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Hello and welcome to the second edition of HotHive Textiles’s Focus on Craft newsletters. This month we have been focusing our attention on the wonderful world of beads.
The Origins of Beadwork
Records show that people made and used beads as long as 5000 years ago. Beads have been used throughout the world in many different ways: as talismans; as status symbols; as religious artefacts; and as a medium of barter, but they are now most commonly used in artwork. Most beadwork takes the form of jewellery, but beads are also used in wall hangings and sculpture as you will see in our artists section below.
Thames and Hudson have published a fascinating book titled The History of Beads, which looks at every conceivable aspect of these versatile objects, unravelling the mysteries of the world’s rarest beads and exploring the cultural contexts from which beads have come. The historical, geographical and thematic features of beads are examined in the highly enjoyable text and the author discusses every known bead-making technique and the vast range of materials that have been used, including precious and semi-precious stones, metals and minerals, shells, bone, wood, amber, coral, glass, lacquer and plastics. This is a great book for those of you interested in finding out more about beads and beadwork. More information about the book can be found here.
We are now going to look at beadwork in more detail, bringing you inspiration from artists and suppliers, a recommended reading list, a fabulous project for you to try and a great giveaway for all budding bead artists.
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| Inspiration From Artists |
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For most people jewellery is the first thing we think of when it comes to beadwork, but bead artist Heather Kingsley Heath (www.heatherworks.co.uk) has been showing us some of the other items you could produce. She explains, “Beadwork can be about so much more than jewellery and there are some amazing three-dimensional pieces being made. The best way is to take a technique you are familiar with and start experimenting.”
Using beadwork to create sculptures and 3D-pieces looks very effective, but is it difficult to do? “It’s easy to make a simple bowl shape by increasing or decreasing a stitch you already know, or add beads of different sizes as you work which will create shapes easily,” Heather says. “I use all sorts of things for my three-dimensional work, I bead around branches and twigs or work beaded tubes around wire so I can shape the work.”
Another great aspect of beads is that they combine easily with other art mediums. Heather likes to “combine beadwork with other materials like textiles, paper craft and metal work,” while jeweller Caroline Homfray (www.carolinehomfray.co.uk) combines beads with her embroidered jewellery.
Caroline makes most of her jewellery using free-machine embroidery onto soluble fabric and then selecting beads that will compliment the designs. Caroline explains, “I’ve used beads to directly imitate berries (hawthorn and ivy), or to suggest droplets of water. Sometimes they fit the design in a more abstract way; pearls seem to suit snowdrops – they convey the same sense of simplicity, rareness and purity.”
The great thing about working with beads is that they are very versatile and you can work with them as your piece develops; adding more beads to a piece of work until you create the desired effect, without having an impact on the overall design. This is something Caroline Homfray found as she was designing her gothic jewellery range, “I added lots more beads to the Gothic necklace design in the end, long after it was ‘finished’, as I felt it needed more richness. The beads give an essential appearance of richness and variety.”
There are so many fabulous effects you can create with beads, so why not do some experimenting and have a go yourself?
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| Supplier Information |
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The great thing about beadwork is that you will require very little equipment to create your masterpieces! Christine Ashford of leading online bead retailer Spellbound Beads tells me, “I would say the essential tools are a set of wire cutters, round-nosed pliers (sometimes called snipe-nosed), scissors and some fine needles. A thread conditioner such as beeswax can also be useful if you do a lot of small beadwork. Twenty five years on this is still all I really need in my tool kit to be able to make most beaded jewellery.”
So once you are kitted out with all the equipment you need it is time to address the most important item of all… the beads. There are literally hundreds of beads available in the Spellbound shop (www.spellboundbead.co.uk) including ceramic beads, delica beads, crystal beads, wooden beads, metal beads, semi-precious stones, bugle beads, ceramic beads, character-shaped beads, the list is endless!
If you are using beads as part of your textile work you need to consider the type of bead you use carefully to ensure that it will suit the design of your work. Christine explains, “The majority of bead embellishment for textiles tends to use small beads, such as seed beads, bugle beads and crystals, so that you can create more intricate patterning, although bigger feature beads also work well to create a more dramatic effect, with a lot less sewing! Some bugles and crystals can have sharp edges so you need to be aware of this when applying your design.”
Another popular use for beads is to embellish clothing to give it that sparkly and unique look. Christine’s advice when using beads in this way is to make sure you pick something that will stand up well to being washed. She says, “Delicas, for example, were specially created for loomed pictures in Japan and as such have a wonderful range of colours to create the nuances necessary for pictorial work, but many of them have a dyed surface to achieve this. Generally speaking glass beads are preferable for clothing as they tend to be more durable and have good colourfast finishes in cold water washes.”
So now you are armed with all the advice you need to ensure you are picking the right beads for your project it is time to start getting creative!
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| Project to Try |
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We have a beautiful spring project for you to try this month – a spiral staircase bracelet by beadworker Sandra Wallace. Sandra says of the project, “The spiral staircase is a very versatile technique, using different beads changes it so much – yet it is very simple. The bracelet uses size 8 beads so is perfect for beginners.” To download the instructions to make the bracelet please click on the link below:
Bracelet instructions
For those of you wanting to take your skills further and try more complicated patterns, Sandra runs a range of workshops teaching new skills. You can find out more at www.sandrawallace.co.uk
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| Further Information |
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For those of you keen to learn more about beadwork but wanting some guidance to get started, then beadworker Gillian Lamb is the answer you are looking for. She runs several short courses, each taking the form of a series of 2-hour sessions over six or eight weeks. These short courses are available in Sunbury, Middlesex on Tuesday afternoons and Wednesday evenings, or in Woking, Surrey on Tuesday evenings. The Sunbury courses run for 8 weeks at a time and cost £80 for all 8 sessions, while the Woking courses run for 6 weeks and cost £60. Gillian says, “The idea is to try to teach new learners how much fun the craft is and to encourage those with more knowledge to experiment with the project we work on. We either look at a new theme each week, or sometimes we continue for two weeks to complete the project.” For those of you who want to benefit from Gillian’s experience but don’t live in the Surrey area, she is willing to travel to carry out day classes to groups. For more information or to book a place on one of Gillian’s courses please email gillian.lamb@ntlworld.com or visit www.gillianlamb.co.uk
There are also a couple of great organisations for bead lovers – The Bead Society and The Beadworkers Guild. The Bead Society is open to anyone with an appreciation of beads, their techniques of manufacture and their application. The society offers free workshops, a highly acclaimed Bead Society Newsletter, an informative and colourful journal packed with articles, which is sent out four times a year, and an annual bead fair. Membership to The Bead Society in 2009 is £11 per family (at one UK address) or £15 overseas. To join please visit www.beadsociety.org.uk
The Beadworkers Guild is a registered charity, which was formed in 1999 to provide a focus for everyone who enjoys beading and learning about beadwork. The Guild produces a quarterly journal and provides a range of workshops for members, alongside a yearly Beadworkers Guild Challenge and several events throughout the year. Memberships are now available from April 2009 until March 2010, priced at £23 per person in the UK, £28 in Europe and £33 for the rest of the world. For more information or to join please visit www.beadworkersguild.org.uk
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| Recommended Reading |
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Start to Bead by Jill Thomas (£6.99)
In this book Jill Thomas teaches the basics of beading and goes on to show in easy steps how to make fantastic beaded jewellery such as a safety pin bracelet and a daisy ring, as well as a trinket pot and a mini bag. The patterns and projects included in the book are ideal for beginners and explained using clear instructions and step-by-step photographs. They are highly achievable using beads, threads and a few simple tools that are readily available through your favourite bead store. Once you have made a few projects from this book you will have learnt some basic beading techniques and will be able to create your own designs.
For more information or to buy this book please click here.
Crystal Beaded Jewellery by Christine Hooghe and Sylvie Hooghe (£9.99)
Precise step-by-step instructions and clear illustrations take you from stringing the first bead right through to the finishing touches. Details are given for every bead used so that you can reproduce each piece exactly. There are thirteen beautiful projects, and once you have mastered the techniques you can adapt the designs to create your own designs.
For more information or to buy this book please click here.
The Art of Making Jewellery by Deborah Krupenia, Tammy Powley, Jessica Wrobel (£14.99)
This book shows how to create the latest jewellery fashions with a few readily available tools and some basic jewellery-making techniques. Colours and textures are all the rage in jewellery design and this book addresses both with a variety of jewellery that can be made at home. There are designs featuring gemstones such as turquoise, moonstone, amethyst and amber as well as paper and precious metals. In short, there is something in The Art of Making Jewellery for every taste and style.
For more information or to buy this book please click here.
French Beaded Designs by Donna DeAngelis Dickt (£10.99)
As we have been explaining in the newsletter, there are many great items that can be made with beads other than jewellery and this book shows you how. These French beaded flowers sparkle, shine, and surprise, and yet they're made just by stringing beads on wire and wrapping them around to form stems and petals. Some of these flowers serve as eye-catching ornaments; others are sublimely practical, such as napkin rings and tiebacks. Follow the well-illustrated instructions to craft wildflowers, roses, daisies, tulips, anemones and hydrangeas.
For more information or to buy this book please click here.
To view HotHive Textiles Bookstore’s complete range of beadwork and jewellery books please click here.
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| Competition |
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We have a fabulous Carnival necklace and bracelet kit to giveaway to one lucky winner this month, courtesy of Spellbound Beads (www.spellboundbead.co.uk). The kit (pictured left) contains all the beads and findings you will need to create this fabulous jewellery set and uses silver coloured findings. The instructions for making the jewellery can be downloaded here.
For your chance to win, simply email your name and address to textiles@thehothive.com with ‘carnival’ in the subject line. We will announce the winner next month. Good luck!
We would also like to congratulate Fran Lindsay-White from Leicester, who is the winner of the embroidery kit offered in last month’s newsletter. Your prize is on its way to you.
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