The Knotty Do-It-All

Leather and waxed Irish linen with Bronze Rumi Bird Pendant

2011-04-20T12:03:00.000-07:00

Leather and waxed Irish linen bracelet with Bronze Rumi Bird Pendant. Pendant from Green Girl Studio.

Bracelets by Sophie Baylor

2011-04-19T20:38:00.000-07:00

Look at these BEAUTIFUL bracelets by Sophie Baylor. I just love them!

Three Strand with Textured Tube Beads

2011-04-17T07:23:00.000-07:00

I love the elegance of this necklace by Sire Chew.

How much cord should I use when making a piece with lots of knots?

2011-04-12T17:32:00.000-07:00

One question my customers ask me...and I often ask myself, is how much extra cord do I need for a bracelet or necklace that will have lots of knots incorporated into the design? Nothing is worse than coming up short on your cord when you are almost finished with a piece.

I have put together this guide that will help you caluclate the amount of cord you will need for a bracelet or necklace with knots.

Knots, surprisingly take up quite a bit of cord!

Cord thickness=.5mm...add an extra 1/2 inch per knot

Cord thickness=1mm...add an extra 1/2 inch per knot

Cord thickness=1.5mm...add an extra 3/4 inch per knot

Cord thickness=2mm...add an extra 3/4 inch per knot

For example, if I were to make a 6.5", 5 strand bracelet, with 8 knot per strand using 1.5 mm cord I would need the following:

5 X 8 = 40knots @ 3/4 "each ='s 30 inches

bracelet without knots 6.5 X 5 = 32.5 plus 6 inches, always add a few extra inches

38.5 + 30 (plus 10 extra inches for insurance)= 78.5 inches for a 6.5 inch bracelet.

Sandra

Etching Tutorial

2011-04-12T16:45:00.000-07:00

Here is a tutorial for etching on copper!

Adjustable Slide Knot Necklace

2011-04-11T17:41:00.001-07:00

Many of you have asked how to make an adjustable slide knot necklace using the Knotty Do-It-All. Here is a brief video that shows how to do this!

New Bracelets!

2011-04-11T17:19:00.000-07:00

I love making bracelets! Here are a few using my new long wrap technique.

Leather with gold tubes.

Faux suede with green glass beads.

Suede with large hole pearls.

Red leather with brass and silver beads.

Leather with large hole pearls and round brass beads.

Waxed Irish linen with copper and glass beads.

Cord Information

2011-03-29T21:21:00.000-07:00

I would like to share some information on certain stringing materials. For this section I will discuss the characteristics as well as the pros and cons of waxed cotton, waxed Irish linen and leather cord as they are the most popular stringing materials in jewelry design today. These cords are of the stiffer less rigid type. There are cords available that drape well. I will discuss this in my next blog entry.

Waxed Cotton

The term “waxed cotton” is a misnomer. Many stringing materials are termed “waxed cotton cord” although they contain no wax at all. What they actually have is a coating of seizing. This coating does dissolve easily in water. Waxed cotton holds a nice tight knot. If you want to keep your piece looking as it did the day you made it, keep it out of water. Three advantages to using waxed cotton cord are its low cost, color availability, and wide range of sizes. Fifty meters of waxed cotton costs less than $7.00 and can be easily obtained in just about any shade.

Waxed cotton cord reacts very quickly with superglue, so once you place that drop of glue down you will want to work as quickly as possible.

Waxed Irish Linen

Waxed Irish linen on the other hand does have a coating of wax. It is available in various “plys”. A 2 ply for example is very thin like dental floss and beads with very small holes can be strung without the need for needles. It is available in 2, 4, 7, 12 plys. Waxed Irish linen is available in many colors, it is strong, however, it is expensive. For example, a 7 ply 100 meter spool will run approximately $35.00. How does it wear? The wax will disappear over time. You can prolong the waxy look by not exposing your piece to water or soap.

Being that this cord has a thick coating of wax you do not need superglue to secure the knots. There are a few tips you can use to make sure your creation does not come apart but I will get to that later.

Leather Cord

Leather cord is perhaps the most popular type of cord used in cord jewelry today. Many popular designers such as Chan Luu and Christy Lea Payne use leather extensively in their designs. Leather thickness range from half a millimeter to five millimeters thick and it is available in a wide variety of colors. You can keep your leather supple and vibrant by dabbing with Neutrogena Body Oil Light Sesame Formula. The pros of using leather is that it is available in a wide variety of colors and thicknesses, it wears well, and what’s more it never goes out of style! The only disadvantage is that it could dry out, but as long as you keep it oiled your pieces should last many years.

Very thin leather is not ideal for making finishing knots of any kind on your pieces. You could use leather cord this thin for a multistrand and make the end knots out of a different material such as waxed cotton or nylon cord.

A Few New Necklaces

2010-12-24T03:52:00.000-08:00

Here are a few necklaces I made yesterday. Three were custom orders and the one without a name plate I made for myself.

The Knotty Do-It-All

2010-12-15T19:44:00.000-08:00

This is the Knotty Do-It-All!

The Knotty Do-It-All is a tool for making all types of cord jewelry (necklaces, bracelets, anklets, etc) without any need to use end caps, which are a total pain since they often come loose, aren't always available in the correct size for the cord you're using, are costly, and often aren't even in stock. The Knotty Do-It-All allows you to make loop-and-knot connectors at both ends of the cord to which can be connected any sort of clasp (lobster clasp or toggle) and a jump ring (some jewelry artists prefer to simply hook the clasp through the knotted loop and don't use jump rings at all). The end-knotting technique is simple to master and works equally well with single strand, multi-strand (any number of strands), and tiered pieces. Any cording material can be used (waxed cotton, leather, waxed Irish linen, silk, nylon) in almost any size (.5 mm, 1.0 mm, 1.5 mm, 2.0 mm, etc). The tool comes with assorted components (the board, 11 steel spacing pins, cord-holding clips, and marking clips. In addition to the Knotty Do-It-All (which I invented and manufacture) I carry a variety of cord types, sizes and colors, as well as some basic clasps and the best brand of instant glue I've found to date, "Loctite." I also produce the video tutorials that accompany each kit purchase.

Using the Knotty Do-It-All is easy and makes jewelry making a lot of fun. Both my customers and I find it allows us to be far more creative and complete work in much less time. Jewelry length can always be exact, which isn't the case when you're doing it by hand (with this tool, for example, a 15" necklace is always exactly 15", and a 7" bracelet is always 7"). Any colors of cord can be used in combination, beads and charms can be added in where ever desired, knots between beads can be quickly and uniformly tied, and on and on. I'm always getting emails from customers who have come up with new ideas and new jewelry design concepts and will soon have a section of the Knotty Do-It-All Website devoted to photos of customers' designs and products, as well as an area where everyone can post messages for other users concerning new knotting techniques or other innovations.