Using a Bead Board for Jewelry Design

You can come up with a lot of great beaded jewelry designs. It doesn't take a lot of extra work, however there are a few tools that can make it very easy. Whether designing your own necklace, bracelet, earrings, or other piece a bead board can make your work much easier. You just have to take a little bit of extra time to make the piece perfect in design, pattern, and length.

What is a bead board? A bead board is usually a plastic felt covered tray. It has cups for beads and other supplies, and grooves or channels for designing your pieces. These grooves are numbered so you can make a piece the length you want it to be. There are many advantages to using a bead board. They can make for a perfect design. You can fix mistakes before you have strung them. This way you don't have to worry about taking it all apart to fix it. You can also make changes to your pattern if you see something you don't like. This is good for coming up with the perfect design and is much easier then taking a piece all the way apart. You can also come up with the perfect length and don't have to worry about running out of beads or such.

How to use the bead board. Once you have decided what it is you want to make, such as a pair of earrings, a necklace, or a bracelet you have to choose the channels or grooves that you are going to use to design the piece. This can be very simple. The shortest grooves are best for earrings and can also be used for bracelets though most will require that you use two grooves to make a bracelet. Longer pieces should be done on the long curved grooves.

Beginning a short project is a little different. You should start with a clasp. Place it in the first short groove starting at 0 or in the center of the rounded groove starting at 0. Work the piece so that it is going toward the larger numbers. If you have to use a second groove, make sure you remember what side you started on when starting the second side so that you piece is put together correctly. Also figure out how long you need your piece and add the two sides together. If working with the large rounded grooves, add beads to the one side and go until you reach the desired length. You will also want to make sure you are giving enough space for your clasp, but not too much taking into consideration how much space it will take up when it is closed rather then open.

Beginning a necklace is a little different. For this project you should use the rounded long grooves. You should begin the piece in the middle rather then the end. This will let you build your pattern on either side of the focal piece or to build it from the center. You will then want to take the piece up each side till you reach 1/2 the desired length. If you want it to be 20" you will want to build the necklace up to 10" on both sides of the center. This will give you the desired length of the necklace (don't forget the clasp).

Once you have it all laid out, make sure that you check for errors and make sure that you have a pattern you are pleased with. Then prepare your stringing material and string the beads and objects on following the laid out pattern for the piece and its size. This is the easiest part and now that it is all laid out should go fairly quickly.

Using the bead board isn't necessary, however it does make designing great jewelry easy. This can be a tool that helps you come up with an infinite number of designs and it makes for easy use. You can make sure your jewelry pieces are free of errors, beautiful in design and patters, and the perfect length with little or no trouble. The bead board can help you become a better jewelry maker, whether you are making the items for gifts, for your own collection, or to sell.