[Jewelry making - Article 00049] - Re: [Orchid] Stretching silk

[Judy Willingham]

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    Hello JoAnna, 

>     What techniques do people use to prestretch their silk prior to
>     stringing. 

    	I stretch silk cord by stringing the pearls or beads first, then
    wetting the silk cord with clear rubbing alcohol - being sure that
    the whole length of cord is thoroughtly wetted from one end to the
    other.  Then I suspend the threaded pearls/beads on the cord thus: 
    Clamp a clothes clip on the needle end and place it on top of a door
    jamb so that the cord with beads at the bottom, hangs down beside
    the door frame.  The weight of the beads is usually enough to
    stretch the cord.  If the pearls are small and don't weigh much, tie
    on some additional weight. Dry overnight and then knot. 	You probably
    already know to knot snugly to allow for some future stretching that
    will naturally occur with time.  The other thing is to use the
    proper sized cord for the drilled hole diameter to make the knots
    the right size. 	Hope this helps and I'll be curious to see how
    others do it, Judy in Kansas 

Judy M. Willingham, R.S.
Biological and Agricultural Engineering
237 Seaton Hall
Kansas State University
Manhattan  KS  66506
(785) 532-2936

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