I got some satin beads earlier. You probably know those beautiful yet horrible beads that destroy any thread they meet. Tough beads need equally tough beadstring. I asked a trusted beadshop keeper to recommend me a thread that would go with satin beads. She sold to me Beadalon Dandywire. She said it won’t cut easily. Indeed, it’s hard to cut the thread even with scissors. The feature is sometimes really annoying, when it’s so hard to get a nice, clean cut. And I need one for the eye needle. Only sharply cut thread penetrates the eye. The shopkeeper recommended side cutters but I have found that extremely sharp scissors work best. The thread seems to dull the scissors quickly. The only way to succeed is to keep a tight thread and even that doesn’t work every time. You’ll just have to breathe deep and try again.
The thread is 0,006 inches thick. It sounds thin but it’s sometimes hard to get it through the eye for its thickness. Once you’ve managed to do that, it is like any other thread. It is prudent to leave a bit longer tail in the beginning than usually, you may have to cut it a few times before you can properly end the thread.
You may use pin needle to carefully make the eye of the needle rounder and that way increase success rate. I say carefully, because the eye is made of very thin metal and it may break. This is how you’ll do it: Place the eye on newspaper, magazine, wood or anything that gives in a little. Push the pin needle gently through the eye into the material the needle lies on. Then spin the eye needle a little to make the eye rounder.
Despite all the trouble I’m quite happy with the thread. Funny thing is that none of these tips works unless you feel calm. If you feel nervous or tense, try another time. You have to be prepared to try several times. My necklace of satin beads and Dandyline is making fine progress. When it’s finished, I can be certain that the thread won’t snap. As you saw, it doesn’t always snap when it’s supposed to do that.
Enlarged picture: A pin needle goes through an eye and sinks into newspaper.
How to cope with Dandyline
Keep your scissors very sharp.
Keep the thread tight while you’re cutting. Leave a long tail that has room for shortening.
Widen the eye needle with a pin needle.
Most importantly: keep calm and carry on.
