As I was working on a 1920s mock-up from Simplicity Pattern 9088, I decided I wanted to turn it into an actual dress and finish it for my YouTube video. Per the pattern, it needed some beading or jewels added to the front of the dress. That was no problem; however, I was struggling to find anything that fit my needs. I searched high and low: online, at craft stores, everywhere. There used to be a bead shop that was not too far away that also sold rocks, crystals, and more, but it went out of business recently.

Then it dawned on me. A few months back, a friend of mine had a treasure trove of jewelry that a mutual friend of ours had found from a woman who had passed away last year. I know it is macabre, but the woman was an eccentric, just like me and my friends. When my friend and I met up, I had the opportunity to go through what was left. There was a bunch of jewelry, including necklaces, bangles, earrings, and some furs. I did not take any of the clothing, but I did take a couple of necklaces, a bunch of bangles, and some earrings. I can use wire to wrap the bangles and turn them into earrings or plugs. And same with the earrings: I can modify them to turn them into plugs, too. 

Well, one of those necklaces just so happened to be a fully beaded necklace: the type where there are multiple strands connected at the clasp area. It was perfect! The coloring was, too. Most of the beads had a brownish/tan tint to them, which worked perfectly with the gold dress.

I started to take a look at it and saw that it would be pretty easy to remove the clasp area. I took pictures of the clasp, but I did not take pictures of the full necklace, which I regret now. It was all tangled up anyway. Regardless, I was able to undo the metal pieces of the clasp and take them away from the strands of beads. The hard part was that the strands were all tied in one knot. And this knot was tight! It was also very small, and I did not have the tools at the time to pull it apart. I didn’t want to just cut it either, because then I would have beads all over the place and would still have to restring it.

I ended up having to get some magnifying glasses. Thankfully, I already had a lot of the tools I needed to take jewelry apart or put it together, but I still needed a needle that would fit inside the tiny glass beads. So, I went to the store and got some of those, as well as some very thin Beadalon thread.

Then I set to work. The magnifying glasses were an absolute savior.

The first thing I did was measure out the lengths of the threads I needed. Then I cut the Beadalon to the needed length, plus a few inches. I tied off the end of the thread and used a Speedle Needle. With that set up, I put the glasses on and was able to thread the needle into the necklace strand, and then I finally cut the thread on the necklace. The first one did not go so well, and I had quite a few beads decide to flee, but I got them all and was able to string them up. The rest was easy after that. I had to hold the necklace thread taut while I threaded the needle through the beads on the original thread. Then I would pull out the existing thread and push the beads down the needle onto the Beadalon thread.

It was painstaking work, but I eventually got all of the threads that I needed: eight in total.

I left the rest of the beads on their existing thread, but I gave them some space, tied off either end, and looped them around some cardboard pieces because I have another project I want to use them for.

And then I just have to apply them to the dress!

Based on the instructions in the pattern, you are supposed to hand sew the strings to the dress.  On the pattern it indicates where you should place the beads.  So I marked those on the dress with a tailor’s pencil.  Adding the strings of beads to the dress is taking a lot longer than anticipated.  Honestly, it almost seems like it’s taking as long as, or longer than, assembling the dress itself!  But once the beads are finally sewn on, I think they are going to make the whole dress feel much closer to the original 1920s inspiration.  It is slow work, but I already know the sparkle is going to be worth it.