Thin sweetie standard length glass bead necklace

The necklaces are handmade by a group of fourteen women. They use a traditional method of beadwork ‘netting’ with a needle and thread. Beads are mostly bought from traders in South Africa and they import them from Czechoslovakia. The colours are often limited as minimum quantities are required and the traders therefore stick to fairly traditional colours (South African flag or colours associated with cultural identity and primary colours). Only Czech and Japanese beads are used because they are consistent in size and the position of the hole, and usually smooth so they don’t cut or wear the thread. This gives the woven necklaces that ‘liquid’ feel.