Stringing

My next topic of discussion would inevitably be on the issue of stringing material. Stringing material will affect how your design will turn out to be especially if you are doing bead stitches. I will not be touching on wires as I'll leave that for a discussion under wirework.

There are many types of stringing materials out there, which honestly, even I myself are clueless. From the reading and research that I've made, my guess is I think overseas beaders are more spoilt for choices.

As far as local beaders are concerned, the ones commonly used are fishing line, tiger tail, those elastic beading thread, leather and cotton cords. Or maybe there are some alternatives such as Nymo or silk thread which I'm not aware of but I suspect not commonly used by novice beaders due to higher cost.

So, basically the main discussion here will be on the more common stringing materials.

Fishing line
This is the cheapest stringing material available. I think it's similer to Monofilament, Fireline, Power Pro or Tegusu to the Japanese but to me, it's still the same 'ol fishing line. :P What I really like about fishing line is that they are very durable, even the thin ones. I can't imagine thread that were initially made to bear the weight of a fish would not be durable enough for beadwork, provided you buy those good quality ones, of course.

Another brownie point for fishing line is the flexibility to do away with needles. Other beading threads such as Nymo, as I understands it are like threads which require you to use a needle to do your stitches. Now, fishing line are by themselves sturdy and sharp enough to also double up as a needle for stringing.

Also, if you are using Swarovski crystals or those bugle or hex-cut beads, Nymo may not work well in such circumstances. These beads have sharp edges which will cut your thread. So, if you are using fishing line, you don't have to worry about your beads cutting your thread. Imagine only a 25% away from completing your work, only to have your thread finally gave way. Well, depending on your design, you may or may not add on thread but still, it is definately not one pleasant beading experience. You can trust me on this. So, think and choose your stringing material carefully before you embark on a project!

There is however one thing that I do not like about fishing line is their tendency to curl or slip when you tie a knot. That's why I prefer running the thread through my work several times either to end my work or to add on thread rather than tying knots. Some people may be skeptical on this but trust me, it is very secure PROVIDED you run through many many times. It's time consuming but I think it's more secure than a knot. If you must knot it, I trick I was told was to slightly melt the knot with a lighter. The knot then kinda balls up and clump together but even then you have to be very CAREFUL. We don't want to get neither you nor your work burnt, now do we? I personally tried this trick once. My thoughts? Uhhmm, not a very good idea. As for the tendency to curl part, I've read somewhere that using a hairdryer might do the trick.[raised eyebrow] I know, I haven't gotten around that trick either. *shrugs* So, I still don't know the trick to reduce the tendency to curl but for to handle your work with much care. Tell me ya, if you know!

Next, on the sizes of these fishing lines. These fishing lines comes in a wide array of sizes. I'm not going to suggest on any brands because I've yet to really find a difference in them. I've tried fishing lines imported from USA, Japan and even locally. So far, all worked pretty well for me.

What I do find a great difference in is in the size of the thread, which affects the end results of your work significantly. I think, in general 0.25mm works the best for most weaves. Anything more than that, your work will just pucker up and anything less, your work will just be floppy. However, if you're doing one of those 3D motifs, you might want to use thread around 0.20 or less because chances are, motif stitching might require you to run your thread through the same bead several times. If you still find your work not so sturdy in the end, the trick is just to run through it several times more. It's better to use a thinner thread and run through your work several times to stabilize it rather than a thicker thread and going through less. The finishing is just different.

All the discussion in fishing line above holds true only if you are doing bead stitching. If however, you are only stringing beads, fishing line won't do the trick, especially if you use larger beads, such as 8mm and above.

Tiger tail
This is where tiger tail comes in. Tiger tail works best for your 'straightforward strands of beads' pieces. Fishing line would be a bit too flimsy for this kind of work. Tiger tail is stiffer and gives more shape to it. It also works very nicely with crimp beads to make those 'illusion' design pieces. Those designs where the beads are seemingly floating in the air.

You can't use tiger tail for bead stitching. Tigertail is a series of wires covered with a coloured nylon coating. This creates a strong but flexible beading wire which is ideal for heavier or sharp edged beads.The diameter will vary depending on the number of wires used to make the Tigertail and the nylon coating comes in a range of colours to match your beadwork. Bear in mind however any designs using tiger tail has to be finished off using crimps, largely due to the fact that it is nylon coated wires. Tying a knot is a no-no. Well, you can't really tie a knot with tiger tail to begin with anyway.

Other similar ones are like Beadalon, Soft Flex, Soft Touch etc.

One reminder when using the tiger tail though. Be careful not to kink it. Once you kinked it, that's pretty much it. The kink cannot be undone and you totally spoil the shape of your work.

Elastic beading string
They come in the floss type or those clear ones and come in a wide range of sizes. Okay, frankly speaking, I'm not fond of them but they are very popular. For one, ease of wearing for the wearer and also eliminate the problem with sizing for the maker.

However, the floss type one tends to fray over time and the clear ones loses its elasticity which requires constant re-stringing. Very troublesome in my view. Plus, it's stifling in terms of creativity because there's nothing much that you can do with it apart from stringing.

Leather and cotton cord
I haven't really got the opportunity to use any of these yet. The closest I got was in using faux suede lace. Very nice finishing but susceptible to fraying. Well, maybe because it's faux. Wonder if the real thing would fray as much.

While I think cotton cord would be more cost-effective, leather cord might give a nicer finishing. But that might cost you quite a bit. Either way, I think leather and cotton cord primary design will have to fall on the different knots that you are going to tie it with.


Well, yeah, that's pretty much my two cents on stringing materials in a nutshell but at the end of the day, I still believe it is a matter of preference. And as you most probably can see, my preference is fishing line. That's what I've got the most to say. Why not? It's cost effective and durable! ;)
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Postscripts:
Visit Japanese beader, Beading Bees for some simple and easy, free and nifty projects. She has also included an explanation on some of the more commonly used weaves in Japanese beading. The site comes in two languages mode. So, you may want to put what you've learn in Japanese lessons into good use or just stick to plain 'ol English like me. Either way, you won't have problem navigating her site.
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