C-Lon Bead Cord for Custom Drapery and Upholstery

C-Lon Bead Cord is a bonded nylon and originally, bonded nylon were made for the upholstery industry. Micro Macrame artists such as myself would find our cord in industrial sewing shops. Mine source was an industrial sewing machine repair shop South of Market in San Francisco and I would find the cord stored on dusty shelves in a mezzanine above the shop. This was of course way before C-Lon even existed. 

C-Lon started producing bonded cord for the beading industry and I started carrying their thread in 2006 with 24 colors at the time. Now C-Lon makes 116 colors and offers the widest color range available. Most of my customers are from the beading and jewelry world, but some are from the upholstery industry, such as Rosenfleld Interiors in Hicksvile, NY. 

Once, I asked what were they doing with the C-Lon Bead Cord I ship to them... and I received these pictures. The C-Lon Bead Cord is used to attach the pleats on the curtains. It is done by hand with a lovely little braid. What a nice touch!

You can see more of Rosenfeld Interiors high end custom drapery and upholstery on their website or on Facebook. 

C-Lon Bead Cord can be found HERE. 

Cord Making - 3-Ply Cord made with C-Lon Bead Cord

Making your own 2-ply and 3-ply cord is an easy process and the tools required are simple. Cords of various diameters can be made with C-Lon Bead Cord or any other type of cord you want to experiment with. 

A 2-ply cord made with 1 C-Lon Bead Cord will have a diameter of about 0.75mm whereas the 3-ply cords shown above have a diameter of about 5-6mm. These larger cords are made with 12 lengths of C-Lon Bead Cord per ply, so a total of 36 lengths of C-Lon Bead Cord for the 3-ply cord.

The Tool Kit

This is the tool set I designed and use for making 3-ply or 4-ply bonded nylon cords. For short 2-ply silk cords I often use a manual mini cord twister. Read about 2-ply cord on this previous post. The mini twister os better suited to twist silk or thinner cords; whereas this set up with a reversible electric drill is better for bonded nylon cords or thicker diameter cords made with multiple cords in each plies. 

This tool kit is designed to work with a reversible cordless drill. The hook is ready to be attached to the drill and this is how each of the plies will be twisted.

A central hook is attached to a table with the 2 inch C-clamp provided.

A bar with 4 hooks is attached to a portable chair. I wrapped the wood chair with a bead mat to protect the chair. A towel will work too. A rolling cabinet can be used instead of a chair as long as the wood bar with the 4 hooks can be moved. The bar needs to moved closer to the central hook after twisting the first ply.

The mini-bungies work well to attach the bar to the chair. If the bungies are too short or too long, a cord will work. 

Making a 3-Ply Cord

Once your set up is in place, you are ready to make the cord. Choose the diameter of the cord, the number of cords per ply. Lay each ply and its color composition. Then twist each plies counterclockwise. Lay them together and tie the ends together and let them twist clockwise all by themselves. 

Each tool kit comes with PDF instructions sent by email. The instructions list all the steps for making 3 and 4 ply cords. Plus it has a handy reference chart with diameters for cords made with C-Lon Bead Cord. 

Here are some projects done with 3-ply cords made with C-Lon Bead Cord. 

Adjustable Double Slip Knot Cord Bracelet

made with 3-ply cord made with C-Lon Bead Cord

3 or 4-Ply Bracelets Made with C-lon Bead Cord and Euro Magnetic Clasps & Spacers

2, 3 and 4mm 3-Ply Cord Made with C-lon Bead Cord

Cord making is a nice technique to have at your fingertips. It is very useful when you need a thicker cord that what you have on hand or what's available. As to what can be made with cords… your imagination is the limit...

References and Links

> Cord Making Tool Kit

> C-Lon Bead Cord

> Griffin Jewelry Silk and 2-Ply Cord Making

> Euro Magnetic Clasps