Question:
A friend has asked me to make a bead curtain for a window that is
about 30" wide and 48" long. She wants me to use long bugles and
other glass beads, which will work well with the design I have
proposed. I plan to weave a topper or header from seed beads, from
which to hang the long strands and attach the curtain to the wall.
I'm not sure which "thread" will be strong enough to hold what will
be heavy strands (of seeds, bugles, crystal and other glass
beads).My first thoughts are wire or a tigertail type thread. Does
anyone have any ideas? I'd love to hear from anyone who has done a
similar project, especially about pitfalls I haven't yet
considered.
Answer:
-Hi, what about fishing line for the bead curtain you described ?Should
"flow" well.
Should be easy to work with, cheap and fairly longlasting as long as its
not cut or burnt, theres lots of diameters available (The smaller the
test weight the thinner the line). Might not work well if youre knotting
much, at least the heavier test weights.....just a thought.
-With LOTS of weight on it, monofilament will indeed stretch. However, if you
stay under its weight limit, you won't have a problem. I have a necklace of
heavy beads strung on 30 pound monofiliment. It's been strung for two years,
and there's been no stretching.
I suspect that Kevlar thread would be strong enough to handle any number of
beads, but it's expensive. The old bead curtains seemed to be strung on
plain old bead thread, knotted fairly often.
-I don't think that I would use the fishing line, it has a tendency to not
hold up over time. If you are putting in all that work, you want it to
last. I have heard that there is a product called something like
"silimide" I am not sure if my spelling is correct, but from what I have
heard, that may be what you will want to use. Good luck.
