Feather Stripe Herringbone Collar

The philosophy of getting back on the horse, or trying again until you succeed is one that most definitely applies to beading. After attempting curved herringbone several times over the years, I finally found the perfect pattern to create an entire collar necklace.

Inspired by the feathers of the vulture goddess Nekhbet, I was determined to use herringbone for my latest Egyptian gods collar. The trick is to get the right bead sizes in the right proportions to create a wide curve. And since backtracking herringbone is much more difficult than netting or chevron chain, I knew I was risking a lot of thread to trial and error.

After one unsuccessful attempt, I made some adjustments and created a pattern that worked, resulting in a great collar. The beadwork does have a slight tendency to ruffle, owing partly to the size jump between Japanese 11/os and Czech 8/os. Still, the collar has a great drape, and definitely has the Egyptian look that I wanted.

I can’t wait to experiment a lot more with this stitch to see what else it can do!

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