Tesha Task 7, Bead Encrusted Bracelet

 Wow -- this took me a VERY long time to complete, but I designed and made a bead-encrusted cuff bracelet.  Here is the photo of the beading work:

I started with a large oval beaded cabochon.  I then made two smaller (but different) beaded circle mirrors.  I wanted to encase the similar smaller mirrors in a loose, flowing paisley type beaded surround, but I had trouble getting the paisley shapes to look somewhat symmetrical.  I added a few "doughnut" beaded flowers to fill in around the paisley shapes and then filled the entire bracelet shape with plain white seed beads.   I am not entirely happy with this first attempt at a beaded design, but it isn't too terrible for a first try.  

I purchased a metal cuff bracelet to support my beading, but had a surprisingly difficult time gluing and attaching the beaded front and the felt back.  I felt like I needed additional instructions on how to put the bracelet together...  

Here is the final bracelet (not perfect, but completed):

Thank you once again, Kathy, for a fabulous stitching class!  I have learned so many things from you!

Best holiday wishes to you and all those you love...

Tesha

Task 7

 Finally the beading is finished.  Originally I was going to go ahead and make this into a bracelet, however, the beads along the edge were not even enough and I did not know how to fix it...it is what it is.  The design is finished and I encased the design in white beads.  I learned so much from this class and can't wait for more classes to come out. THANK YOU Kathy!

Moniks, Task 7

 Hi Kathy,

this is definitely not a heavily encrusted cuff, although I had the best intentions when I started.

It took me quite a long time to look through all my stuff to see what I could possibly use. I used sequins and other beads to fill in empty spaces. But I had to take them all out again  as I didn´t like this kind of overloaded look. I also had a beaded edge, but took it out again,. It simply was too much .  I felt I had to keep this cuff simple as the beaded cabochon was already (in my eyes) a bit too striking.

As it looks now I like it very much and will wear it tonight when we are going out for dinner.

Thanks for all your work, patience and inspiration. I am so happy that I found you.

Monika

Kylea - tasks 4 & 5

 

  

Expect I will use it as trim one day.

I thought using even-weave fabric would help - even if it might be a bit of a cheat. 

Brick-stitch orange shirt. Couldn't get another pass through beads to hide my thread tail. Will switch up a needle size for the next time.

Monika, Task 6 B

 I chose the letter "I" to be able to turn the project into something I would be able to wear. The "I" could be considered a letter or go through

as a simple ornament. So there is another cuff/textile bracelet and I think it looks quite nice.

Thank for you showing us how to make sequin flowers and padded beadwork.

Monika

Tesha - Task 6b, Padded Beaded Monogram

 WOW!!! This project took a long time to stitch... I figure I spent 12-15 hours working on this monogram, and about half of that time was prior to any actual beading!  I think the time was worth it because the monogram turned out GREAT.  :)

I chose the letter "K" as a gift for my niece, and used opaque white Czech beads size 11.  

Below is the outline of my monogram:

Below is the padded monogram:

Below is the final completely beaded monogram!

I didn't have any sequins that were small enough (or matched the blue/white color scheme) so I used a flower shaped button instead.    

I never would have tried this project if I hadn't had the encouragement from this course, but I am glad I learned how to do beading with padding.  I can see using the padded beading in other projects, like a beaded turtle shell, or the round red tummy of a robin.  

Thank you Kathy, for another fabulous learning experience...

Tesha 

 

Monika, Task 6 A

 Hi Kathy,

I´m glad I managed to  finish this first part. Next week I will have a few days off  and I am looking forward to spend more

time with beads and embroidery.

I hope you are well or at least are getting better.

Monika

Task 6B

 

Task 6A

 

Task 5

 

Task 4 completed

 

Tesha - Task 6a, Sequin flowers

Kathy, 

Here is a picture of my practice petals/flowers made with sequins (which are left over from more than 35 years of raising four daughters, and a half-dozen foster daughters):

I had a hard time figuring out how to lay the sequins and sew them down tight.  My thread would get caught in other sequins and hopelessly tangled.   The petals aren't aligned in a circle as well as I would have liked, but I guess flowers in nature aren't perfect either...   After a few new beginnings, I got the hang of it!  

I don't have much variety in the sizes and colors of the sequins I have on hand, so will either need to plan the colors of my beaded monogram (Task 6b) carefully, or purchase some new sequins.

It was fun though to learn how to make these new large and flashy flowers!

Tesha

Monika, Task 5 - couched beadline and brickstitch

 Hi Kathy,

Couched bead lines: I had to choose an extremely simple design and rather big beads to get the lines "almost" straight.

 

Brickstitch:

I felt more confident doing the brickstitch butterfly. The seedbeads I used are very sparkly, so it looks different (better) and more colorful in reality, compared to the photograph.

Task 3 completed

 

Tesha - Task 5, Couched beading

Kathy,

Below is my beaded humming bird.  I found it tricky at first to keep the beads in horizontal rows (hence the crooked beak), but finally got the hang of this technique.  I have done counted cross stitch in the past, so understood the concept of counting the number of squares in each color.  I also remembered why I gave up counted cross stitch when I became a parent... I was always losing count of where I was at because of child interruptions!  :)

The beads I used were wider than they were tall and as I stitched I realized that my humming bird was turning out "stretched" a bit.  It was kind of like distorting a photo of someone by stretching the photo vertically, but not horizontally to make them look thinner!

I tried out the square stitch and brick stitch beading (in order to learn as much as possible).  At first I tried with seed beads and I just couldn't get the beads to sit still long enough for me to tighten the threads.  I started over 3-5 times with each stitch and finally was about to give up on accomplishing this task, when I decided to try the technique with larger beads.  

It was still slippery and clumsy, but below are photos of my yellow beaded square stitch sample (I used a small black seed bead as an anchor) and my multicolored brick stitch sample.  The different colors in the brick stitch allowed me to clearly see the staggered (1/2) rows so I didn't get confused on where I was sewing.  Obviously these both would look MUCH better with tinier evenly sized beads... 

I was amazed that both of these stitches were fairly simple to do once I got the base row firmly in place.     

I wonder if there is some way I could use a clip board, or anchor the start to fabric (or any other kind of temporary place) in order to more easily use this technique in the future?  

Tesha

 Hi Kathy, sadly this is my last task.  Task 7.  I have made a small bead encrusted bracelet using a Czech glass button for the vocal point.  The top half is beaded asymmetrically and the bottom half symmetrically.  

I really enjoyed your class.  I always learn new things from you.  Thank you for making these classes available to us.  

Barbara

    

Monika, Task 4 Right Angle Weave

 Hi Kathy,

I did two simple bracelets, one of it decorated with a string of seedbeads, and a pair of earrings.

Monika

Task two completed

Tesha - Task 4, Right Angle Weave

 Here is my practice with "right angle weave".

I just played around with plastic beads to learn this technique.  I even tried the fancy fringe pattern... which was tricky and I got lost several time before I successfully managed to stitch this section of fringe!

Tesha  

Task 3b Kylea - with process pics

 I need to try some smaller ones next, but here is my second beaded cab, again a very large Czech glass button. 

I started with a couple rather large bohemian buttons. I have a few damaged one that I picked up cheap years ago. There is a bit of silver detail on the mermaid that doesn't show up in the pic. This mermaid bead is definitely the worst damaged, with that big chunk missing around 10 o'clock. I put a layer of E6000 over the sharp bit of edge.

Because it was so large, I figured I could get away with a larger bead. It would mean going a little faster in my first few rows, but I was motivated more by having more options when shifting to smaller beads. Started with size 8s until I finished climbing the sides. The first rows are clear, silver-lined, and then a row of silver metallic. 

I had smaller (size 15s) ready, but after one row of 10s my frame felt solid - and was at the very edge of the raised mermaid image - so I stopped there.  I had thought I might need to go further to cover the chip, but the exposed bit is smooth and not unsightly.

I have a few more mermaid buttons I look forward to beading on now. May start with 11s on the next one.

Task 3a Kylea - lots of process pics

Making a beaded frame on a cabochon is  something I have wanted to learn for years. I've seen the how to information before, but it took being in this class to finally do it. (I still want to learn to do it without using backing.)

Here are the finished pics, so you don't have to go through the process portion if you don't want. 

(Mermaid process in next post; this got crazy long. I did the dragonfly first, so am posting its details first.)

I started with a couple rather large bohemian buttons. I have a few damaged ones that I picked up cheap years ago. The dragonfly has tiny tiny chips out of the edge, hard to even see or feel on this one, though a little more obvious on some others I have. (I have about a half dozen in this colour - one that I can't imagine buying, except that it was part of that lot of damaged buttons.)

I did the dragonfly first, using delicas for the first few rounds. Those first two rows are definitely the hardest.

My work looks good from this side

But it really wasn't so tidy all around

The edge/side isn't straight; it angles in. This meant there was a tendency for the edge to slide off and under until I wrapped it over the top, 

The circumference actually grew a little bigger before wrapping onto the top, so I actually added a larger bead right at the top of the sides before going to smaller beads. 

  

 Size 11 delicas, a row of size 10 rocailles at the widest point, then coming in with one more round of delicas then two rows of 15s.

Would probably have looked better (less thread showing) if I'd done one more round of delicas before the 15s. When I realized thread would show a little I switched by clear/white to coloured thread. 

 Doing that extra pass through the last innermost row really did make a difference in how smooth and solid it felt. 

 Final with backing trimmed. (Added edging before trimming backing.)