Cylinder Bezeled Rivoli Earrings Tutorial

Prep thread & stop: Cut a comfortable length (~3–4 ft). Add a stop bead near the end so beads won’t slide. Thread your needle. Make the base circle: String alternating 11/0 → cylinder → 11/0 → cylinder around until you’ve a full ring (example: 4 cylinder groups). Tie into a loop or sew the ends to close into a neat circle. Reinforce the base: Sew back through the full circle (all beads) once to stabilize the ring — pull snug but not distorting. Add bezel “arms”: At each cylinder gap add a group of seven 11/0s (or the bead-count from the video) to form an arch/arm that will reach toward the center. Repeat around the whole ring. Connect the arm points: Between each arm tip, add 4 × 11/0 (or the small connector count shown) and sew into the adjacent arm tip to form the back/frame of the bezel. You’ll now have a little basket to hold the rivoli. Seat the Rivoli: Place the rivoli face-down into the basket. Gently tighten by pulling thread through the bezel beads so the rivoli nests snugly (don’t crush facets). Reinforce the Rivoli: Make 2–3 reinforcement passes around the bezel: sew through arm tips, connector beads, and around the rivoli edge to lock everything firmly. Add outer decorative edge: Around the outside, stitch (11/0 → 2 mm crystal → 11/0) or small picots: add a 2 mm crystal (with an 11/0 on either side) between points to create a sparkly picot edge. Form picot peaks (optional): For pointed picots: add 2–3 × 11/0 then a 2 mm crystal then return through the 11/0s to make little peaks — repeat around for texture. Attach the wire guard: At the top, pass thread through the beadwork where you want the earring loop, add the wire guard, pass back through the surrounding beads and the guard again. Make at least two passes to secure. Finish & tie off: Weave the thread through several beads to bury the tail, tie small weaver’s knots if desired, trim closely and zap/melt gently (if using synthetic thread). Add ear wire & final check: Slip the ear wire onto the wire guard (open sideways), close, check symmetry and that the rivoli is snug and centered.