Hemp Jewelry Beads – The Biggest Problem Is…

Hemp Jewelry Beads

Finding Beads With Large Enough Holes For The Hemp Twine To Fit Through:

Hemp macrame knotting has found a resurgence with the new hippies and even with some of us old ones.

Hemp twine comes in all kinds of colors and can be beaded or knotted in a variety of patterns for making very cool bracelets, necklaces, belts and key chains.

With hemp jewelry making, you need to find beads that have large enough holes to accommodate the thickness of the hemp cording. Even the finer twines are still fairly thick.

The problem gets worse with hemp jewelry patterns that require you to pass the cord through the bead holes more than once… which is common.

Since it’s tough to find suitable hemp jewelry beads at the best of times, I would suggest that you consider making them yourself using polymer clay.

The fantastic thing about polymer clay is that you can make your beads any size you want, with any size hole you want. And… polymer clay can me made to resemble everything from glass to ceramic to wood and even metal.

Hemp Bracelet beads

How do you like the pirate theme I created for these hemp bracelet beads? The crossbones jewelry beads are made using polymer cane slices.

So next time you are looking for the perfect hemp jewelry beads and can’t find them… consider making them yourself! I can show you how if you like.

  1. Kristy, 20 April, 2008

    WOW!!!!! That is really cool! Love it.

  2. Cindy Lietz, 20 April, 2008

    I figure if I do enough of these crossbones bead jewelry projects that maybe Johnny Depp will come a calling for some custom jack sparrow pirate beads… :)

    Cindy’s last blog post..Piercing Beads with Small Pins vs Making Large Hole Beads

  3. Kristy, 21 April, 2008

    ahaha, maybe your right!! He is such a hottie :D
    Well if he comes a callin, let me know!!!

  4. Cindy Lietz, 21 April, 2008

    Trust me… if Jonny Depp calls me, I’ll be telling EVERYONE!!!

    Cindy Lietz’s last blog post..Jelly Roll Cane – Perfect for Polymer Clay Beginners

  5. DARINDA BRADEN, 09 November, 2008

    Love the bracelet & the hemp. I’m all for any ways Of using beads with fibers or leather. I’m allergic to all metals, so it makes me happy when I find something such as this. Have worn an anklet I made from beads & leather for about 1/2 years. Have even been known to wear earrings with crochet thread thru my ears. Works for me!!!Thankx DE BRADEN

  6. Louise T, 10 November, 2008

    Hi Cindy,

    I love the look of Macrame and actually did some macramé work back in the 60’s (showing my age). I would love to see some jewelry ideas with this theme.

    Louise

  7. Cindy Lietz, 12 November, 2008

    @Darinda: Thanks! That’s too bad about being allergic to metal… Great workaround with the crochet thread! Have you tried Niobium? It is apparently an inert metal that is completely hypo-allergenic. It is gorgeous too!

    @Louise: Me too, though I did the macrame in the 70’s. :-) I will try and add more hemp jewelry designs in the future. It has gotten quite popular again!

  8. DARINDA BRADEN, 16 November, 2008

    Niobium–Do you have any idea where I can get this, Cindy? Does it come in wire form & can I also get it for the clasps? Thankx for the suggestion–you are always so good at answering people. DE BRADEN You can send answer to my E-mail if you want.

  9. Cindy Lietz, 17 November, 2008

    You can get Niobium in wire, jump rings and clasps at The Ring Lord. Just type it into your browser. It comes in all colors of the rainbow and you can make your own ear wires with it too!

  10. Lupe Meter, 16 January, 2009

    You are right about not finding beads with large holes for Hemp or C-Lon cord. I used to make macrame hangers years ago and have found myself using it for necklaces and bracelets. Kris Buchanan has come up with some nice Micro Macrame books. I bought a couple of them because I mostly had the old macrame books (for belts, pottery hangers, etc.) and I just love them! She has a website: kristinebuchanan.com if anyone is interested. So, now I am using macrame for some of polymer pendants and beads.

  11. Cindy Lietz, 16 January, 2009

    That is what is so cool about polymer clay bead making… you can make the holes whatever size you want!

    Thanks for the info Lupe!

  12. Phaedrakat, 12 February, 2010

    I adore your pirate beads on hemp — makes such a cute bracelet. The first polymer beads I ever made were faux bone, and I used hemp with them to make a choker. I gave it to my nephew, and he wore it until he outgrew it. Now his little brother wears it sometimes (he’s not as into male jewelry as much as his older bro.)

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