ETRUSCAN COLLAR 
Designer: Warren Feld
BW3-NB-01
INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED LEVEL 
-- Bead Weaving Sequence
-- Lesson: Ndebele, Color Simultaneity Effects
-- Necklace

Create a sophisticated, contemporary Etruscan-style collar! Layer two Ndebele stitched strips, slightly curving the interior edge and embellishing with chain.

NOTE: Regular retail and wholesale store discounts do not apply to kits.

The ETRUSCAN COLLAR KIT
Instructions to make a 15 - 17 1/2 " necklace collar
Supplies to make up to an 18 1/2" necklace collar

PLEASE NOTE: Sometimes, because of erratic supplies of beads and othermaterials, 
we will need to substitute something of similar color and quality.

#1  ANTIQUE AMETHYST / SAGE GREEN PALETTE

Colors may appear differently on different monitors.

#2  BRILLIANT GOLD PALETTE

Colors may appear differently on different monitors.

#3  SPECTRUM GOLD PALETTE

Colors may appear differently on different monitors.

#4  TEAL TERRA / ANTIQUE ROSE PALETTE

Colors may appear differently on different monitors.

#5  TERRA COTTA PALETTE

Colors may appear differently on different monitors.

FORMAT OPTONS

 (1) Instructions Digital Download

About the Kit...

Bead weaving is a collection of hundreds of different stitching techniques and strategies for creating pieces that approximate a piece of cloth.

The Ndebele stitch, sometimes called Herringbone Stitch, is a loose-knit stitch that lends itself to many creative variations. It results in a herringbone pattern, or zig-zag effect.

This Etruscan Collar Necklace consists of two overlapping strips of Ndebele Stitch, a chain embellishment, and an attached choker clasp. The strips are overlapped so that they curve slightly along the inner edge.

The challenge, here for me, was to create a sophisticated, wearable, and attractive piece that exemplified concepts about contemporizing traditional jewelry. At about the same time I was trying to conceptualize this piece, I had been asked to lead an 8-day workshop on Jewelry Design in Cortona, Italy. I pretty quickly married my design work to this teaching opportunity, and created a workshop called "Contemporizing Etruscan Jewelry".

Things clicked. I found an Etruscan Collar that I immediately connected with. See image below:

There is considerable artistry and craftsmanship underlying Etruscan jewelry. I began to interpret and analyze this piece. I first broke it down in terms of its Traditional Components.

Contemporizing Traditional Jewelryhas to do with how you take these particular traditional forms and techniques, and both add your personal style to the pieces, as well as make them more relevant to today's sense of fashion and style. The challenge for the designer is how to keep traditional ideas essential and alive for today's audience.

Part of the artistry of the jewelry designer has to do with the control over color. Picking colors is about making strategic choices. And picking Bead Colors is about understanding how the bead asserts its needs for color.The jewelry designer must be strategic in the placement of color within the piece. The designer achieves balance and harmony, partly through the placement of colors. The designer determines how colors are distributed within the piece, and what movement and rhythm and effect result. And the designer determines what proportions of each color are used, where in the piece, and how.

One set of color-theories, widely used in our Etruscan Collar, employed to make these kinds of choices have to do with Simultaneity Effects. Colors in the presence of other colors get perceived differently, depending on the color combination.

In the Etruscan Collar project...

LearnToBead Goals:
- Creating a design-plan for a layered bead woven necklace collar
- Strategically selecting a color palette, especially in reference to "simultaneity effects"
- Implementing the Ndebele Stitch using a 4mm cube and two 2mm beads to create two strips which will later overlap
- Reinforcing the Ndebele strips
- Attaching and assembling two layers of Ndebele Stitched strips using a hybrid brick stitch/ndebele stitch technique
- Weaving in a decorative chain element along the inner boundaries of the piece, using a bookbinding stitch
- Attaching a choker clasp assembly
- Some ideas about what it means to "contemporize" a traditional piece of jewelry

Instructions Contents:

This set of instructions is organized as a series of
Jewelry Design Choices:

I. Planning Your Project
IA. Conceptualizing Your Piece
CONTEMPORIZING A TRADITIONAL DESIGN
COLOR SIMULTANEITY EFFECTS
IB. Measurements
IC. Selecting Materials
ID. Sketching a Pattern or Graph
IE. Identifying Potential Areas of Weakness within Your Piece
IF. Identifying How To Attach The Clasp
IG. Visualizing Your Process
IH. Organizing Your Work Space
II. Begining Your Project
IIA. Basic Steps
1. Make bottom Ndebele strip
2. Add outer embellishment
3. Make top Ndebele strip
4. Attach two overlapping strips
5. Weave in chain embellishment
6. Attach left side of clasp
7. Attach right side of clasp
IIB. Dealing with Contingencies
IIC. Finishing Touches
III. Summary of Learning Objectives You Have Met
After Accomplishing This Project
IV. Next Steps
IVA. Suggested Readings