“Sheena” Iron Jasper Pendant Necklace

I had really wanted to try beading around a cabochon to make a pendant, and I had this nice Iron Jasper piece in my stash. I also had some Tigereye beads which I thought looked good with the jasper.

I glued some felt to the back of the cabochon with E6000 and used bead embroidery stitch and then peyote to encase the cabochon. This is how I found out that size 11 Delicas are slightly smaller than size 11 rocailles. It helps to use smaller beads to cinch in the beading so that it encases the cabochon. I’ve done a few more pendants like this and I tend to use size 11 rocailles as the first 2-3 rows, then size 11 cylinder beads for 2-3 rows, then size 15 rocailles for the last 2-3 rows.

I didn’t have any size 15s in my stash that would match, but I did have the dark smoky amethyst AB, which I thought looked nice with the brown tones.

I also learned some other new stitches with this necklace – peyote for the bail, herringbone spiral rope for the lower half of the strap and then flat spiral stitch for the upper half.

Stitched with size 11/0 Czech seed beads, size 11/0 Miyuki Delicas, size 15/0 Miyuki rocailles, 3 mm and 4 mm bicones, various size tigereye beads, Fireline.

Here is a good tutorial on bead embroidery around a cabochon (bezeling)

Here is a good tutorial on spiral herringbone rope:

Here is a good tutorial on flat spiral stitch:

Here is a good tutorial on peyote stitch

Finished May 2024