It's been a lovely day here - the first day of the year I've been sitting out in the garden to bead which is always a treat. I've been experimenting with bead stitching and had a go at a simple right angle weave (or RAW) bracelet.
The bracelet is made of crackle glass beads which are half purple and half brown, and the beads pivot on the string so it never quite looks the same twice! It's actually the second version because rather-clumsy me dropped the bracelet on the floor and smashed quite a few of the delicate glass beads in the process!
Being challenged in not being able to tell left from right, it was quite a task to find a tutorial I could follow. So I'm recording some pictures here of how I constructed the weave, using different coloured beads to record the steps.
I found that if you remember you are always making a diamond of four beads, that helps in knowing how many beads to add and what direction to weave in.
The needle here is getting ready to form the next diamond, this time adding two beads...
...and going through two existing beads.
One more diamond takes me to the end of the row....
Then it's starting again with another three beads.
Will I ever go beyond basic bead weaving? Not sure, it's a bit fiddly and I need more sunny weekend days when there's plenty of natural light to work by. Here's hoping!
Look, I've made the dog yawn! He would rather I was paying him attention than working with beads.
Here's a link to what other crafty folks have been doing this week: http://handmadeharbour.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/handmade-monday-158.html
Alison x
Not sure whether this is 'basic' bead weaving or whether you're being ever-so-modest - but basic or not , it looks very smart! And I think your dog was just pretending ;)) x
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you didn't give up after dropping the first bracelet. The beads are beautiful and the finished bracelet looks lovely. You must have lots of patience.
ReplyDeleteAli xx
I like the look of bead weaving! I know your pain with smashing crackle glass beads just after finishing ..... soo frustrating! :)
ReplyDeleteIt's lovely being able to sit outdoors, I like to make the most of it when the sun is out. Love the beads, the colours are lovely.
ReplyDeleteJan x
The beautiful blue beads were well worth the effort of starting again:)
ReplyDeleteGood tutorial, and clear pictures, thanks.
ReplyDeleteThat looks VERY tricky! Lovely crasft to be doing in the sun though!
ReplyDeleteWow, i can imagine you need your wits about you as well as good light for this bead weaving business! You make it look easy though and your bracelet is lovely :) x
ReplyDeleteYour bracelet looks stunning, and it looks really complicated to make too.
ReplyDeleteYour bracelet looks lovely. Looks complicated but your photos help a lot.
ReplyDeleteThis is an enlightening read for me. As a budding jeweler, these are literally, gold nuggets
ReplyDelete