SIMPLE STRANDS
Susan
actually made the grey and black necklace (above left) before quite a while ago. Back then she just designed a three stranded one featuring square mother of pearl tiles. But she brought it in to a beading party so she could add two more strands to it. That certainly added more bulk and interest to this neutral toned design.

Susan left each strand separate but these are added to the clasp as the first strand. Adding a focal bead when you are just using seed beads will make the design pop. Dwyn Tomlinson over at BeadFx has this simple tutorial (above right/ link no longer available) which shows you a multistranded technique which finishes with filigree cone beads. See that bead at the bottom of the focal? It's a bicone! Not sure what's happening inside the filigree cones? Then check out Rubysbeadwork tutorial which shows you the eye pins inside which hold the strand knots.

Maura Buckner on Fire Mountain Gems has a tutorial (link no longer available) which just oozes class as it is a multistranded necklace full of Swarovski components in a swarth of rainbow colors.



My favorite design how-to is for a stunning multistrand pearl necklace shown on Stylemepretty.com. It was made by a beautiful bride called Stephanie. She got so many compliments from the original post showing fantastic pictures from her wedding that she kindly shared how she put it together. It may be just stringing but it goes to show the simplest of techniques can produce the WOW factor.



TWISTED STRANDS
Desiree over at the JewelrybyDesire blog, has a neat tutorial for making a multistranded seed bead necklace with only one long Fireline thread!! She too uses conical beads at the clasp end.





ILLUSION OR FLOATING NECKLACES

I also like Beadinglife.com's idea of multiple wire illusion strands (shown on the left). They use clam shells or calottes at the clasp ends.

Beader Design #:538

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Original Post by THE BEADING GEM
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