DIY Seed Bead Necklace – How to Make a Statement Jewelry Piece
Updated on June 29, 2021
Seed bead necklaces are awesome by definition, and this particular one is beautiful thanks to the pattern we created with just a few head pins.
It’s a pretty easy craft to make, but you do need to have a little bit of skill in handling the round-nose pliers. Beyond that, it’s not going to be difficult to create the necklace in any way.
Materials for a seed bead necklace
- seed beads – white, light blue, dark blue
- eye pins
- head pins
- chain
- pliers
- round-nose pliers in 2 sizes
- pliers
How to make a seed bead necklace
We all like jewelry and there never seems to be enough necklaces in our collection. So, let’s make a seed bead necklace in a few easy steps! Gather all your materials so you have them on hand, and let’s begin.
Step 1: String the beads
We’re going to start the whole thing by stringing the beads. We want to have them all ready to go, so get the head pins and bring the seed beads close, and let’s start.
The goal is to create a V shape with the color of the beads, so let’s figure things out.
We’re gong to have 11 head pins full of beads, and we’re going to have pins doubled up, except for one. So, we’ll have 5 pairs of head pins stringed with beads, and one that’s separate.
All the head pins will have a few elements in common. You’ll start off with 1 light blue bead, followed by a white bead, 8 dark blue beads, and one white bead. After this, we’ll have some variation.
The light blue beads we’re adding after the white bead will increase in number. Two of the pins will have 4 light blue beads, two of them will have 6, two will have 8, two will have 10, two will have 12, and the last one will have 14 light blue beads.
In the end, your head pins will look like this.
Step 2: Roll the head pins
Next, we need to start rolling the wire on the head pins. So, get the round-nose pliers and pick up the head pins one by one. Place the nose of the pliers a bit above the point where the seed beads lie and turn the wire to create a loop. Before you complete the loop, cut the excess wire.
Get the pliers and cut off the excess wire in the head pin. Continue turning the wire until you create a loop. Even if you didn’t estimate the distance to the beads well, you can continue turning the wire some more.
Perform the same thing for all 11 head pins you’ve added seed beads to.
Step 3: Let’s create the necklace
Now that all head pins have a loop, we can create the actual necklace. Get the eye pin, push a dark blue bead on the wire, and then add the head pins with the beads. You’ll add one of the dark blue beads after each pin with beads.
We chose to roll the loops at the end of the head pins as we went, but you can do them all at the same time, if you want.
You want to create a pretty pattern here, so you’ll need to arrange the pins carefully. First, we added a pin with 4 light blue seed beads on top. Then, after adding a dark blue bead, we added a pin with 6 light blue beads, and so on. Ultimately, by the number of light blue beads on top, we have a 4-6-8-10-12-14-12-10-8-6-4 pattern to follow.
Don’t forget to add the dark blue bead after each head pin.
By rolling the loops at the end of the head pins as close to the beads as possible, the design will look better at the end, and more cleaner. Plus, the length of the pins will be given by the number of beads, instead of how long you allow the wire to be. This will give more symmetry to the design.
Step 4: Attach the chain
Once all the pins with beads have been lined up, you want to start attaching the chain. So, grab the chain and push one of the links on the eye pin too.
Cut a bit of the eye pin wire with your pliers and then get the round-nose pliers.
Bend the wire and then form a loop with the help of the pliers. You want to close the loop only after you’ve pushed the chain link to the area.
Then, turn the necklace around, and use the round-nose pliers to open up the eye pin’s loop.
Push the link at the other end of the chain into the loop and then close it back again with the same round-nose pliers.
There you have it! Such a beautiful necklace that you can use on so many occasions. It’s going to be perfect for those evenings on the beach, at the office with a cute blouse, or a pair of jeans.
Of course, you can customize this by changing the color of the beads. Simply make sure you use similar shades of beads when creating your own pattern. Drop us a note and tell us what colors you went for and send us a pic over social media.
