Today I had a lesson in how to string beads and make earrings.
I braved the smoker’s shop which wasn’t all that bad and I soon forgot about it. There was no evidence of actual smoking on the premises, just a little lingering..
I had my lesson in the little stock room. Wet coat and gloves, from the rainy walk into town, were hung on the back of the door. There was space for three chairs round the table pushed up against the wall, but only just. I sat in the middle chair facing piles of bags of buttons, beads and pretty pearls. It wasn’t cold but I just had to say if I wanted the heater on. With so little space it was warmed quite sufficiently from body heat and the boiled kettle. The light was quite good and I didn’t know what to expect. Anyway I’d taken a selection of broken strings with me to show this wonder-woman what I wanted to do.
First things first. Coffee made for me in a large mug. Very generous. The stock on table was cleared away to make space. It ended up in a great pile on the floor at my side and occasionally my teacher had to dive into it to demonstrate a particular metal or thread. The Coffee mug was placed out of harm’s way and off we went.
Yes. Things have changed a bit. Knotting of cotton thread is no longer a pre-requisite ability for stringing and rarely done on everyday fashion jewellery. Soon I was immersed in nylon threads and beads and spacers and crimpers. Jump rings pinged all over the floor and rolled into black holes of corners. I was introduced to cone fasteners with which I could secure an eight string necklace and then I got to handle pliers.
While we were working we chatted. I asked about suppliers and where the stock came from. How difficult it was to source reliable materials from China and how long the shipping time was? Not being very subtle paid off. I ended up with 4 pairs of very good pliers and several other accoutrements of the trade all of which I have complete faith in. Because I’d taken my own beads the ‘findings’, or bits and pieces which I brought home with me were free. Beaders usually buy those for the lesson.
I also asked what got her started and was surprised to discover that the shop had only been open two and a half years. She and her friends used to meet up at a craft café but that didn’t last very long. During our conversation it became apparent that everyone she met up with had experienced the same trouble sourcing materials at the right quality and price and it set her off to thinking how she could resolve this problem and create a little business for herself and her husband. Well they’re still open. They seem to be ticking over. There was a surprisingly steady trickle of customers on this wet dark Tuesday afternoon and my teacher was grumbling about how much more space they needed.
Looking round the shop I was amazed at the breadth of stock. Last time I was in I stopped long enough to fix a lesson. I got the impression of range but nothing really prepared me for the real breadth of stock. Stands and stands of beads, faceted, round, oval, glass, real gemstones and plastic beads. Farmed pearls in countless shapes sizes and colours. So many different types of fastening. Jump rings. Earring pins, silver, gold plated, nikel free (be careful to get nikel free or it could be a major source of skin irritation and infection). Leather thonging. Elastic, silver and gold thread and lots of bits of metal I just know I’ll have to know more about. Oh yes, and I got the last two barrel clasps.
I learned how to make earrings and have brought two pairs back with me. That must be so that I have something that I’ve learned through making in my tight little fist instead of in my very fuzzy brain. I don’t really have a lot of interest in earrings and not a lot in modern beads but she did show me some very prettily formed grey pearls and I shall keep those in my memory for some later use.
She was right, my teacher. It really was a two hour lesson and it flew by.
I walked back home in the rain in the dark, quite satisfied with my lesson and wanting to get on and do some repairs. Two of my favourite broken necklaces have been repaired and are wearable again. That in itself was worth paying for the lesson. I’m looking forward to going out to the shed in the morning to put into practice what I’ve learned. Just a tiny bit excited and self satisfied. And I ended up with leads for suppliers to provide repair materials for my brooches.
Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:
You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out / Change )
You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out / Change )
You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out / Change )
You are commenting using your Google+ account. ( Log Out / Change )
Connecting to %s
Notify me of new comments via email.
More.. https://writingintheshed.wordpress.com/2015/01/20/learning-about-bead-necklace-repairs/
Powered by: BKGjewelry
