled as a necklace, or wrap around your wrist multiple times.
This is another fun fiber that I like to use, it’s called rat tail, and it’s made from rayon. And these come in tons of great, bright colors. So if that’s sort of the look you’re going for, this would be the material for you. So, I’m going to use these mala prayer beads, and they are traditionally like 108 beads on a string. And they look like this, normally. And I’ve already cut some open. And I’m just going to show you how to make this necklace.
I’m not going to be able to get this through the bead, so I’m going to make a needle out of any kind of wire. So you want to take about three inches, make a needle like so, and then you’re going to wrap the wire so that it doesn’t open. And that’s basically what a needle looks like. And then that makes the whole stringing process. The first one is always going to be a little stiff with the thick, doubled fiber here, so you’re going to want to just pull using your pliers. That’s it.
Next, so you want to allow enough string. I didn’t measure this beforehand because I just kept it on a long piece, but this necklace is about 44 inches. And then basically we just knot it at the end, so it’s very, very simple. It’s nothing complicated. So these are all the beads I’m going to use. And then I want to measure the cord. So this necklace is 44 inches, so that means I have to do 88 inches doubled. So here’s 22, so here’s 44. So then I’m going to double this. But I’m going to allow some extra yardage for the knotting process. On this necklace that I had made previously, it has not that many pearls on it, it’s just all about the knots. Whereas this one, I have more of the beads. So basically I’m just going to knot one end of it so that they don’t fall off. And this color, the wood color, looks really great with the blue.
I want to have this same sort of effect, so I don’t want to put a bunch of them all together. Then you could also throw in some decorative knots, and also make some knots thicker, by doubling it like so, so you’re making two knots over the same one. Just then it gives you a sort of high-lo effect with a smaller knot in a double knot.
And then I’m going to work also from the other end so that it’s not, so it doesn’t look uneven. So I’m just going to knot this end, as well. These are sort of easy projects that you don’t have stress about measuring every two second, and being super precise about everything. So I’m going to do that.
So, this rat tail, it’s called, it comes in lots of really, really great colors, and you could also double the cord. Meaning, take two colors and put them together, and then do the knotting around the bead. These would also work well with if you have some really beautiful glass beads, like from Murano or something, which is the glass capital of Italy. And they’ve been doing glass since ancient, forever. Always just shoot some glue before you cut the string to prevent it from fraying.
So basically that’s it. And then you could wear it around your wrist.
