Gardens of Maharaja pendant tutorial

Material list:

CAB – 20mm Gemstone Cabochon Green Amazonite,

FILI – 51x55mm Big Crescent Filigree,

C11 – 11/0 Miyuki Delica beads, (2 colors),

R15 – 15/0 Miyuki round seed beads, (1 color),

ROS – 6mm Rosetta 2-hole Cabochon,

CUP – 2.4mm Preciosa rhinestone cup chain,

US – Ultra Suede, (Leather is also an option.)

Tassel – I used 12cm tassel in Fuchsia color

To attach and decorate the tassel:

BUG – 6mm Miyuki Slender Bugle Beads, I used Gold Violet Metallic,

P3 – 3mm round glass beads,

FP4 – 4mm fire-polished beads,

MB – 9×11 mm Gold-colored Fancy Metal bead with Zircons Violet

BIC6 – 6mm Preciosa bicone beads,

FP6 – 6mm fire-polished beads,

R11 – 11/0 Miyuki round seed beads,

1.

Glue your CAB using E6000 to a piece of Ultra Suede. You may draw a center line to keep symmetry – I didn’t do this as the CAB is perfect round shape.

2.

Tie a knot on your Fireline and stitch from back to front.  Add (2) C11 using backstitch, sewing down to the foundation and back up – through the 2 C11 again (check Erika’s video tutorials on the Traveller pendant for guidance), going all around the cabochon in this way.

Finish with an even number of C11 beads. This is important so you can continue with the peyote stitch in the next steps.

3.

Use peyote stitch, adding (1) C11 to every second bead from the first row. When you finish this step, exit the first C11, so you can start a new row. I added 1 more row of C11 in this way.

4.

Add one row of R15. The number of rows depends on the cabochon you have, but this small CAB was easy to bezel with 1 row of R15. Pass through beads to the foundation and tie a knot.

5.

Sew the ROS to the foundation, keep in mind this will create the bottom “middle point”.

Prepare your rhinestone cup chain. I usually start on the side, so the first and last crystal fit nicely and it’s also easier to manage the imperfections that may appear while sewing. Don’t cut the chain until you sew almost your last pieces of rhinestones.
Your thread goes from back to front, between 2 crystals, and down to the foundation. Crystals are connected with a flat metal chain, this is the component you need to attach. Tie a knot on the back again and cut your thread.
If needed, use F6000 with a precision tip to glue the first and last crystal to fix them on the foundation. You can use a toothpick to apply the glue if you don’t have a version with a precision tip.

6.

The needle shows where CUP will be cut and last 2 rhinestones will be attached to the foundation.

7.

Start from the ROS.

Pick new R15 beads and attach them with backstitch. I was picking (6) R15 at once, beading back through 3. The number of beads doesn’t need to be even at the end. When you finish your row, you may need to repeat the thread path through all newly added beads. It depends on the thread tension, stitches, beads you used.

Tie a knot on the back of the foundation.

8.

Adding the FILI.

If you decided to use the Big Crescent, you see it’s not 100% flat. I gently pushed it against the desk to flatten it. Then I carefully centered it and sew it to the US. I did 2 rounds of small stitches – inner and outer edge. At the end I was attaching also the pointy bottom of the crescent with a single stitch on each side at its end.

9.

I filled the gap between the FILI and bezel with a short row of R15 on each side, using backstitch.

This is the moment where you can still continue decorating your main motif with extra beads 🙂

Tie a knot on the backside.

10.

Cut your beadwork and glue it on a piece of cardboard paper. Let it dry and cut it all around again, leaving only a 0.5 mm edge.

11.

Add glue to your beadwork and another layer of US – the backing. Leave it dry and cut the extra Ultra Suede on the edges.

11.

While you wait for your beadwork to dry, use the time to decorate the tassel. I made a simple peyote stripe of 2 colors of C11 and BUG.

12.

Working with peyote, adding beads. Your stripe should be long enough to wrap whole tassel.

13.

Zip your peyote stripe around the tassel, passing through beads for several times to strengthen the connection.

14.

Also, attach the stripe to the tassel with several stitches through the beads and the tassel, so it doesn’t move.

15.

Connect all 3 layers (foundation, cardboard paper, backing) by making an edge with a simple C11 row. It starts with 2 beads, you stitch back through the second bead and continue adding (1) C11 per stitch until the very end.

16.

Connect last bead you added with the very first bead, with single stitch without adding beads. (See Traveller series for more details about edges.)

17.

There are many options for the bail. I decided to bead a loop on top of the pendant using peyote stitch (see the Traveller pendant videos). I continued in beading peyote stripe.

18.

I connected both ends, zipping them with a thread. The loop allows a chain or ribbon to pass through – be careful and better make a test with your findings before tying knot and cutting all threads.

19.

Attaching the tassel – depending which kind do you use. My 12cm tassel has a rubber tube in the center, with fairly large hole that can be clogged by at least 5mm bead in diameter. That’s why I used FP6.

20.

With thread leaving the bottom center of C11 – pick P3, BIC6, (3) FP4 (these will be invisible, filling the large hole of metal bead), MB, Tassel, FP4, FP6 and R11.

Navigate back, skipping R11, and retrace the thread path through beads.

I repeated this step twice, returning to C11 on the edge of the pendant.

21.

Use the C11s on both sides to strengthen connection of tassel, dividing the weight of the tassel and hiding your knots.

Cut the thread, hang your pendant and enjoy!