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Summary: Make your own clasps for handcrafted jewelry. Learn how to attacj a clasped tigertail clasp in this free crafting video clip from a professional jewelry artist.
Views: 723 | Tags: jewelry, making, wire, beading, beads, bracelets, beaded, necklaces, handcrafted
Hydra Alexander Hydra Alexander has been a jewelry artist since 1991. She has traveled all over the U.S. making and selling her arts and crafts. She uses many mediums, such ... read more
OK, now that the necklace is almost complete, this is what it looks like, and I went ahead and put about ten purple beads and three gray beads, to separate them as a pattern, and you want it equal on both sides if you're doing this pattern. I also put a piece of tape on one end, so that the beads don't fall off while I'm putting a clasp on the other end. Next thing you do is put your crimp bead on like that, and then take one side of your clasp, and put that on. Take the wire, fold it over about a half inch, slide the crimp bead over both wires, so that it creates a loop on the end, like that. Keep it a little loose so that your it's not stiff. Then you take your pliers, and you squish the bead. Make check it and make sure it's tight, and it's not moving around. Slide the beads over the excess wire, and then you pull all this; all the beads all the way down; make sure there's no space in between. You don't want the wire to show on this necklace. Then you get the other crimp bead, and do the same thing on the other side. Loop it around, and what I do is I put it through the crimp bead, then through a couple of other beads down here; one or two, however many. This is the hard part; you want to pull it tight so the wire doesn't show, just like that, and then crimp it one more time on the other end. Check it, and then you can cut off the excess wire, because you don't want that to poke you in the neck. Voila`, this is a small version of this necklace, charm necklace, but you can make them as long as you want. This is a very long one, and also you can just put one big bead in the middle if you want that for the centerpiece. And that's how you make a Tigertail necklace.