They have 4 glass beads for the tail - either round or square or even oblong and 12 -16mm in size but must be flat sided (ball shape doesnt work very well). More importantly they must have a 2mm hole through. I attach the tail by pushing a loop of .8mm tin coated copper wire through them so that means it is double and requires a 2mm hole for it to go through it.
I have lost count of the number of beads I have bought where the wire doesn’t go right through - in several cases out of 5 beads it only goes through 3 which means none of them are any good unless I mix colours where I can as here.
If anyone has any I would be delighted to buy some or can tell me where to buy them without beeing disappointed when the wire won;t go through.
Hi Joy. The trouble with this type of bead is that the hole size is often irregular through the bead - as you have found to your cost. So I would be wary of guaranteeing that you could always get the wire through wherever you bought them. But I order my supplies from a wide range of bead sites and I will go through them and see what I can find. The one I came up with quickly was Jillybeads. If you look at the ‘Chunky beads’ category (under glass beads) there are some flat beads in various colours and the hole size is given as 2-3cms. However I have just noticed that the beads are probably a bit bigger than you’d like. But if you need the url just message me.
I will also have a quick look through my bead stash to see if I have any. But they are not beads I use often.
The dragonflies are really beautiful by the way.
Thank Jane. Yes those are a bit big - have to balance size of tail beads with security of attachment (with the raw ends of the wire loop) to the wing base.
At least they quote hole size on Jillybeads which a lot don’t.
Hi Joy. I have had a good look through the sites I use and sadly can find very little. I have emailed you a couple of possibilities but to be honest I don’t think either is exactly what you want - so I am hoping that someone else can help.
I will let you know, however, if I come across anything on my excursions through the beady Internet.
indian glass beads usually have quite a large hole and they look like stained glass anyway- I have a few saucer and rectangle (cube) left but don’t seem to have any of the flat round ones I thought I still had. I’d be happy to send you what I can find so you can try them- not absolutely sure the hole is 2 mmm though.
(Could you somehow do a wrapped loop at the bottom so the wire doesn’t have to double up?)
I attach the tail to the wings using the other end of the doubled up wire - one wire for each winge. Seems to work well and I like the double wire through the tail to give it a bit of strength.
Thanks all - I’ve just ordered some via the auction site and not where I’ve bought before which will hopefully avoid those with a 1.7mm hole ! You’ll know if they are big enough as I will make more dragonflies ! xx
Joy, just for future reference, I make glass beads, if you sent me some wire I could precheck the hole, and make them as you wanted, as long as you didn’t want 100’s of the same thing as I would soon get bored!
