What is beadwork?
Beadwork is - as the word suggests - working with beads. Beads are very versatile; they come in various colours, shapes and sizes, and together with a needle, some thread or wire, and maybe - but not neccessarily - a (small) loom, you can easily fashion yourself some jewellery, or present your mother with a beaded flower.
What can I create with beads?
That question has a fairly simple answer: Anything you want to! You can make
plants,
figures,
jewellery,
and other wonderful things.
Techniques
1) Beading
French beading
French beading is a technique where small beads are strung onto thin wire, and these lines of beads are then laced together in return. The flat elements, like the petals of the rose below, can be formed and shaped to create a 3D-like effect. French beading is most often used to create flowers and leaves.
'Pattern Beading'
There's not really a name for this technique (if it can be qualified as such). What I call 'pattern beading' is a technique mostly used for making figures of any kind - Pokémon included You bead after patterns - hence the name - in which the exact number of beads and rows of beads you need is depicted. Wire is used to make the figures movable.
2) Embroidery
For this type of embroidery needle and thread are used to stitch beads to an underlying surface, like fabric or leather.
3) Stitching
Peyote stitch
Peyote can be worked with an even or uneven number of beads, and there's also the tubular Peyote stitch. The latter can be used for making pouches and decorating objects, like pens.
Ndebele/Herringbone stitch
This stitch has its name from the South African Ndebele tribe, and can be done in flat, tubular and circular variations. Its distinctive feature is the 'v' pattern which is formed by the horizontal lines of beads.
Brick stitch
Also known as Cheyenne stitch. This stitch earned its name because it resembles a brick wall. It's nearly identical in appearance to the Peyote stitch; the artwork below is an example of circular brick stitch.
4) Weaving
Beads are woven together on a loom. Loomed pieces are flat, and often rectangular, though the shape can be manipulated into something representing curves while weaving.
(Note: Although the Peyote, Herringbone and Brick stitch are theorethically weaving techniques, I put them under 'Stitch' because practically, they are off-loom techniques, and are therefore closer related to stitching techniques in my opinion. Besides, they're called 'Peyote stitch' and 'Herringbone stitch', so )
Tutorials
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Beadwork feature
Thanks for reading!