Tuesday, April 15
Fess up… Now, you knew I couldn’t go two weeks without beading something, right?
Yes, I HAVE BEEN sewing this month but beading a little bit here and there, too. While I am enjoying sewing and making pretty purses, I LOVE to bead. I love to peyote stitch!!
I have been working on this set off and on. Whenever I feel the urge to bead. THE NEED TO BEAD!! Necklace, bracelet and earrings… using the large gold color links I purchased from Michaels a while back. These are the same type links I used in my “rainbow necklace turned charm bracelet.” Those links. The ones that zig-zagged all over my chest. Well, my brain came up with a solution. It just popped into my head one night. Which was good since I still had lots of links just sitting.
It has been a lot of work making this jewelry set. Each section, a doubled sided link, takes one hour. I timed it. One side of the link takes 20 minutes and then another 10 minutes to close up and sew the beads around the link. Only reason it takes that long to close it up is because I have 12″ of thread at the beginning (from the starter rows) and thread at the end (from the end rows). Double the work.
I have spent approximately 24 hours beading what you see in the photo. And I figure it will take a few more hours to finish up the bracelet. It needs one more complete link. And then the earrings. I have one finished but do not like how the fishhook hangs so I am going to redo the hanging piece.
Anyhoo, you are probably wondering why I have been working so much with these particular beads, Seed Bead #8, Iris Dark Bronze from Fire Mountain Gems and Beads. Three reasons. #1. I love brown, it is one of my favorite colors. #2. Brown is supposed to be THE “hot” color this spring and summer per the Fashion Runway Folks. #3. I bought a HUGE bag of them. 1/2 kilogram.
1/2 Kilogram!!??
Do you know how many beads that is? I didn’t so I checked online at Fire Mountain. There are approximately 700 beads per 35 gram package and 10,500 beads per 1/2-kilogram package. Wow!! Almost 11,000 beads.
Can you imagine your hand, with needle and thread, going in and out beads 10,500 times? No wonder my arm is tired.
I don’t bead, but I understand feeling the need to do something creative. In my case, I often feel the need to sew.
I signed up for two more beading classes this month. The 20th and 27th. I should be signing up for “How to Sew on Your Janome.”
I knew you had to be beading on the side. LOL!
What gave me away!!?? LOL!!
The beady look in your eye!
LOL!! I LOVE SEED BEADS!!
And I love that set above. It looks beautiful on.
You’ll need to take a pic of you with it!
I love seed beads — I so admire artists who have the patience to work with them. (I just don’t have it myself…)
The set looks gorgeous!
Thanks so much!! I haven’t had a chance to bead today. I am sewing. (And having BEAD withdrawal)