I learned this jewellery technique at a class at the Bead Hold before they left Auckland. When I wrote this, there weren’t any instructions or kitsets for Ndebele cuffs or necklaces on their website but I’m sure they will be coming.
Ndebele is a stitched Herringbone design that can be made flat or as a spiral tube or rope. I made the rope design as a necklace. It was a bit fiddly to get started but once you get going it is pretty easy. Joining in new threads can be a bit of a pain so I worked with as long a piece of thread as I could comfortably manage so that I needed to join threads as seldom as possible.
For my first necklace I used small #11 Japanese seed beads as per the instructions and was very pleased with the result.
Then I thought the technique would look fantastic as a much more substantial rope necklace and made my next one using #6 Japanese seed beads in pearl.
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