Making a Beaded Curtain

Video HERE

Ok, so this project began 6 months ago, when I did some scary math and started cutting paper beads. I won't write up the whole of my process, because it was 3 months of boredom and 2 hours of stringing, but I will give you some general tips...

• First measure the width of your doorway and decide how many drops you will need - I went for every 2cm, but I could have gone for 1.5cm gapping instead.
• Then decide on a pattern use different shapes and lengths of beads - you could just go for a random selection, but I think that this gives a better overall finished look. Your pattern will have a repeated set of drops - adjust the top beads to create waves. My pattern is ABCBABC... so each set is ABCB so each set is 1xA, 1xC and 2xB. Work out how many of each bead you'll need for a set, then multiply that by the number of sets you'll need plus a couple of spares (I plan for 2-5% extra).
• Whilst cutting your papers, stack them in small-ish bundles (20-50) so that you can keep track of the numbers.
• For rolling I used a quilling tool, cocktail stick and bamboo skewer, depending on the length of the bead. I only used a glue stick and had no particular issues with glue failure, although I also used loom bands to act as a clamp for the larger ones.
• You have 3 options for applying finish - individual painting, dipping strings or finishing racks. The first is frankly not doable for more than a couple of hundred. To dip strings of beads you must separate each bead with a small glass or plastic bead so that they don't bind together, and then find some way of recovering the dripped-off varnish. Either of those is probably more work than you actually want to do, so try a rack approach. You will also need to separate beads if you thread them onto a finishing rack (a vegetable box works well) and spray from multiple directions.
• You can use a bead or a bell or anything you like to thread onto the bottom of each string. I used a nylon cord and jewellery crimps to secure the bottoms.
• Your choice of support batton should be fairly thin, I used a couple of dowels to tie the cords around, then wrapped the whole thing in ribbon to protect the knots after I squidged on some hot glue to fix them in place.