Creating a Ball Chain and Hemp Necklace: On ArtFire

 

 

Materials needed for this demonstration are as follows:

1. #10 Ball Chain in an 18 inch length

2. #10 ‘B’ Couple

3. 2 five feet pieces of Hemp

4. Scissors

5. Glue

 

The Demo

We have pre-cut kits in our shop in different colors for 5 dollars (plus shipping).

 

For this demo I am using 2 different colors of hemp to make it easier to follow how the knotting works.

Start with two equal pieces of hemp, for the 18″ ball chain we will need the pieces of hemp to be five (5′) feet each, that’s 60 inches or for you metric users it will be 1.524 meters. This length gives you plenty to work with and results in very little waste.

Line up the 2 ends of your hemp.Then begin a simple overhand knot. This knot will be the beginning of your necklace and also makes it easier to begin your knot work.

Pull the knot tight then move on to the next step.

Creating a Ball Chain and Hemp Necklace

The next part is simple, on one end of the ball chain I attach a #10 ‘B’ coupling, this becomes the clasp of the necklace and also makes it simpler to begin the knotting.

Then I attach a short piece of hemp to the ‘B’ coupling and also one to the other end of the ball chain, this is used to attach the ball chain to my knotting board.

I then attach the ball chain to my knotting board.

I then insert the hemp that I will be knotting through the hole in the ‘B’ coupling as seen in these photos, it is a good idea to align the two strands of hemp on opposite sides of the ball chain.

 

Now let’s start the knotting process.

Our goal is to make a nice flat knot, so you need to keep the order of your knots consistent.

Start by taking the left string (white) over the ball chain and the right string (black) under  the ball chain.

Then feed the white string down through the black and the black string goes up through the white and slowly pull them tight so your first tie is positioned behind the second ball on your ball chain, try to keep the strings straight.

Remember that you want a flat line of knots so take the white string over the ball chain and the black string under the ball chain, then feed the white down through the black and the Black up through the white and slowly pull them tight so your two knots rest in the same space.

Then repeat the process for the length of your ball chain, remembering to keep the white string on top.

As you can see by the above photo,keeping the white string on top it makes a wonderful design with white being the prominent color the same is also true for the other side where black will be the prominent color.

Just keep knotting down the chain remembering to keep the first string that you took over the top, over the top repeatedly.

 

Now add a drop of glue on each side of the first and last knot on your necklace once the glue has dried use your scissors to trim off the excess hemp and Ta-Da your very own ball-chain necklace.

 

For a single color of Hemp you will use one 10 foot piece in the color of your choice.

Line up the ends then string it back until you reach the other end which will also be the middle of your hemp.

Then you will want to make a loop and put it around your ball chain, you will actually want to put the loop down on the second ball so you leave room for the ‘B’ coupling to lock your necklace together.

Slide the loop tight then separate the Hemp on either side of the ball chain and then begin your knotting, remember to keep the string that you start on top, always on top and you will end up with a nice flat Ball Chain and Hemp Necklace.

William Bonnichsen: chainandhemp

 

I have been interested in all forms of art since I was a small child growing up in Southwestern Pennsylvania. I would spend hours amusing myself with paper and pencil as well as ink,paint and whatever else I could get my hands on.

Now I have a very eclectic style and also enjoy working with crafts and hemp in an attempt to intertwine them into wearable art.

 

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 7th, 2012 at 8:51 pm. It is filed under On Artfire. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.