Strings of Bling
Making jewelry is usually left to the professionals, but not for some local crafters.
“You can make exactly what you want instead of buying something that's probably not as well made,” said Carolyn Roach of Adams Township.
Roach was a network engineer before she started making jewelry.
One rainy summer day several years ago, Roach and daughter Katie, now 13, joined other mothers and daughters in the neighborhood in buying beads in bulk.
While Katie grew out of beading, her mother continued, learning new techniques from the Internet and friends.
“I'll go to YouTube to see how the technique should be done and then add my own take to it,” Roach said.
Roach opened Mars Beads in June 2010 where she and others give lessons in jewelry-making.
Most of Roach's work is needlework beading (sewing beads in a design), but she also does metal weaving called Viking knitting.
“It's actually a very simple technique,” Roach said. “I would say just about anybody can do it.”
In Viking knitting, silver gauge wire is woven together on a dowel rod.
Once removed from the rod, the piece is elongated for use on bracelets, necklaces, earrings and even key chains.The knit is very versatile and can be cut at any spot without coming undone.It can even be done around different shapes to be made into pendants.Because this knit does not need many tools, it can be done virtually anywhere.Pam Frenchak of Butler takes her crafts with her wherever she goes.Some of her favorite creations are macrame earrings and accessories.“I do it because I enjoy it,” Frenchak said. “If I make it a profession, it won't be fun anymore.”Macrame is a series of knot tying. As with the Viking knit, it will not come undone if you put it down before you finish.
Frenchak started to make her own jewelry to wear with different outfits.“I wear a lot of black, so I didn't have things to match what I was wearing,” Frenchak said.Macrame earrings are relatively simple. All you need to make them are the string, a pin to hold it and something to anchor the project while you work.“Little ones can take maybe two to three hours for one earring. The big ones can take more than 20 hours,” Frenchak said.Frenchak is a member of the Butler Spinners and Weavers Guild, which is celebrating its 30th year with projects and demonstrations.“Everyone is very supportive in teaching,” said JoAnn Clark of Marion Township. “They are very willing to share the information there.”The group comes together to teach its members a variety of crafts from basket weaving and crocheting to wool spinning and felting.Clark, also a guild member, uses wool roving — or preyarn material — to make everything from pins and scarves to beads and pendants.“When I couldn't find the sweater I wanted, I started to make the actual felt myself,” Clark said.There are two types of felting, dry and wet.
To wet felt, the roven is soaked in hot, soapy water before being rubbed into ball shapes.Clark uses this technique to make beads for her necklaces.Dry felting involves bringing fiber together with a barbed or felting needle.“Poking” the felt brings the fibers closer together.Clark buys her felting supplies from local shops, craft stores, specialty events and online.Fellow guild member Karen Bierbauer of Ellwood City gets her fibers from her own llamas.She became interested in crafting and jewelry making when she realized how much wool her animals were producing.Bierbauer uses ribbon or other fibers to make lucet cords.“You can use anything,” Bierbauer said. “When I first learned, I practiced with rope, or whatever I had laying around the house, to see how it turned out.”Lucet cords are knotted together using a wooden fork to make necklaces or bracelets for hanging pendants.“If you are very neat when you use multicolors, you can make different patterns with them,” Bierbauer.
Bierbauer and her mother, Linda Osborne of Elwood City, enjoy making all kinds of jewelry together.Osborne makes brightly colored necklaces by Kumihimo, a Japanese braiding technique in which a small disc is used to weave fabric together.“You can put beads on them or really whatever, and I make the fasteners myself, too,” said Osborne. “I make them in all different colors to go with the different pendants or stones I make the jewelry out of.”“It's done on a circle or square with different slots in them,” Osborne said. “It makes different designs depending on the shape.”No matter the technique, all jewelry makers seem to have the same goal in mind — to make something they love and can't find in stores.“I always tell people you're only limited by your own imagination in what you can make,” Roach said.<br></br>
Dowel rod with a nail in the topA draw plate with hole sizes such as 3/8, 5/16, 1/4 and 3/16Silver-plated 28 gauge craft wireBead cap or cone• Step one: Make four loops around the nail evenly spaced going from right to left.• Step two: Bring the wire around and behind where the previous row crosses.• Step three: Pull the wire through and go to the next “X” to the right.• Step four: Continue steps two and three for the following rows.• Step five: Remove the knit from the dowel rod.• Step seven: Pull knit through draw plate holes. Each time pull the knit through a smaller hole.• Step eight: To finish piece, place knit on string and add bead cap or cone.Add other beads or clasps to close.<B>Note: </B>To add wire to make a longer piece, put the end of the new wire through the last loops made and hold the tail of the previous wire down. Continue to weave wire as stated in steps two and three.<B><I><U></B></U></I>
