The beaded earring repair

Also my introduction on how to make them

A pair of red beaded earrings, with orange, black, white, and orange beads in the design.

So I picked up this pair of earrings in Manitoba, shortly before moving to England. And I loved them, they're indigenous-made, from in the vicinity of my home turf, and they resemble a red dress, calling to the Missing and murdered indigenous women (Wikipedia) across North America. And I wore these almost exclusively when in England. They're a reminder of MMIW, they're light, don't get caught on things, they mean a lot to me. And then a thread broke, and I lost a bead. And then, in trying to keep them together for repair, another two beads went missing.

Eventually, and I set out to repair them. Having no idea how to make beaded earrings, I found a tutorial (Instructables) online, and set off. I didn't yet have the experience to design a pattern myself (although I can always follow this pattern, or the pattern of one of my other beaded earrings, with colours from my reserve), but remaking these with stronger thread would be a good start in general. These were originally made with regular thread, but when I was living in Northern Manitoba, an elder told me that if I can't find proper sinew to use as string, unwaxed dental floss will do. Thus, I picked up some of that, and disassembled the broken earring. Also, I was able to replace the missing orange beads with ones from a craft bin given to me by my family up north, and we were set to go. Following that tutorial, it took a few tries to get it going, but soon I was on a roll, and getting the earrings together again!

I've been told that a skilled beadworker can make a pair in about half an hour, which seems incredible to me, because remaking these took me about six hours lol. But remake them I did, with doubled thread around the earring hook loop. I am pleased, and they should be a lot stronger now ^_^

Repaired July 1, 2025

The pair of beaded earrings, with a primarily red top, with fringes that go from red to black, white, clear, orange, and yellow beads at the bottom of the fringes. The right earring is somewhat mangled looking, with missing orange beads from the center of the red area.

The earrings on a clean white working surface, with the Oral B floss, little piles of the beads from the broken earring sorted into colour, and the first earring half rebuilt on the surface.

Kabutroid wearing the earrings, now finished.

A closeup of the earrings, now both completed, with a the white string a little bit more visible between the rows due to it being a thicker string, and the ear hooks reattached.