How Do I Restring a Half and Half Strand?

[CatMom]

I think that my vintage Half and Half Akoya strand needs to be restrung. The silk on the green side has stretched some and some of the pearls are moving. The strand was done with white silk on the white side and green on the green side. How would I go about changing the color of the thread in the middle of a strand? Any tutorials for that? Thanks for any help on this!

 

[Pearl Dreams]

I have not done this, but this is what I would do:

Start stringing both ends just as you would a regular necklace-- start the white pearls with white thread, attaching them to one end of the clasp, and the Tahitian pearls with whatever color thread you prefer, attaching to the other end of the clasp.

When you get to the last 3 white pearls, string the final 3 pearls on without knotting.
Do the same on the Tahitian side.

You'll have 2 threaded needles meeting in the middle, where the white pearls meet the Tahitians, one with white thread and one with dark.

Then make an overhand knot between the two colored threads, thereby joining the 2 half-strands.

Now reverse direction with each needle. Back-knot the white thread through the last 3 white pearls (that's 2 knots between 3 pearls). Pass the needle through one more white pearl without making a knot. Trim the white thread, thereby hiding the tail inside that last pearl.

Do the same on the Tahitian side. Reverse direction, back-knotting between the final 3 pearls, then pass the needle through one last pearl witthout making a knot, and trim the tail.

One possible modification to this:
Looking at the necklace photo, I see there is no dark thread showing at all where the white pearls meet the Tahitians.
If you want to preserve that look, you could make the two half-strands join on the Tahitian side of the necklace, instead of dead center.

To do this, string the white thread through the last 2 white pearls and 1 Tahitian pearl before making an overhand knot to join the two half-strands, then reverse direction with the white thread on one side and the dark thread on the other side.

That means you'll have to stop knotting between the last 4 Tahitians instead of the last 3. You want to make no fewer than 2 back-knots, for security-- unless you plan to add a drop of Hypo cement. I tend to avoid adding any glue to pearl strands, but some people do use glue. This might be the time to use the drop of Hypo Cement so that you only have to back-knot once, through the last 2 pearls on either side. Back-knotting makes larger knots, and these knots will be front and center.

 

[CatMom]

I have not done this, but this is what I would do:

Start stringing both ends just as you would a regular necklace-- start the white pearls with white thread, attaching them to one end of the clasp, and the Tahitian pearls with whatever color thread you prefer, attaching to the other end of the clasp.

When you get to the last 3 white pearls, string the final 3 pearls on without knotting.
Do the same on the Tahitian side.

You'll have 2 threaded needles meeting in the middle, where the white pearls meet the Tahitians, one with white thread and one with dark.

Then make an overhand knot between the two colored threads, thereby joining the 2 half-strands.

Now reverse direction with each needle. Back-knot the white thread through the last 3 white pearls (that's 2 knots between 3 pearls). Pass the needle through one more white pearl without making a knot. Trim the white thread, thereby hiding the tail inside that last pearl.

Do the same on the Tahitian side. Reverse direction, back-knotting between the final 3 pearls, then pass the needle through one last pearl witthoug making a knot, and trim the tail.

One possible modification to this:
Looking at the necklace photo, I see there is no dark thread showing at all where the white pearls meet the Tahitians.
If you want to preserve that look, you could make the two half-strands join on the Tahitian side of the necklace, instead of dead center.

To do this, string the white thread through the last 2 white pearls and 1 Tahitian pearl before making an overhand knot to join the two half-strands, then reverse direction with the white thread on one side and the dark thread on the other side.

That means you'll have to stop knotting between the last 4 Tahitians instead of the last 3. You want to make no fewer than 2 back-knots, for security-- unless you plan to add a drop of Hypo cement. I tend to avoid adding any glue to pearl strands, but some people do use glue. This might be the time to use the drop of Hypo Cement so that you only have to back-knot once, through the last 2 pearls on either side. Back-knotting makes larger knots, and these knots will be front and center.

Thank you so much Pearl Dreams! That makes eminent sense. I will definitely try this when I feel more confident with my stringing.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

Let us know how it goes-- I'll add a link to this thread to my stringing tutorial for anyone else who encounters this situation.

 

[jeg]

I had just a slightly different thought, but I wasn’t sure how to explain it or if it would look ok. Starting at the clasp, knot all the white pearls and set it aside. Using a different needle with black thread, start at the clasp end and knot all the black pearls except the last 4 that will be the center pearls. Take the needle with white thread and run it through the 4 remaining loose black pearls and the last black pearl you knotted, joining the two sides. Overhand knot the black thread (over the white thread) over the last 4 black pearls. If you can get the black thread through the center white pearl, you can burn it off on the other side so it’s not showing, or burn it by the knot of the center black pearl. Burn the loose white thread off that had been strung through the last 5 black pearls. I use a thread burner instead of cutting the thread because you can get a nice clean cut that won’t fray. This might be easier than back knotting both sides, as long as the black overhand knots cover the white thread.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

That sounds good too, jeg.

CatMom, you could try a mini version using just 10 or so pearls of both colors, without the clasp, to test each method out. I'd be interested to see how well the black thread covers the white thread.

 

[BWeaves]

Normally I'd start stringing at the clasp, but I think I would start in the middle. Loop the two colors around each other like a pinkie swear, and then make an overhand knot right at the color change. Then start knotting out from the middle to the clasps. You can always redo it if you don't like whichever method you tried.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

BWeaves,
What would you do with the tail ends of the threads when you make the center pinkie swear knot?

Maybe one could thread the tails onto another needle and bring them back through the last pearl on each side, then trim? Thus hiding the tails in the last pearl of each color.

 

[BWeaves]

The threads are doubled going through the pearls, so the only tails are at the clasps, like they normally would be when you got to the end of stringing. That's why I'd start in the middle with both colors hooked around each other going in opposite directions. No tails in the middle.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

I think I am picturing what you suggest. Is it this?--

String on 2 or 3 white pearls on one needle with white thread (without knotting in between), string on 3 black pearls on the other needle with dark thread (also without knotting). Make an overhand knot (pinkie swear) joining the 2 colors, then reverse direction and back-knot between the last few pearls on each side, hiding the tail in one pearl, then string on/knot the rest of the pearls on each side, leaving the last 3 pearls unknotted. Attach clasp and back-knot as usual.
If this, I think the effect will be the same as my original suggestion, just a different procedure.

 

[CatMom]

Oh my goodness, so many ways to try now. I will definitely try it with 10 or so of each color to see which way looks best to me. Thank you so much, Pearl Dreams, jeg, and BWeaves for your suggestions. I was stymied

 

[BWeaves]

I think I am picturing what you suggest. Is it this?--

String on 2 or 3 white pearls on one needle with white thread (without knotting in between), string on 3 black pearls on the other needle with dark thread (also without knotting). Make an overhand knot (pinkie swear) joining the 2 colors, then reverse direction and back-knot between the last few pearls on each side, hiding the tail in one pearl, then string on/knot the rest of the pearls on each side, leaving the last 3 pearls unknotted. Attach clasp and back-knot as usual.
If this, I think the effect will be the same as my original suggestion, just a different procedure.

No need to hide the tails. I would use the entire doubled length of thread to knot the pearls. Just starting in the middle and working towards the clasp. The claps is where you'll need to hide the tails.

 

[CatMom]

I think I understand what BWeaves is saying. I tried it here with a few FWs I have. I did the knot at the joint on the dark side. I think when I do my strand I will knot there in white. Here are some pictures. Is this what you were meaning BWeaves?

 

[CatMom]

I have it quadrupled in the above example but now I'm not sure how I would do the end.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

I think I understand what BWeaves is saying. I tried it here with a few FWs I have. I did the knot at the joint on the dark side. I think when I do my strand I will knot there in white. Here are some pictures. Is this what you were meaning BWeaves?

View attachment 465370


View attachment 465371

And then do you pass both white and both dark threads through the eye of the needles? This quadruples the thread.

Or, just one of the white and one of the dark threads (which doubles the thread), and trim the other one after it passes through a few pearls?

 

[Pearl Dreams]

I really find visualizing it is 90% of the battle.

 

[CatMom]

I did it!!! I ended up dropping one thread at the end so that it was only doubled. Now I have a new bracelet, lol.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

Fantastic!

 

[BWeaves]

I think I understand what BWeaves is saying. I tried it here with a few FWs I have. I did the knot at the joint on the dark side. I think when I do my strand I will knot there in white. Here are some pictures. Is this what you were meaning BWeaves?

View attachment 465370


View attachment 465371

Yes, like that. I go up and then back down the pearls, so there's only 3 threads, not 4 trying to go through the hole. Then at the clasp, I drop one thread when I'm knotting back from the clasp.

 

[JerseyPearl]

You guys are amazing! I love the color switch...but you know, I'd want the opposites to attract. So the green pearls would have pink thread and the pink pearls green thread.