The toggle clasp, or T-clasp, consists of a bar and a hollow piece. It closes easily with one hand, making it the ideal clasp for bracelets. In this tutorial, you’ll make the bar yourself using Miyuki beads woven in the peyote stitch, then attach it to the ring of your choice to create a clasp that matches your piece of jewelry.
The toggle clasp gets its other name, the T-clasp, from its shape. It consists of two parts: a bar and a hollow element (circle, square, heart, star, flower, etc.). To close the piece of jewelry, slide the bar through the opening, then return it to a horizontal position: it locks into place against the edge. It’s one of the easiest clasps to use, especially for closing a bracelet by yourself with just one hand.
Ready-made metal toggle clasps are available (stainless steel, 925 Sterling Silver, gold-plated, etc.). But you can also make your own out of beads: the clasp then becomes a decorative element in its own right, matching the colors of your creation.
This technique was developed by the Laulo workshop. It’s accessible once you’ve mastered the basics of peyote stitch. Start by choosing the hollow element: it determines the length of the bar:
We used Miyuki 15/0 seed beads for our example, but feel free to experiment with other shapes and sizes of beads… It’s up to you!
Thanks to the Laulo workshop for this technical guide.
The toggle bar should be larger than the "hole" but smaller than the element itself.
So, string as many Miyuki Delicas beads in even numbers as it takes to make it just a little larger than the hole, but no larger than the edges of your "holey" element.
Make 12 rows of peyote and connect the first row to the last.
The result is a tube.
At each end of the tube, add a 4 or 6 mm bead of your choice (toupie, facet, rondelle, etc.) plus 3 seed beads 15/0 passing through the tube.
The final step is to make a band to attach to the toggle bar.
Stand in the center of the tube and weave a band on two Miyuki Delicas, 20 rows in all.
Join the end of the band to the base, then decorate each side of the band with 3 Seed beads 15/0.
And here's the result!
Now all you have to do is connect it to your work!
Credits
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