Have you ever wondered what it takes to create a complex bead design? I can tell you from six years of experience when you work with small components, it’s a very time-consuming process.   The tiny little seed beads and 4mm crystals are just plain hard to pick up off the bead mat.  If you use long tweezers to pick up the components like I do, they can fly across the room if you squeeze the tweezers too tight.  But we have found that the smaller the bead, the more feminine and dainty the sandals will be.

When Pat and I started our business we knew that quality materials would be the key to producing a lovely piece of jewelry.  It was important to us to find bead suppliers that offered A-quality products at a reasonable cost.  That’s why we selected Swarovski pearls and crystals to use in our barefoot sandal designs.  Everyone can identify with the name Swarovski.

Each Swarovski Crystal Pearl is created around a crystal core, hence the name Crystal Pearl. This crystal core gives the pearl its ideal weight and combined with the Swarovski Pearl coating it causes each Crystal Pearl to glow from within. The pearl coating developed by Swarovski is applied around the crystal core in pearly layers.

Swarovski (Austrian) Crystal is considered by many people to be the finest quality, full-lead crystal made today.  To cut hard materials such as crystal and gems in such a way that they have a hundred identical facets in several directions is a very complicated task: each direction of the reflected light must first be calculated by computer, then this has to be simulated in 3D, optimized and finally converted into control programs for complex machinery.  It is this machine that makes it possible to cut crystal to perfection.

When we receive an order of Swarovski crystals there’s just nothing more brilliant than opening up their careful packaging and seeing several hundred sparkling prisms of light shining back at you!  Knowing the process of how they are cut makes it even more amazing.

Each sandal is designed by first selecting bead colors that go good together. Then they are laid out in a pattern on a bead mat, making sure there are adequate spacers to help accentuate the bead colors. Usually, it is decided ahead of time whether to use gold or silver accent beads. Right now, silver is very popular. Real sterling silver is not used because it is far too expensive.

For the most part, Czech glass beads are used that have been formed into a variety of shapes, pressed, faceted, bicones, rondelles, etc., along with spacers that are either pewter or metalized plastic.

Once a few “patterns” of beads are completed, the design is evaluated and if it is not acceptable, the whole design is taken apart and started over.

The sandals are all handmade and labor intensive. They are made in sizes 5-10 with 1/2 sizes included and all of those sizes are standardized so exactly the same amount of cord is used each time.

The stringing material is called “Stretch Magic” and it is a strong size, .7mm. It is strong enough to handle repeated, gentle stretching, yet small enough to fit through the hole of the beads.

The sandals come in a matching organza drawstring bag with detailed instructions indicating the 4 ways they can be worn.

by Jan Baker, Designer and Creator of Bare Foot Sandals