Final Phase

Finally done!  In this picture the background beading is finished and the foundation material needs to be trimmed close to the edge of the beading.  Notice I said close.  Actually you need to leave some material around the edge to keep the beaded areas from pulling out if you cut too close.  I usually leave about 1/4 inch around the outside.

I learned a lesson from the first bracelet I made.  I sold it to a friend and while she was wearing it in New Orleans, someone grabbed it right off her wrist.  Now when I make these bracelets I sandwich a loop of vinyl coated beading wire between the front and back layers of material.  I run the wire through the closures so the wire and hooks take all the stress of wear and make it a lot more secure.  For this bracelet I used heavy duty black hook and eye closures.  You can see the wire at the bottom of this photo.  I knew I wanted the bracelet to fit a 7 1/2 inch wrist so the wire is measured to a little over double that length and secured with crimp beads.  I used crimp beads just below each end and again in the center.

Here's the bracelet with the material trimmed and the center moon face embellished with clear crystal tear-drop beads and alternating with crystal bi-cones.  See the smudges on the surface of the faces?  I use smoke Fireline to sew on the beads.  The finish on the Fireline comes off on your hands and in the process gets on the polymer faces.  It took a light sanding to get the faces back in shape.

The smaller moon faces are embellished with black and smoke color tear-drop beads alternated with crystal and ab crystal bi-cones.  The embellishment on the smaller faces doesn't encircle the entire face.  I wanted the main accent to be on the center face.

I've attached another layer of black ultra suede to the back of the bracelet to enclose the wire support and to hide all the beading stitches.  I stitched the two layers of material together with a running stitch to hold it in place while I beaded around the edges.  By stitching close to the edges I could hide the running stitches with the beaded edge.

Here's the completed bracelet all cleaned up and ready to go.  I finished the surface of the faces with micro-crystalline wax.  The wax goes on wet but drys quick.  Once it's dry it buffs to a nice soft shine and provides a protective coating to the jewelry.