Vintage Lucite and Fabric Necklace

It all started with a magazine.   
I was browsing through a bead store in Cheltenham when I came across a 3-year-old issue of Australian Beading featuring a fantastic necklace design on the cover.  The design was by an artisan by the name of Angela Clark, made using colourful vintage Lucite beads and vibrant vintage fabric cut-outs, backed onto leather and wire-stitched around the edges. I fell in love with that necklace on the spot and snapped up the magazine, planning to contact Angela and see if she had any kits available.
I was a little nervous, feeling rather audacious to ring up a bead store and ask about a design featured in a years-old magazine. Not even knowing if the number was still current, I dialled and waited hopefully. A few rings in, Angela herself answered the phone. I briefly explained that I had seen her necklace in Australian Beading magazine and I had loved it so much I wanted to learn how to make it. I then asked if she had any of the beads left in her store and whether I could purchase a kit or come in to learn the technique.
To my surprise and delight, Angela instead invited me to come into her store and offered to show me how to make the necklace herself. I was thrilled to be offered such an opportunity, and jumped at the chance. Such an offer was extremely generous especially considering I had said I was willing to purchase a kit, which would no doubt have cost me far more than going in and learning from Angela herself. I soon discovered, though, that Angela is the type of artisan I love – the kind that love what they do so much that their greatest joy is sharing it with others.

After a brief phone call the following week, I arranged to visit Angela’s store, Boutique Beads, to learn how to make that wonderful necklace.
I caught the 112 Tram from Collins St and rode it to St Georges Road in Fitzroy North. I managed to ride the tram two stops too far and had to walk back, using the Google maps feature on my iPhone to guide me. I have a remarkable talent for walking straight past the shop I want when I am trying to find one. I did actually walk past this one and did an embarrassing back step-shuffle before I redirected my feet in through the door.
The moment I stepped into the store, I felt a rush of excitement. Along every wall were bench tops and racks, just dripping with beads. I felt like a kid in a candy store. I could barely even walk in a straight line, as my legs tried to take me in every direction at once. The beads beckoned to me from every side. Long strands of semiprecious beads – amethyst, jade, pink quartz, stone, onyx and many others– sparkled along the left side of the store. Between them lay magnificent hand painted beads with a distinct African flavour. Not far off lay a plethora of lampwork beads in every colour and shape. 
On the far right of the store stood the most exciting racks of all – two tall rotating racks absolutely dripping with Vintage Lucite beads.  

They looked so delicious they were almost edible! The colours were vibrant, magnificent.  It seemed as though someone had burst open a candy piñata and the contents had spilled across those racks. Every brilliant colour and shade hung in looped strands, begging to be touched and taken and made into masterpieces. Even more exciting was the fact that every bead was rare vintage Lucite – difficult to find and wonderful to work with. One basket contained owl beads of several brilliant colours. Nearby lay handmade glass beads the size of large marbles, carefully placed on display. One was of a startling design, resembling a large eyeball staring back at me, rather scarily realistic and of course, incredibly cool.
Down the centre of the store stood a long worktable. Along the table were scattered a myriad of jewellery pieces, coils of wire, beading pliers, beading mats, baskets of beads and damaged items waiting to be remade and repaired. If possible, this table was as exciting to me as the wonderful beads lining the walls. This table was a place where magic took place. A place where the myriad of wonderful beads were woven and threaded, wired and twisted, joined and dangled into even more beautiful pieces of Jewellery.  Works of art to be worn and loved.
Yes, that table thrilled me. Because it was also the place where my coveted necklace was to be born. 
I introduced myself to Angela, who was absolutely lovely from the moment I walked in the door. A customer had entered at the same moment as I, so I took a little basket and started to browse the beads while Angela served. The customer had a beautiful ivory necklace and another lovely antique piece she wanted remade. As she and Angela discussed the pieces, I began sifting through the treasure trove of beads. The semiprecious stones called out to me, and I picked out around 40 including large, clear purple amethyst, faceted onyx, heart shaped rose quartz, small jade beads and various stone beads, streaked and textured in wonderful ways.
As I moved around to the side of the room featuring the vintage Lucite beads, my excitement mounted. These were the beads I could pick out for my necklace, the purpose of my visit to the store in the first place.

My eyes were soon drawn to a tall jar filled with mixed vintage beads. I began to sift through with my fingers, catching hold of the round, solid coloured beads I wanted. The beads in that jar were of every colour, shape and texture you could want. Along with beads for my necklace, I picked out unusual, odd shaped and other pretty beads to purchase.
As Angela’s customer left, I went over to the table. At last, Angela took down the original necklace I had fallen in love with and lay it out on the table for me to look at. I examined it excitedly, looking at how it was made. It was a great moment, seeing that necklace for real, the necklace that had led me on this journey in fervent search of making one for my own.
To my delight, Angela had a bird-shape prepared for me, the same as the one on her original necklace. Already backed onto leather and protected with a layer of painted-on sealant, she handed it to me along with a large flower from the same fabric, prepared the same way. These were to be the feature pieces of my necklace. She then showed me the vintage fabric she had cut the pieces from, and a few brooches she had created in the same way. Examining each piece gave me a good idea of how she had made them. The idea was unusual, original and in my eyes, just gorgeous – I was so excited that she was willing to share it with me so that I could create my own piece the same way!

Once I had finished picking out my beads, I would be able to start making my own necklace! To my delight, Angela told me I could tip the bead jar out on the carpet and sort through it that way.
I then spent a happy hour or so sitting on the floor with a pool of beads in front of me, sorting them into type, colour and shape, and picking out the ones I wanted. By the end, I had a large snaploc bag bursting with vintage Lucite beads, planning to buy what I didn’t use on my necklace, and another bag filled with other weird and wonderful shaped vintage beads for other projects.
At last, finished with my bead-play, I seated myself on a stool and spread out my chosen beads in preparation. Angela handed me a funky little tool called a Japanese screw punch. She explained she had used a basic sharp tool on her first necklace to make the holes around the edges of the fabric shapes. Since then, she had discovered the screw-punch tool which was far easier to use and much neater.

I used the screw-punch to make neat, evenly spaced holes around the edges of my bird shape and my flower shape.
The next step was to ‘stitch’ around the holes with wire. I used a 22 gauge silver coated wire – non-tarnishing. Keeping the wire neat was difficult, and my result was far clumsier than that of Angela’s work, but I was happy regardless with the cool wire-stitch effect I created. Angela showed me how to curl the loose ends of the wire into little swirly loops.
The final – and most fun step, in my opinion – was to string the beads together and attach them to the fabric shapes. To ‘string’ the beads is not really an accurate description as no string was involved in the process. Instead, the beads are joined together by handmade wire links (this time using 20 gauge silver coated wire). These are made by twisting one end of the wire into a loop (a standard beading technique most beaders know) threading the bead onto the wire and twisting the other end of the wire into a second loop. When linking the beads, the second loop is first linked to the closed loop on the previous bead, and twisted closed so that the beads are linked together.
Again, I was a little clumsy with my technique, still being a fairly green beader and in the learning stage with many techniques. However, the process was delightful as I picked over the beads, choosing the prettiest, brightest colours and deciding which order to put them in.
At long last (I spent several hours making the necklace in the end, including adjusting the length several times before I got it right) I completed the final step, twisting the last wire loop closed on the clasp and, with a thrill of delight, fastening the necklace around my neck.
I paraded up and down in front of the mirror, looking at my necklace from every angle, and wanting to jump up and down in delight. It’s the coolest thing I have ever made and I was absolutely thrilled with the result!!!! For the rest of the day, every time I passed a mirror (or a reflective window…hehehe…) I had to smile at my reflection as my beautiful new necklace was reflected back at me. I also spent an inordinate amount of time looking down at the fabric shapes and coloured beads and smiling at how cool they looked from that angle, too. I’m surprised I didn’t walk into a pole with my preoccupation with looking at that necklace from one angle or another.

I was highly amused by part of my conversation with Angela regarding the original necklace design.
She told me that when the photograph was originally published on the magazine cover, a customer had picked up a copy of the magazine in her shop and remarked to her,
 ‘ Who on earth would WEAR something like that? Who would MAKE that?’
The lady was of course rather embarrassed when Angela calmly replied that she, in fact, had made the necklace herself.
I find this interaction a rather funny joke because as Angela and I discussed, her design was in fact a few years ahead of its time.
Nowadays, vintage has become high fashion and girls everywhere are trying to pull off vintage style.
Statement necklaces are in style, the bigger and brighter the better.
And birds. Bird designs, bird motifs, bird displays in shop windows…birds, birds, birds. They are everywhere you look. Birds are IN. I myself happen to adore birds and take great delight in how available they are now that they are so in fashion.
Hilariously enough, this necklace is vintage in every way, what with the vintage fabric and the vintage Lucite beads, it features a bird, and it could only be called a statement piece.
I know girls who would fight over this necklace if they knew it existed.
If this necklace was mass-produced and sold in funky little vintage stores and boutiques, it would literally fly off the shelves. This necklace is now extremely fashionable, which was not something Angela created it to be. We laughed over the fact that she was so ahead of the time with the design.
And I so look forward to the many comments my necklace will draw. I get such a rush out of wearing something nobody else has!

As the day passed, filled with my bead play and with the long process of creating my necklace step by step, I chatted with Angela about her passion for beading, her story behind opening her shop, and various other topics.
I found myself fascinated by Angela’s approach with her store.
For one thing, she ran a hands on store where all customers were invited to handle the beads as they browsed. She is happy for children to touch and play with the beads as well. It creates an inviting atmosphere, in far contrast to the bead stores I have entered where a frowning shop assistant forbids touching the beads or follows you around the store, watching your every move as if afraid you are pocketing the beads.
Even more interesting was Angela’s creative approach. Rather than dealing only in pieces of her own design, her store featured relatively few completed pieces and focused more on loose beads. Her customers choose the beads they like, describe the piece they are after, and before their eyes, Angela creates the piece. She stops after each step, checking that the customer is happy with the result and changing it if not. Step by step, the piece comes to life, created exactly on the customer’s wishes.
I watched, fascinated, as a customer came into the store and picked out some gorgeous, hot pink owl beads. Admitting to not being confident in creating a piece for herself, she pointed to some large bluish beads, explaining she wanted to pair the owls with that colour. Angela produced some loose turquoise beads, and the customer picked out which she liked. Quickly and neatly, Angela linked them with silver wire to the owl beads and carefully hung them on earring wires. The customer put them on, excitedly thanking Angela.
‘This has made my day!’ she told us happily. Angela charged her only $18 for the beads and for making them into earrings for her. The customer left glowing with delight, having also purchased the rest of the pink owl beads and wearing one-of-a-kind earrings she couldn’t have gotten anywhere else.
As Angela explained to me, she deals largely with those who see their dream pieces in her merchandise but lack the skill to put them together. These one of a kind creations she produces for her customers are a large part of her business. She also remakes old pieces to give them new life, and repairs broken pieces brought in to be subjected to her expertise. All of this, combined with selling beads from her treasury to other beaders, makes for a fascinating little store. I must admit to enjoying that little bead store far more than any other I have visited so far. I am thoroughly enjoying the adventure of attending craft fairs, expos, markets and stores in search of beads and handmade jewellery creations. So far, nothing has scored as high in my opinion as Boutique Beads.

I left the store, late in the day, proudly wearing my new necklace, and taking with me a carry bag loaded down with about 40 semiprecious stone beads, two snaploc bags crammed full of vintage Lucite beads, two beading magazines and a hole punching tool. Angela charged me very little for the materials used in making my necklace and for the beads I took home with me. I was over the moon with the price of everything and will most certainly be frequenting the store for my future beading purchases.
For anyone who is interested in visiting Angela’s store for themselves, it is located at 179 St Georges Road, North Fitzroy – you can catch the 112 tram from Collins Street if you are coming from the city. It’s the first stop when the tram turns off Brunswick Street onto St Georges Road. Her prices are excellent. You can leave with treasure in your hands without blowing your weeks pay. Seriously, if any of my readers can visit Boutique Beads, do it. I guarantee you will love what you find there. 
You may be sure it will be henceforth my favourite beading store. Who knows – you might even find me in there one day when you go along yourself.
You’ll certainly be seeing plenty of the beads in my future creations!