Jewelry-Making Techniques

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Weaving: Classic Victorian-style Choker with Ribbon

From the Fire Mountain Gems and Beads Collection
720F

A necklace of this style has long graced the neck of a debutante at her first ball, and there are few necklaces more charming. The technique is the same basic method, but in this case, all of the beads will be of equal size, no more than 4mm, but preferably, 3mm and ideally, either small pearls or mother-of-pearl.

To go around a neck of 15 inches, the length of the finished strand should be about 14 inches. Remember, a narrow velvet ribbon will be woven through the beads and will be tied at the back of the neck, so it is not necessary that the strand of beads be equal to the diameter of the neck.

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If you are using 3mm beads, then you will require about 350 beads for a length of 14 inches, and about 260 beads if the diameter is 4mm. These approximate figures were achieved as follows:
  • The necklace consists of a series of loops, through which the ribbon will be woven.
  • Each set of two loops contains 17 beads, and measures 3/4 inches if the beads are 3mm, and 1-inch if the beads are 4mm, as shown here:
  • Divide the finished length, say 14 inches, by the length of the two loops, either 3/4 inches or 1-inch. This means that there will be 18.6 loops in a 14-inch strand. Dropping the 0.6 to 18, then multiplying 18 times the number of beads in the two loops (17), we get 306 beads. If we round off 18.6 to 19, then multiply that times 17, we get 323 beads.
The 4mm was easier to figure, as two loops equals 1-inch, so we multiply 14 times 17, and get 238 beads.

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