The Corset Stitch designed by Kate McKinnon c. 2009 Ball End Clasp Kate McKinnon c. 2010 Skill level: Intermediate These instructions assume that you have familiarity with basic square stitch and 2 x 2 right angle weave. If you don’t, the stepbystep photographic instructions should be enough to learn by. If not, you can find stitch tutorials in the back of all the bead magazines, and on many sites online. You could also try a beginner class at a local bead shop. The Corset Stitch mixes swaths of simple square stitch with single bars of right angle weave (RAW) in a fluid piece that you can make in one layer or two. The ends are finished in sleeves, into which slip the legs of the innovative and simple Ball End Clasp. This is a special kit, offered only once on my web site, and contains a handmade fine silver Ball End. (In the future, the clasps will be available as cast bronze and sterling findings from my studio.) The sleeves with which you finish your work should match the size of your Ball End but remember that your end sleeves don’t have to match the width of the body of your bracelet or choker. The clasp in this special kit was sized to fit five rows of 2 x 2 square stitch, with spacers. (One row is two beads high, so five rows of square stitch = ten beads.) The piece that the beads are meant to make has one layer of matte gold 11s five rows in width, with size 14 coppery charlottes for spacers, and a second layer of blue Delica 11s eight rows in width, with the little bronze 14s for spacers. If you are feeling creative, though, any width or color combination you want to use is fine. Just be sure that you’ll have enough beads to go wider, if you want to. This depends on your own wrist size; your kit includes enough beads to make the suggested pattern up to eight inches long. The most important design note is that that whatever your width or pattern, your end sleeves should be exactly five rows high, so that your clasp will fit. On the opposite side of this page you’ll find step by step photo directions. I begin this piece in two layers by sewing one main strip, an end sleeve, then the second main strip, and the final end sleeve. Then I sew one of the sleeves closed into a tube. Please note that the blue and gold bracelet in the photo above shows sleeves that are only four rows high I made your clasp to fit beadwork five rows high, because a wider sleeve feels more secure. If you copy my pattern exactly, be sure to add a fifth row to your sleeves. You can make your sleeves out of either bead, the matte gold or the blue, or you use a mix of each, or stripes. Shake it up! Left: Different sizes of Ball End Clasps and styles of beadwork bracelets. The Ball End in your kit is sized like the one on the lower left in the photo to fit a sleeve that is five rows high, with 4 size 14 spacers in between each row. If you want to make a wider piece, but want your clasp to fit, make the body of the piece the width you want, and step down to a smaller sleeve, as in the photo below. See? The blue layer is wider than the sleeve. Visually I think it’s nice that the top layer is the same width as the sleeve. Left: This photo also shows the structure of the bracelet as done in two layers; one constant loop of beadwork, with one of the sleeves sewn into a closed tube on one end. This will hold one leg of your clasp, while the other sleeve can remain open, so that the bracelet will lie smoothly on your wrist. As an added bonus, this style of cuff is reversible. The piece will selfadjust to make sure it lies properly no matter which layer is worn against the skin. To reverse, just slip the clasp out, turn the bracelet over on your wrist, and reinsert the clasp. It will sort itself out to fit you perfectly.