Interlude: Bead Jewelry

I had originally intended to follow the previous post on my herringbone linen tunic with a bit of a rant about historical accuracy and what we label "accurate" vs. "fantasy" and the social signals we send when doing so, but since the discussion thread that inspired the rant is now a couple of months distant, I've decided to let it lie for the time being. Instead, I'm going to show you some shiny things that I made.

I don't often wear jewelry (apart from a few pieces that rarely get changed out, like piercing jewelry and my wedding-ish ring), but I enjoy making it.  I don't consider myself a particularly skilled jewelry-maker since I don't know the first thing about soldering, casting, wire-wrapping, or any number of other techniques, but I can tie knots in a string and I'm pretty handy with a pair of needle-nose pliers.  Recently, I got a hankering for some new bead necklaces and had a rummage though my supplies.  These are the results:

This set makes me think of serpents for some reason.

This set was my first bit of bead stringing for a couple of years, assembled with bits and bobs that I've accumulated over time. Short necklace (choker-length), medium-length necklace, two bracelets, and a pair of earrings (or, what will be a pair of earrings once I buy some silver-colored findings.)

The short necklace is also just about short enough to use as a bead festoon with a viking apron dress and turtle brooches, although these beads are a bit more polished than what I would normally use for my festoons.  As you'll see from my other necklaces, I like this length and style (chunky glass or semi-precious beads interspersed with metallic bits) because it seems to dress up or down equally well, and can do double duty as everyday or historical attire.  

I'm particularly chuffed about this batch of jewelry since it's the first time I've made hook and eye clasps from plain wire.  I've always used pre-made findings in the past but was out of silver-colored clasps, so I found some directions for making them out of wire.  They're far from perfect, but they do the job, and don't look half bad for a first attempt.

I tend to think of this one as "tribal goth."

I had four of these beads of painted red jade left over from a necklace and bracelet that I made a few years ago to go with a bronze replica of a Viking pendant, and since I tend to wear much more silver-colored jewelry than gold-colored, I thought it might be nice to use the last four stones for something with silver accent beads. The hole in one of the stones is at a slightly wonky angle, which is why there's a weird kink on the right side, but the kink is a little less noticeable when it's on. 

As a choker of sorts, this one is also just about the right length to be used as a bead festoon with a Viking apron dress and turtle brooches.

I showed this photo to my friend Tanya over at Crinolines and Cavaliers, and she immediately said, "You made an amulet of Mara!"

Three pieces of my sewing handiwork at
the Riverside Dickens Festival, ca. 2011.

As a general rule, I tend to wear either jewel tones or earth tones and avoid pink at all costs, but I bought some pale, rosy pink beads to make a gift for my mother-in-law about five years ago, and I've been staring at a little pile of leftover beads ever since. I decided that I wanted that slot in my bead organizer back, and made this little confection to go with another uncharacteristically pink piece: an 1870s natural form ball gown in a lovely brocade of antique gold on a rose background, trimmed in chocolate brown and grass green.  I saw this fabric years ago at JoAnn's on clearance for something like $5/yard. It shone and draped so beautifully that I couldn't pass it up.  One of my favorite things about Victorian costuming is that you can get away with color combinations that in other contexts would look a bit pukey.

Mmm... Reminds me of watching Bollywood music videos while eating at Hurry Curry on Venice Blvd.

I bought a gigantic pack of these brass(ish) medallions thinking I'd do something steampunk with them, but they ended up a bit more Bollywood instead.

Unless I end up back in California for Dickens Fest,The Labyrinth of Jareth Masquerade Ball, or some similarly fancy-pants event, I have no idea when I'll wear this, but the green tear-drop beads were calling to me. I guess this is what happens when you leave me in a room with pliers, wire cutters, and a bit of spare time.

Colors? Bah! Who needs colors?

Yet another necklace designed to do double-duty as both a choker and a Viking bead festoon.  As with most of my projects, I'm not trying to be strictly historically accurate, but rather I want to retain the general look and feel of a particular time period.  The clear beads with black and white dots are very similar to beads from Viking-age finds, but the other semi-precious, metal, and glass beads aren't necessarily accurate, nor is their symmetrical arrangement.  There is a little bit of randomness in the pattern, however, by introducing one odd-shaped bead after every 4-5 round beads on the sides.

With the exception of the Bollywood necklace, all of the following/above are simply strung on nylon cord with a clamshell bead at either end to cover the knot.  The Bollywood necklace is held together with jump rings, eye pins, and head pins.  The metallic bits are all cheap crap from either Michael's or the bead shops in downtown L.A. near Maple and 9th.  The non-metallic beads are either glass or semi-precious stones.