Beads! Your necklace broke and now the beads are scattered on the floor. If you don't want to pay for a professional to fix it, you can do it yourself. Here are two great ways to deal with a broken necklace or an old necklace that needs a new look. With a few simple materials and tools, your accessories will be ready to wear again in no time.
Step
Method 1 of 2: With Nylon Coated Necklace Strings
Step 1. If necessary, clean your beads
If this necklace has signs of wear and tear (and thus breaking), this means the beads need to be re-treated. Oils from the surface of your skin or from cosmetics (or even just age) can make any bead worn out and no longer look luxurious. Purchase a special cleaning agent for jewelry and use a children's toothbrush to clean it. Clean with as gentle a motion as possible.
You never know which beads you shouldn't clean, so it's best to take a safe start. Glass and crystal beads are usually safe to clean, but plastic beads or pearl beads are not. Always start by cleaning just one bead before continuing to clean all of your beads, to ensure that the cleaning method is safe for your beads
Step 2. Prepare all your equipment
It is recommended that you do the cleaning in the evening before dark, so that the beads don't roll back and forth and out of your sight. Here's the equipment you'll need:
- Necklace strap and locking hook. Nylon-coated string is the best choice for most projects like this. These strings are over-the-counter at craft shops and are sold per roll based on weight, strength and color. Don't be tempted to use regular thread, as regular thread will tear and break easily, so you'll have to re-read this guide later to make repairs.
- Flat-tipped pliers and cutters. If you don't already have the right pliers, you're better off buying a special tool kit for fixing jewelry. Equipment packages like this usually also come with a crimping tool, which will be very useful for knotting the ends of your strings.
- Locking beads. These are special beads that are used at the ends of the necklace chain and serve specifically to allow the locking hook of the necklace to be attached. The locking beads have a sort of cover bowl on the sides.
- Hole beads. These are soft metal beads that have a large hole in the middle. These beads can be used to press the material of the necklace string so that its position does not change.
- Glass sand beads. These beads can be used as an intermediate filler if you want a longer necklace. These beads come in a huge variety, and you'll be able to find one to match the rest of your necklace's beads.
- Place beads, cloth, or towels as work mats. The bead mat has plenty of grooves to put your beads in. If you don't have one, you can also use a towel base to keep the beads from rolling around. Never do this process on a wooden or tile floor.
Step 3. Remove all the beads of your necklace
You don't have to keep the beads attached to the old string. The cavities in each bead won't be large enough for two necklace strings to pass and this will be more difficult to work with, so just remove them. Place the necklace on the surface of your work mat, then pull the string to keep the beads in position.
- There may already be a locking bead attached to the end of your old necklace string, attached to the locking hook. You can use pliers to open the locking bead and remove all the beads in the string.
- If your old necklace has more than one string, work the strings one at a time. If you untie all the strings at once, it will be a disaster for you.
Step 4. Re-stitch the beads on the new necklace string, with the string straight out of the loop
For necklaces that are fairly tough, you don't need a needle, as they'll be able to slip through the beading holes without the aid of anything else. Just string the beads one by one, while pulling the necklace string straight from the coil. This way, if you need to make it longer, no problem. You just have to be careful not to pull the necklace string too tight, because it can bend even when it's brand new.
- Once you've finished putting all the beads back together, watch the results. Is the order of the positions of all the beads correct? Is this necklace long enough or short enough?
- If for some reason you can't use the cord straight out of the loop, take the cord 15 centimeters longer than you need. Make a knot at one end and secure it with craft glue. After that, you can string the beads with it (but remember to start the sequence with the locking beads).
Step 5. Install the locking latch
Once all the beads are strung, attach the hole beads, locking beads, and sand beads. Here are the steps you need to master:
- Thread the necklace string back through the hole in the locking bead, with the sand bead on the inside, then thread the string the other way through the hole in the eyelet bead.
- Insert the sand bead tightly inside the lock bead, and position the hole bead so that it is in contact with the lock bead.
- Push the eyelet beads against the string material, with the help of your pliers.
- To make sure the entire position is not changed, add a drop of craft glue or nail polish in the cavity of the locking bead before covering it with the inserted sand beads.
- Next, tuck a bead into the loose end of the necklace string, then secure the string as close to the bead as possible, until the end is securely tucked inside.
Step 6. Alternatively, try using the knot method
If all the steps above sound very confusing, you can try making a knot at the end of the necklace string, in a position that is as close to the locking bead as possible. Then, secure it with craft glue. Trim the excess length of the string so that the knot is hidden in the locking bead.
Next, you can slip the locking hook over the locking beading hook. Use the pliers to close the hook, until the locking latch cannot be released
Step 7. Work on the other end of the necklace as well
If you're doing this process by pulling the string straight out of the loop, cut the cord by adding about 5 centimeters in length. Hold each end with your hands so that the beads move in the correct position and the necklace string hangs naturally.
Repeat the previous method on this end, just as you did with the first locking latch. If you're using a seashell-type locking bead, make sure you close it after filling with the sand beads, then use pliers to secure the hook
Method 2 of 2: With Needle and Thread
Step 1. Work on a non-slip surface
If you have a beaded placemat, that's a great choice. If not, use a towel, a large felt, or even a foam sheet. It's important to keep the order in which the beads are positioned, and you don't want the beads to roll all over the place.
Step 2. Prepare all your equipment
Here's the equipment you'll need:
- Your necklace beads
- lock latch
- Needle for stringing beads (thin needle with large pinhole)
- Silk or synthetic yarn
- Lighters or matches (for burning unused ends of synthetic thread)
- Super glue and toothpick (if you are using silk floss)
- Scissors or other cutting tools
Step 3. Thread the needle
This is not the usual way of threading a needle. You really have to unravel the thread. You will understand it immediately. Here's what you should do:
- Take the yarn about 25 centimeters and separate the braid into thinner strands.
- Take one of the thin strands and thread it through the eye of the needle.
- Make a knot until the thread forms a closed loop through the eye of the needle (this loop will hold the thread that will serve as your necklace string. This will widen the eye of the needle and make the process much easier).
- Cut the thread to about three times the length of the necklace you want.
- Double the thread and thread the free end into the loop you created. Don't tie it up, just let it be. However, make sure that the thread is pulled far enough so that it doesn't slip out of the tuck. The thread is now securely, even if it looks odd, on your needle.
Step 4. Install the locking latch
Take the locking hook from your old necklace (or use a new locking hook), then thread a loop of thread through it. To do this, simply thread the needle through the loop on the locking hook and thread it back into the loop of the end on your thread.
You may need to make a knot near the locking latch at this point. This knot will keep the loop of yarn from slipping in the wrong direction on the locking hook
Step 5. Start stringing your beads
Just thread your beads onto the necklace string through the needle, and push each bead toward the locking latch. Do it without rushing, so you don't change the order of the positions. You don't want to suddenly realize that they are in the wrong order when all the beads are in place.
Step 6. Once all the beads are attached, remove the needle
Make a knot on the side that has the two ends of the strand hanging freely (on the side opposite the locking hook). Then, push the beads toward this newly knotted end.
Step 7. Make a knot after each bead
Take one bead and push it toward the locking latch. On the side of the bead opposite the locking latch, make a small knot to hold it in place.
- It helps if you hold the hoop until it hangs over the beads and then tighten it. Keep the necklace string taut like this as you pull the knot tight.
- After each knot, separate the strands and pull them away from each other to bring the knot closer to the bead. This node should not be visible.
- You can also thread the needle through the knot and use it to push the knot until it touches the bead.
Step 8. Continue making knots for each bead
Grab the next bead and move it until it touches the last knot you made. Make the next knot, holding it with your fingers while pulling it tight. Repeat this until each bead is firmly in position and touching the knot toward the side that has the locking hook.
It requires special skills, and you'll get better at it the more you practice. You may need to work on a few necklaces to finally get it right. The more often you try, the tighter the results
Step 9. Cut off the excess length of yarn at the other end once you've finished making the knot
After making a knot for each bead, cut off the excess length at the other end that also has the knot you made in the first step. Next, thread the ends through the other side of the same locking latch. Pull the thread tightly toward the last knotted bead and make a strong, tight double knot.
Step 10. Secure it again with super glue or by briefly setting it on fire
If you are using silk floss, you can add a small dot of superglue to the end of the floss, with the help of a toothpick. Then, trim off the excess end of the thread near the knot once the glue dries.
If you are using synthetic yarn, trim off the excess length of the end of the thread leaving about 1 inch (8 cm) of thread, then lightly burn it over low heat. Note: be careful. There's a chance that you'll end up burning and melting your necklace. Burn in a very, very short time
Tips
- If there is a bead shop near your location, they may lend their tools for you to repair your necklace. Their shop staff can also provide assistance.
- If there are beads that cannot be moved through the needle, do not push them hard, as this will only cause them to break or snap. Do as if you had finished stringing the necklace, pulling the string in the opposite direction, removing the thread from the needle, inserting the smaller bead by hand, then continue the process.
- Take a break whenever your eyes feel tired.
