Make Your Own Rosary: Introduction
With a little practice and observation, you can begin making beautiful rosaries that are true expressions of your creative thought.
Assemble your Supplies and Tools
You will need a spool of 19 gauge SoftFlex™ wire. This is the best stringing material to use and the only one recommended.
You will also need crimp tubes (not crimp beads) in the same color metal as your cross.
A special crimp tool closes the crimps. These are available at bead stores and come with instructions for their use.
A pair of side cutters or very sharp scissors to cut the wire. Note that the wire can damage scissors, so do not use your best.
Collect your Materials
Weeks and Hail Mary Beads: These are normally smaller, but for a flexwire rosary they should never be smaller than 6 mm. 8 mm is a better size. Normally they are all the same. You can use your imagination–vintage beads from old necklaces, crystal or glass beads, beads of metal or wood–all make beautiful rosaries.
Our Father, Invitatory, and Cruciform Beads:These should be larger so that they stand out plainly. Here creativity can have free rein–oval or oblong beads, beautiful metal or cloisonne, Fimo or pottery (fired and glazed, please!), wood. Normally all the same, though the Invitatory bead can be different.
Spacers: Collect an assortment. Small round (2mm-4mm) or rondelle shapes, larger seed beads, heishi style. Have plenty of different ones on hand. Be sure you have at least a few that will accommodate two thicknessess of the cable!
Cross or Crucifix and Medal: Normally of metal, they can also be of wood or other materials. It can be very inspiring to “recycle” the fixtures from a rosary that has been broken or has lost some of its beads or one that has been rescued from a yard sale or flea market.
Set out your materials and supplies on a good, sturdy surface that is well-lighted.
Read the Rosarymaker’s Hints below and follow the link at the bottom to your next step.
The Rosarymaker’s Hints
Choosing your Beads: 8mm is really the ideal size for your first rosary, whether Anglican or Catholic. You’ll find this size to be easy to work with, and it’s certainly easy to pray with. “Kick it up a notch” to 10mm for your Cruciform and Invitatory (Anglican) or Our Father Beads.
People shouldn’t have to look at their rosaries in order to pray with them. A lot of Catholics really do prefer a smaller size for their Hail Mary beads. Once you’ve gotten some experience, you may want to experiment with 6mm beads. Anglican rosaries look scanty and sparse with 6mm beads, and adding more separating beads makes them look scantier and sparser.
Seed beads make great spacers. They’re readily available and come in lots of sizes. My personal preference is for 8/0 and 11/0 seed beads. Be sure to use enough so that people know where the next bead is, but not so many that the rosary looks “leggy.”
Consider “decorating” your large beads. Wonderful caps and spacers abound in many metals and other materials. Smaller beads, gemstone chips, larger seed beads, faceted rondelles, crystals, or a combination in coordinating colors–all of these add a special touch to your rosary.
Anglicans, your Invitatory bead can be different. Make it larger, of a different material or color, or distinguish it with additional decorations.
