| Beaded Rings and Beaded Headbands |
It's actually a ton of fun making these simple rings. Kids will love them and I bet you will too. They're great for using up dabs of leftover beads. Here's how you make 'em:
First pick out a big bead for the center. "Big" is a relative term, anywhere from 4 to 10mm will work, but you'll want to scale your ring beads to fit the size of your center bead. For a very large center bead use size 6 ring beads, for a small one, use size 10 or 11 seed beads. Use doubled thread for this project. Pick up enough ring beads to reach from the hole halfway around the center bead, and the center bead. Then pick up the same number of ring beads minus one. Go back through the first ring bead you picked up in the first set of ring beads. Tie the short end and the long end of your thread together in a square knot.
Now pick up enough beads to fit around your finger and around half the center bead. Go through the center bead.
Pick up the same number of beads as you picked up in the second set of ring beads in the first step. Count down the number of beads you just picked up from the center bead back on the other side and re-enter the next bead back.
Continue through the entire ring loop and up around one side of the center bead. Pick up one ring bead and go into the bead just across from the bead you left to bridge the gap. If that doesn't quite fill it, use two beads instead. Continue through the whole ring again and come up the other side of the center bead and bridge the gap on the other side. Continue through the ring again if possible to strengthen it. If you are using larger beads, go through the ring as many times as possible. On your final pass, tie off around the ring threads then complete the pass. Weave in the short end and you're done. You'll be amazed at how well the ring will hold it's shape!
This ring is a little more complicated but it's still relatively simple to make. You will need to know how to do brick stitch.
Again you'll need to choose a large center bead and some seed beads. I used a 8mm round bead for the center and size 11 seeds for the ring. If you use different sizes you will have to adjust the pattern accordingly.
This time we'll start with the part that goes around the back of your finger. Pick up two seed beads and tie them in a circle. Go up through the bead on the right. Pick up two more beads and go down through the bead on the left then back up through the bead on the right and the new bead above it. Pick up two more beads and go down through the upper-most bead on the left then up through the bead to the right and the new bead above it. Continue stacking pairs of beads this way until you have a strip that will reach around 3/4s of your finger.
Now treat the final two beads you added as the base row for brick stitch and add 3 rows of normally increasing brick stitch. The 3rd row should have 5 beads in it. Now work 4 rows of 2 beads each up from the left side of the 5 bead row as if you were increasing at the end of a row (you are!:-)). Then thread back down to the 5 bead row and weave to the other side of it and work 4 2 bead rows up the left side increasing at the beginning of each row. Then thread through the whole thing to get to the other end of the band and do the same thing on the other side.
Connect the large bead to each side of the ring in the manner shown below.
Now connect the two sides using the thread path shown below. If you have room left, go ahead and thread through the band to reinforce.
Now for a couple of headband ideas. Believe it or not, the idea for these came from a discount store! The first one was made from tacky plastic beads and elastic thread, but we'll make it with nicer beads and one of the elastic jewelry cords available.
This sample uses size 6 Japanese beads but you could even use semi precious stone beads if the holes were large enough. You need beads with larger holes because the elastic beading cord is quite a bit thicker than regular beading thread. The holes in size 6 beads are perfect. To make this headband use these flat netting instructions to make a strip 3 sets wide and long enough to fit around your head from top to bottom.
Connect the two ends of the strip to make a continuous ring. Do this by adding the beads needed to complete the net sections between the two edges. The following diagram shows how this is done. The black beads represent the beads added to connect the two ends.
This headband is *really* simple. Make two daisy chains (with regular beading thread) using these directions for Daisy Chains, Open and Closed. Make them long enough to reach from just behind one ear, over the top of your head to just behind the other ear. Then sew the ends to a length of heavy elastic long enough to reach the rest of the way around your head. It should be just snug enough to hold your hair back. Try to find elastic that matches the main color in your daisy chain or, failing that, one that matches the hair color of the person who will be wearing the headband.
I hope you have fun with these. They would make great stocking stuffers, don't you think?
