Ethnic fashion has revived interest in traditional costume, everyday life, and jewelry. Among them is a bright and distinctive chest ornament, the popularity of which is growing today among the masters and connoisseurs of handmade. Gerdans from beads, schemes for them, machines and sets of finished flowers offers any bead shop. Nevertheless, gerdan is far from a simple decoration, requiring knowledge of many of the nuances of working with beads.
What is gerdan
Is the same gaitan and gerdan from beads? The discussion of this issue by the masters led to an unequivocal answer: these are two names of the same decoration.
Gerdan in its classic form is a long ribbon with an ornament, the ends of which are connected by a medallion on the chest or in the solar plexus. Traditionally, it is associated with Russian and Ukrainian folk costumes, however, this type of jewelry is present in the culture of many peoples.
Initially, gerdan acted as a talisman and was equally both female and male adornment. Special ornaments with appropriate symbols were weaved on it, and instead of a medallion a mirror or icon was attached.
Gerdans from beads: schemes, techniques, patterns
There are two main bead techniques in which gerdans are created: openwork weaving and weaving.
Bead products, patterns of which repeat patterns for cross-stitch, are usually made using the weaving technique. Bead weaving is a relatively new technique. Woven gerdans in folk costumes are rare, but among the works of modern craftswomen they occupy a worthy place. There is bead weaving, manual and machine-made.
Hand weaving is a technique not quite suitable for gerdan. This is a very long and laborious process. Weaving such a decoration on the machine is much faster and easier.
Openwork weaving is more demanding on the choice of pattern. On the openwork mesh lie only geometric ornaments. Ready-made drawings and patterns for embroidery for this technique must be thoroughly processed. Nevertheless, a simple openwork canvas is suitable for those who have just begun to learn the secrets of craftsmanship and plan to take up bead gerdans. You can take ready-made schemes or try to create your own.
How to get started
Like any other creative thing, gerdan begins with an idea. Already finished products from beads, schemes of finished works, descriptions from other masters can become an impetus to creating your own masterpiece. For beginners, for the first work, it is better to repeat the finished drawing according to the scheme. To create your ornament, a mesh template is useful, which you can fill out at your own discretion.
Tools and materials
Let's have a look at the materials and accessories for beadwork before starting the master class. Gerdan bead using machine-tool weaving technique requires a little more tools and preparations than openwork weaving.
For work you will need:
- loom;
- beads of the same size;
- threads for beadwork;
- bead needles.
- pattern of the ornament.
The loom can be bought ready-made, but you can do it yourself, as an option, on a box of sweets or a cardboard base. An important point: for weaving, it is necessary to take beads of the same size, otherwise the fabric will be skewed.
Master class: gerdan from beads using weaving technique for beginners
First of all, you need to prepare a loom. It is important to properly tension the warp threads so that they do not sag. The thread is always taken one more than the beads according to the pattern. After they are fixed on the machine, you can begin work.
The working thread is threaded into the needle, its end is fixed on the machine. Next, the first row of beads is typed according to the drawn ornament.
The string with the collected beads is passed under the warp threads. Finger beads are distributed between the stretched warp threads, one between each thread, and pushed up.
The needle with the working thread now needs to be drawn through the collected beads over the warp threads, the thread slightly tightened. The first row of the tape turned out.
The second is typed according to the figure. In the same way, the needle with the working thread is held under the warp threads, and then through the beads on top of it. The next row is pulled to the previous one so that they form a dense bead web. Thus, a tape about a meter long is woven. It is important that the pattern at the edges of the tape matches and ends in the same row.
In this case, the medallion in its drawing continues the pattern on the ribbon. When it is finished, the warp threads are cut from the machine. By the height of the medallion, the ribbons are fastened together by the addition of beads in the middle according to the figure. The working thread is passed horizontally through the beads of the finished fabric. Fringe is strung on the remaining warp threads, then they are fixed in weaving, and the ends are cut off.
Bead gerdans, the patterns of which require expansion or contraction of the tape, are woven with the addition of additional warp threads during weaving. For this, a thread of the required length is passed through the last strung row of the ornament and fixed on the machine parallel to the weave.
Classic ornaments and color combinations
Embroidery patterns in modern gerdans have found a second life. A traditional ornament with black-crane roses, a combination of bright colors in the rhombuses of the Hutsul patterns, a classic strict combination of black with gold and many other patterns were embodied in such an ornament as a bead gerdan. Gzhel, patterns with roses in blue and white on a white background, rosettes and curly leaves are also firmly included in the collection of ornaments for beadwork.
An effective white-blue combination, even with a minimum of bead colors used, looks exquisite in the finished product. In order to create an elegant gerdan in the Gzhel style, it is not necessary to display complex floral motifs in the ornament. A simplified stylized flower of several petals or a simple geometric pattern with alternating blue beads in different shades will also look good in a narrow gerdan ribbon.