7 replies to this topic

[Metanoia]

been gathering pearls for the jewellery for it and all...

I have bought real cultured pearls from ebay before rather cheaply... no faux pearls for this viking girl!!

[Argent]

Metatonia: Good to know for other projects, thanks . I'd love to do a far eastern outfit sometime, with rich silks and lots of pearl embroidery...maybe byzantine... Could work for that!

I'm collecting faux pearls because I want really really big ones, like in the portraits. Since such big pearls are already kinda rare...heh, I don't think I could afford (or find - I've only ever seen pearls that size as real, south sea/tahitian pearls...at about 20 000 a string...)enough for all the jewellery. And I'd need a nice hulking bodyguard to wander around with! Hee. That could be fun to have anyway, really....

I managed to find two strings of pearls really cheaply yesterday, so I've almost got enough! Now I just have to decide whether to make a corset or just bone the bodice. I don't have much chest-wise so I figure I don't really need one...

[Metanoia]

how big is big? Up to about 10mm is relatively easy and cheap if you search. 8mm is more common though. I'm guessing you want white. Of course they won't be prefectly round, but then thats the loveliness of real pearls. I need to wear mine more. Their lustre has gone cause I haven't worn them for ages.

Cultured round potato pearls 8-8.5mm US$4.75 for a 16" string

That seller also has swarovski crystal faux beads up to 12mm, but they're more expensive than their cultured stuff. The nugget pearls are the ones I got I think, but I don't think they come bigger than about 5mm with that seller. At $2.49 a string I couldn't go wrong with them though. My Rus hat has them sewn on - Vikings loved pearls.

[Argent]

how big is big? Up to about 10mm is relatively easy and cheap if you search. 8mm is more common though. I'm guessing you want white. Of course they won't be prefectly round, but then thats the loveliness of real pearls. I need to wear mine more. Their lustre has gone cause I haven't worn them for ages.

Cultured round potato pearls 8-8.5mm US$4.75 for a 16" string

That seller also has swarovski crystal faux beads up to 12mm, but they're more expensive than their cultured stuff. The nugget pearls are the ones I got I think, but I don't think they come bigger than about 5mm with that seller. At $2.49 a string I couldn't go wrong with them though. My Rus hat has them sewn on - Vikings loved pearls.

Ooh, thanks for that seller, I'm always looking for good places to buy beads.. And I do rather like those 'ribbed' pearls.. I rather like the more baroque style pearls anyway. I shall be poking around there from some 'separator' beads to use in my girdle as well...probably garnet/dark gold colours. Not sure yet.

How big is big? Well, I measured my pearls, and the average size I need is about 18mm, with some over 22mm.... *grins* Biiig pearls. I've been getting my inspiration from 1560 portraiture, and a lot of the women in them are wearing very sizeable pearls, so I looked for the biggest I could get my hands on. And the best thing is that my Mom managed to find a whole pile going out cheap, due to the fact they weren't selling. With clasps and the knots I think I should have enough length for the girdle and necklace draperies now. On to finding the perfect fabric! *grins*

Oh, and I'm not after white, I'll take pretty much any (natural) colour, pearl-wise. I've seen some lovely dyed pearls, but the colours just look too fake for my liking. Deep cream, shell pinks and greys are all lovely. I get all inspired to make gowns in those colours before my sanity reasserts itself

.

[Metanoia]

I shall be poking around there from some 'separator' beads to use in my girdle as well...probably garnet/dark gold colours.

Ahhh garnet is one of my favourites too. For other misc gemstone beads another great seller is this one. Some garnet on ebay is cheap because its "indian garnet" which basically means its from india and you might get the odd flawed one where the hole might be a bit crooked or not through enough. Overall the gernet beads I got from here were absolutely beautiful and the bigger sizes don't have the same problems as the very small 3mm ones. I bought some amethyst and peridot from the same seller and they weren't flawed at all.

Really when buying gems the only thing you really have to be careful off is to steer clear of "Tibetan amber" because its actually plastic, not amber at all.

[Argent]

Ooh, that is a nice store...I'm coveting the moonstones already.... And it's good to know that it's decent quality stuff, that's the main reason I don't like buying online, I like to handle the items myself first.

But yes, I'll bookmark that so I can refer back to it... I'm mostly working with grey pearls, so I was thinking dark garnet, but something else might pop up... I just have to make sure it remains period! *grins* Can't let my enthusiasm run away with me too much. I was going to do for a deep blood colour for the gown, but I'm really tempted by mulberry instead, so we'll have to see how the fabric hunt goes. I'll probably have to wait to buy the separator beads until I've found the right fabric, so they contrast well with it and the pearls.

You're a treasure trove of info here! We'll be doing lots of costume-y chatting at the fair day, methinks

[El Presidente]

This was getting a bit off topic so I've moved you to one of your own

[Metanoia]

ha ha. Thanks