Stringing Beads Without Special Equipment

You don’t need fancy beading needles or gadgets to string beads. Anything that will get a strand of your yarn through the hole in your beads can be considered.

In fact, you can use something you probably already have on hand string to strings beads for the first project of BOBBOL 2013: Beading Hearts Friendship Bracelet. Here are some of my favorite simple, low-tech options:

Some simple beading needle options

A tiny tapestry needle
(left in above photo)

If you have a size 24 or 26 tapestry needle, this can work well if:

1. you can manage to thread the needle with your yarn
2. the threaded needle will fit through the hole in your bead

Small sewing needle with “sewing thread eye”
(center in above photo)

Sewing needles not only come in thinner sizes than tapestry needles, but the eye on some styles is slimmer so it will easily pass through the hole in your beads. Since you won’t be able to thread your yarn directly through the eye of the sewing needle, make a “sewing thread eye”:

1. Thread the eye of your needle with a short length of sewing thread.
2. Holding both ends of the sewing thread together, make a simple overhand knot and pull snugly.
3. Clip the ends of the knot a short distance from the end. Now you have an “eye” through which you can easily pass your yarn.

Nylon dental floss threader
(right in above photo)

This “needle” option won’t stick you, and the collapsing eye is easily threaded with your yarn. Here is a picture of how the beads slide over the “eye”, collapsing it in the process of the beads being strung onto the yarn.

Let’s string beads!

If you’ve been hesitant to try stringing beads because of thinking you need special equipment, I hope this helps get you started with what you have on hand.

I’ll be back soon with more about knitting with beads. Happy knitting and beading!