I am always happy when I can work with bicone beads. The double cone-shaped beads work so well in kumihimo, adding texture and sparkle to the design. They slot together neatly in a braid and also work very well together with other beads. This week I was able to use some pretty 6mm Fluorite bicone beads to make a bracelet for a Jewellery Maker show on Monday and added in some 3mm gold seed beads to emphasise the angular shape of the gemstones. This was the design I decided to demonstrate. The great thing about a design like this is that it is very easy to explain. Working out the placement of the beads to achieve the desired effect can take time and a bit of trial and error, but once I am happy with the design I only need to give the order in which the beads are threaded and give a quick explanation of how two 3mm beads are added in for every 6mm bicone. A design like this may look quite complex, but it is actually reasonably easy to make and can be adapted to work with alternative beads. I have posted the bracelet on social media and it is certainly getting lots of attention, as well as lots of requests for instructions.
The show can be watched by clicking here and the demonstration for this bracelet comes about 3 hours and 24 minutes into the show.
I have posted instructions for this bracelet and the other kumihimo designs shown and they can be found by clicking here.
