Woven crystal bracelets have a huge bang for the buck. I don't remember when I first got the idea for them, but I've seen them in a few places since. They're a fairly straightforward way to transform basic bicones into a more substantial statement.

4 mm bicones seem to be the standard-issue cheap bead in the world of Swarovski crystal. Prices go up if you go up in size, and don't drop for the smaller sizes. Different shapes are all more expensive. When I first started working with crystal, I bought hundreds of bicones for just that reason, and then discovered they really don't have much of an impact on a piece. The way they're cut means that if you string them on a necklace or bracelet, most of the facets send light sideways, to hit on other beads. They don't pop out at the eye the way the spheres or cubes do.

So with literally a few thousand bicones and no idea what to do with them, I started playing, and found out that if you arrange them in little 4-bicone circles, they make a very cool square shape, and all that sideways reflection starts bouncing off the other crystals for some very attractive and dramatic effects. And it's really easy to do!

This particular bracelet uses:

1. Around 90 4mm bicones
2. A length of beading thread. If you try to use wire or a nylon thread, the beads will be likely to bunch up instead of lying smooth.
3. A clasp.
4. Two closed jump rings.



To start with, you'll need to cut a length of thread. Around 3 feet is usually enough for this, but I like to leave some room to trim the ends in care the thread gets frayed at the tips. Attach the jump ring to the middle of the thread. I normally just pass the jump ring onto the thread, center it between the two ends, and tie the thread to keep it in place.

Note: with some clasps, it's all right to just tie the thread directly to the clasp, if you prefer. The trick is to be careful that whatever you tie the thread to directly is a closed loop, without any cracks. Beading thread is great at finding those little gaps and sneaking through, as I discovered too many times.

Next, you want to pass both ends of thread through a bicone, to give the bracelet a smooth start. This gives a more polished final product than starting directly in the ladder pattern. At this point, your bracelet should look like this:



To make the ladder, you want to start by threading two bicones onto the two threads, so they will sit parallel to each other.



Then, take a third bicone and thread the two ends through it in opposite directions, so that the bead makes a bar between the two threads.



Pull it tight. It is important to make sure your bracelet sits properly here, because it's very difficult to adjust the tension later on if you leave in slack early on.



Repeat. The length of your bracelet depends entirely on how many repetitions of the pattern you do. Around 30 seems to be the best length, but you can customize your length.




When you have enough length, thread two bicones on separate threads, then pass both threads in the same direction through a bicone, the same way you did the other end. Tie the threads to a jump ring and secure with a drop of glue. Attach the clasp.



In fact, I am going to custom-make this in a very short length, because once I decided to use my orange bicones, my 3-year-old daughter decided she wanted it. So, this is a 3-year-old bracelet, in orange crystal.



Total cost: Around $4.50, buying the bicones in bulk at $0.08 apiece.

You can also extend the pattern to make other projects. You can, with a little ingenuity, turn the 2-thread pattern into a 3-thread pattern for a high-impact choker, or make fun little ladder earrings which are a really popular gift. Once you've mastered the technique, it can become an element of other pieces, as well.

Happy crafting!