Waxed Linen Sea Glass Earrings

  I'm all about incorporating natural elements into my beading, so I thought I'd show you my version of waxed linen earrings. They make up fast and you don't need a lot of materials to get them done.

 
Tools/Materials:

• Scissors
• Ruler
• Flat and Round Nose Pliers
• Irish Waxed Linen
• Flocked Beading Pad 
• Beading Awl (optional)

 Beads/Findings:

• 2 feet of size 22g wire
• 2 - French Ear wires
• 2 - 5mm Closed Jump Rings
• 2 - Abalone or shell drops
• 6 - Sea Glass Fish Bones in staggered sizes

Okay, you've gathered your materials.  Yay!  Let's move on!





The first thing you need to do is create a double-sided wire loop onto your shell.  Mine is Abalone - you can use whatever you like!  Wire both pieces of shell so that your dangles are ready to add to the earrings.

I'm not going to cover the wire loop here.  You can find those directions in many places online or in the back of (my fav) Wirework Magazine.

 

Pull 2 strands of waxed linen 9 inches long each.

Fold the two pieces in half and pass them through that top loop of one of your shell pieces.

Tie an overhand knot (or as I like to refer to it "a shoelace knot") into the 4 strands over the top of the loop.  Split the strands 2 to a side and form the knot.

Tighten the knot down onto the wire loop.

You're going to add the largest of your 3 pieces of fish bone Sea Glass.  Split the waxed linen so that there are 2 strands on the right side of the sea glass bead, the inner most strand going through the hole, and the fourth strand on the left side of the bead.  (See the photo).  Now, form and tie an overhand knot down onto the bead.

Here's a picture of the overhand knot loosely formed in the linen.  You can see here how I've configured the strands of linen around this bead. 

I've tightened the knot down onto the bead.  

Now, add your next smaller piece of sea glass.  Except this time flip the two strands of the waxed linen to the left side of the bead.  

In this photo, I've configured the two pieces to the left side of the sea glass, the inner most strand is going through the bead, and the single strand of linen is on the right side of the bead this time.  Form your overhand knot and tighten it down.

We're adding the last sea glass bead! This time, the two strands of linen will be on the right, inner most through the hole, and single on the left.  Form your overhand knot and tighten it.  

It's time to knot on the closed jump ring so that we can add our earring finding.  Almost done!

I'm going to leave the photos for this section a little larger.  Detail can sometimes be everything here!  

Pass 3 of the waxed linen strands through the jump ring, but leave the 4th strand off at a right angle.

Fold the 3 strands down over the earring (as in the photo) and put your thumb on top of them.  You're going to use the strand you left out to create an overhand knot around the 3 strands capturing them and the jump ring. 

Hopefully you can see how I've formed the overhand knot around my base of all the other linen strands.  I'm going to tie 3 or 4 overhand knots around this base to finish this part of the earring. 

Here, I've created several knots around the base and I'm getting ready to tie my final knot.  Once I've tightened the knot, I'll cut it off close to the base.  Then roll it all between your fingers to warm the wax and melt all the loose pieces together.  











Now, you will add the earring finding and you're done. 
















Tips about working with waxed linen:

• Try to use Irish Waxed Linen - it's made with more wax and a much higher quality linen.  It holds up better and working with it will not pull the wax out of the strand onto your hand.  The cheaper waxed linen bleeds wax until the linen looks frayed and unwaxed.
• Got a loose end to work in after a knot, just roll it between your fingers and watch it disappear.
• Never make a knot in a place you don't want it to stay.  It's nearly impossible to remove a misplaced knot and doing so will fray the linen.  
• If you are not as comfortable working with waxed linen, use a beading awl to place your knots before you tighten them.  The awl allows you to get the knot exactly where you want it before it tightens.

Looking for a quality waxed linen?  I sell it!  You can contact me for the choice of many colors and ply's (ply refers to how many strands are twisted into the linen cord - there is 2-ply, 3-ply, 4-ply, and 7-ply).  

4-Ply 10 Yard Spools (Not Irish Waxed, but pretty good quality):

Black, Dark Brown, White                                                        - $1.99/spool

 

Irish Waxed Linen:

2-Ply (Black, Natural White, Med. Brown)                          - $1.99/10 yards

 

3-Ply (Black, Med. Brown, Lt. Brown, Dk. Brown, Rust,

           Ruby Red, Emerald Green, Lavender, Maroon,

           Natural White, Olive Green, Plum, Royal Blue,

           Sage, Salmon, Teal, Turquoise, White)                   - $2.05/10 yards

 

4-Ply (Black, Med. Brown, Lt. Brown, Bright Yellow,

           Charcoal, Ruby Red, Dk. Brown, Denim Blue,

           Emerald Green, Rust, Forest Green, Fuchsia,

           Lavender, Rose Pink, Rust, Bright Yellow,

           Magenta, Mint Green, Maroon, Natural White,

           Navy Blue, Olive, Plum, Royal Blue, Robin Egg Blue,

           Victorian Rose, Salmon, Sage, Slate Gray, 

           Teal, Turquoise, Williamsburg Blue, White,

           Country Yellow)                                                      - $2.50/10 yards

 

7-Play (Black only)                                                             - $3.75/10 yards

 

Need shell, sea glass, gemstone, findings or any other materials or tools mentioned in this blog - we sell that too!  Just contact me for prices or check out my Etsy Store: DragonflyBeadsStudio