You may have come across those pretty 'illusion' necklaces and bracelets in the past, and wondered just what it was that helped those beads to seemingly float around the neckline or wrist. Well. we have the answer for you - Supplemax cord!
Supplemax is a monofilament illusion cord, meaning it is a single, continuous strand of synthetic fibre. It is lightweight, strong, and durable, as well as being super soft and supple giving you a lovely drape. These properties mean that creating floating or illusion style necklaces is quick, easy and highly effective.
See what we mean with this video from Beadalon, demonstrating making a DIY Bridal Illusion necklace:
Supplemax is available in a few colours such as Blueberry, Black, Lavender, Peach, Yellow and Green.
However the most popular choice is Clear, which is best for showing off both the depth of glass, pearl and gemstone bead colours, and transparent beads such as rock crystal or rainbow-finished glass (however be careful your beads don't have sharp hole edges, otherwise they may cause damage to the cord).
It is sold in a range of diameters, such as 0.15mm, 0.25mm, 0.30mm, 0.40mm, 0.50mm, 0.60mm and 0.70mm.
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Alongside this is Supplemax Ultra, which has 15 x the abrasion resistance of usual nylon bead stringing materials. It has a soft white colour which makes it look a little more like a thread, and comes in both a 0.25mm and 0.30mm diameter.
And finally Supplemax is also available in braided form, which means extra abrasion resistance, strength and durability whilst remaining soft and flexible.
Check out this video from Beadalon, showing how to make a woven bracelet using different colours of Supplemax:
| Here's an example of the same style of woven bracelet, this time using clear Supplemax and a sprinkling of crystal montees. |
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Supplemax also has other uses than just illusion or floating necklaces and bracelets:
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You can use it in any design where you may not want to be able to see your thread, for example if you want to create a wrap bracelet using leather and beads, but don't want to be able to see the thread being wrapped around the leather. Like this idea? See more here: | It is also a good choice for making the design in the middle of dream catchers, where you want the beads and charms to be more of a focus. | It can even be used to create mobiles, as demonstrated here with the gorgeous origami birds! Like this idea? See more here: https://www.dickblick.com/project-ideas/origami-bird-mobile/ |
And along the lines of hanging things, you can also use it to hang ornaments and charms as the cord won't detract from the main item, shown here with the button Christmas trees and star ornaments. You can find both these ideas here: |
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| Here you can see how you can crimp a bead into place along the length of the cord. | Here's how you can finish off the end of a Supplemax illusion style necklace. | The finished illusion style necklace, using Supplemax and crystal bicones. |
So next time you want to make a floaty, pretty and feminine style design, try using Supplemax and let other people try to work out the illusion!
Come and check out our Supplemax range here