SUPPLIES
Bronze bangle
2. Pick up an 11/0 seed bead, a 6 mm two-hole lentil, and three 11/0s, and sew through the remaining hole of the lentil (figure 2, a–b), snugging the new beads close to the original brick. Pick up an 11/0 and a brick, and sew through the remaining hole of the new brick (b–c).
3. Repeat step 2 (c–d) until you have a strip with a total of 30 bricks. End and add thread as needed. With 30 bricks, the strip will be about 11 1⁄2 in. (29.2 cm) at this point but will cinch up later to become a bangle with a 7 1⁄2-in. (19.1 cm) circumference and a 2 1⁄4-in. (5.7 cm) inner diameter. Adjust the length now if desired. Each additional brick will add about 3⁄8 in. (1 cm) to the finished piece.
4. To form the strip into a ring, align the ends, making sure the beadwork isn’t twisted. Work as in step 2, but sew through the first brick instead of adding a new one (figure 3, a–b).
5. For the other edge, pick up an 11/0, a lentil, and three 110s, and sew through the remaining hole of the lentil. Pick up an 11/0, and sew through both holes of the next brick (b–c). Repeat (c–d) to complete the edge. End the working thread and tail. Embellishment
1. Add a comfortable length of thread to the base, exiting a lentil with your needle pointing toward the bricks.
2. Pick up a lentil and three 11/0s, and sew through the remaining hole of the new lentil, the first hole of the next lentil in the base, the following three 11/0s, and the remaining hole of the base lentil (figure 4). Pull snug. Repeat this stitch to complete the round. This round of lentils will sit on top of and perpendicular to the previous round of lentils on this side of the base.
3. Sew through the beadwork to exit a lentil on the other side of the base, and repeat step 2 to add a round of lentils on this side (figure 5). End and add thread as needed.
4. Sew through the beadwork to exit the middle 11/0 on top of an embellishment lentil. Pick up a 6 mm fire-polished bead, and sew through the middle 11/0 on top of the next lentil on the opposite side (figure 6, a–b). Repeat this stitch (b–c) to complete the round, maintaining an even but moderate tension.
5. Sew through the first 6 mm, and continue through the middle 11/0 on top of the next lentil on the other side (figure 7, a–b). Zigzag through the 6 mms and the remaining middle 11/0s to complete the round (b–c).
6. Once the 6 mms are connected to both rounds of lentils, sew through the first 6 mm again. Pick up an 11/0, and sew through the next 6 mm. Repeat this stitch to complete the round (figure 8), and end the thread.
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