You may have seen the St. Petersburg chain in the June 2009 issue of Bead&Button or in the Beader's Handbook 2. Either way, many of you have asked this question over and over. Here are a few ways to add a clasp to a St. Petersburg chain.
If you are not familiar with this technique, order either magazines listed above, or check out our video. The Beader's Handbook 2 is now available as a digital version as well!
I recommend using 8/0 seed beads for the body of the chain and 11/0 seed beads for the end of the row turns. I will refer to these sizes for the clasp options below.
After you master the St. Petersburg chain, you'll want to add a clasp to make a necklace or bracelet in one of the two following ways:
All-stitched clasp:
• Exit the end row of 8/0s, and pick up an 11/0 and either a small button, marguerite lochrose (8 mm shown), disk, or a round bead, then pick up an 11/0. Sew back through the clasp bead and the first 11/0 just picked up, and continue on through the last few 8/0s in the last row. Retrace the thread path to reinforce the clasp, then end the thread.
• On the other end of the stitched chain, exit the end row of 8/0s, and pick up enough seed beads (16 for an 8 mm marguerite) to make a loop around the clasp bead. Sew back through the first 11/0 picked up, then retrace the thread path, and end the thread.
Jump ring clasp attachment:
• Exiting an end 8/0 in the last row, pick up a soldered jump ring, and sew back through the last row of 8/0s. Retrace the thread path to reinforce the join, then end the thread.
• Open a jump ring, and attach a clasp and the soldered ring. Close the jump ring.
• Repeat on the other end of the stitched chain.
You can make an all-stitched clasp for a double row of St. Petersburg chain too:
• On the "pointed end" of the bracelet, exit a bead connecting the two rows on the top surface of the bracelet. Sew a button to the top of the bracelet (12 mm Swarovski sew-on button shown). Retrace the thread path to secure the button, and end the thread.
• On the "V end" of the bracelet, exit the last row of 8/0s on one side of the bracelet. Pick up enough seed beads to loop around the button (about 13 11/0s for the 12 mm button), and sew through the end row of 8/0s on the other side of the bracelet. Retrace the thread path, and end the thread.
If you are interested in more elaborate projects using St. Petersburg, check out our projects tab on our home page. Search for St. Petersburg chain under the style/stitch box, and refine your search further by choosing what kind of project/type you are looking for, the skill level, and the media/technique you'd like to use. We have a bunch of projects available for free to registered users (and registration is free, too!), even more for subscribers, and individual articles for sale if you like to hand-pick the projects you'd like to do.
Does anyone else have a method of attaching a clasp to a St. Petersburg chain that you'd like to share with us? Please post a photo below!