Beadwork is a very fascinating activity, where you do not need to have special tools, which is the advantage of work. Having at hand a wire or a strong thread, a comfortable needle, scissors and the beads themselves, you can create bead compositions with your own hands of amazing beauty.
Types of beads
Beads can be glass, ceramic, metal and plastic. Nowadays, a huge number of beads of any sizes and different colors is produced.
Round beads made of glass can be used for any product. This type of part is usually supplied from Japan and the Czech Republic. Japanese is slightly larger, Czech is smaller and flatter. Everyone must decide for himself which beads he likes best. Bead sizes are classified from 6/0 to 15/0. The beads are smaller if the number is larger. The most common size is 11/0, where 11 is the number of beads that will fit 1 inch (2.54 cm) in length.
You need to buy beads in packages or bundles, by weight. Czech beads are divided into opaque (glass that does not transmit light), translucent (from milk glass), transparent and with a silver line (the hole in the center is covered with a mirror color). There are silk beads (covered with grooves) and beads with a line (the inner surface of a different color).
Today, chopped beads have also appeared with a hole shifted to the flattened edge (perfect for flowers, twigs, peephole). When buying beads, you can test for the durability of the coating: wet and put it on a white cloth - there should not be any stains. In a pack it should be the same size and without chips. You need to pay attention to the size of the products in packs, if they are presented in several shades. Pay attention to the holes: they should not be covered with plastic. It is recommended to store finished work in a place where sunlight does not fall, you can not wipe them with cologne and alcohol. A good material will make bead compositions of high quality and safe.
Work tool
In order to weave beads, you will need to purchase threads or wire for stringing. There are different types of threads, with their own advantages and disadvantages. They should be strong enough and not very thick. For example, kapron. It’s more convenient to use green brass wire, thanks to which you can easily give the desired product shape: it is great for creating leaves or petals.
For weaving with beads, there are special thin needles that easily pass into the holes. The thick eye of the needle is ground with sandpaper. Making flower arrangements from beads and figures, use frames and blanks of spherical, cylindrical shape (balls, pebbles, bottle caps, coins, and so on). Before starting work on the table, it is necessary to spread the fabric of a uniform color so that the eyes do not get tired. The beads are poured in small heaps, not mixing for convenience when working. Lighting can be both bright ceiling and diffused solar.
Bead color
When creating a composition from beads, it is very important to choose details not only in shape and quality, but also in color compatibility. Everyone gives preferences to color schemes. The gamma is divided into two groups: color (chromatic - the colors of the solar spectrum and shades such as blue, yellow, green, red) and colorless (achromatic). Colors are obtained with low saturation, if you add to them an achromatic color. Chromatic colors are cold, for example, blue, purple, and warm, such as red, yellow. A harmonious combination of colors must be considered when working with beads. Black color is combined with all achromatic combinations. It must be borne in mind that in combination with yellow, all colors darken. Green color on a red background is unpleasant to the eye and, conversely, red on green causes revival.
Types of weaving
There are several types of weaving:
- "Towards." A very easy way. We collect one bead in the middle of the thread, holding it with two hands. On either end of the thread, for example, the right, we string another bead. Pass the left part of the thread into the same hole as the right. Bead compositions made in this way are in no way inferior in beauty to compositions made by a more complex way of weaving.
- "Weaving with a cloth." A very interesting weaving method in which brass wire is best suited. The first row is woven “towards”, we bend one end of the wire with a ringlet, it will not be needed. The other end of the thread or wire must be threaded into the second bead of the first row from the end. Then we pass the wire into bead 2, we collect two more beads, we also act with the third and subsequent to the end of the row. If in the first row an even number of beads was dialed, the third one starts with threading the wire into the same bead-bundle 2, in the opposite direction. Further weaves like a second. If there is an odd number in the first row of beads , in the second row we do not weave the last bead, remove the wire from bead 1 and collect 2, 3, 4 beads on it. Beads at number 2 should take an empty place in the second row, and 3, 4 - in the third. When we collect three beads, the wire falls into the second row, into bead 5. Then we weave the third row, like the second.
Learning to weave a sunflower
We begin to weave the composition of the beads. The master class will be presented below. For work you will need: glass beads of any color and its shades, scissors, nippers, preferably curved pliers, silk or nylon threads. We will learn how to make flower arrangements from beads, so we will additionally need a sticky floral tape, also glue, a ruler, a nylon cord (for the stalk).
To create a flower, you can use the "loop" technique. You need to take a wire about 12 cm long, put on it 15 pieces of beads, twist the wire several times. The tip must be made sharp with 1-2 beads.
Reception "loop"
From 12 finished loops, you can make compositions of beads, which are called "sunflower". For the middle of black beads strung on a wire, you need to make a spiral. The tail is fixed by passing between the beads of the previous row. We fold the petals in the form of a fan, twist the ends, passing the end from the spiral into the middle. The leaves are screwed to the stalk and wrapped.
The leaves can be made according to the French technique: we make a loop, string the beads on a 15 cm length, make a turn back, make a loop on four fingers, for which you need to bend and twist the wire (2 cm), then string 15 cm in the opposite direction again.
We twist the wire. In the second row, you need to collect more by 3 beads and move them to the first row. Follow the next rows, adding 2-3 beads. When weaving leaves, tightly twist the end that remains, and a large loop. Finished leaves are twisted into a twig and wrapped with tape or thread. This way you can make sunflowers or lilies. The composition of flowers from beads is fixed in a pot with small pebbles or a solution of gypsum, cement.
Learning to weave pansies
In order to weave a flower arrangement “pansies”, you need green, purple and yellow beads, beads that look like drops, wire for the stem 1-2 mm. And a thin wire for leaves and petals, wire cutters, glue.
We weave two yellow and three violet petals, if the pansies are motley, then weaving must begin with dark beads, and then add light ones. From green beads weave leaves of arbitrary shape. The middle bead is fixed on the wire for the stem.
Learning to weave roses
A composition of roses from beads is woven like a composition of pansies. Each petal masters separately when the required number of petals is ready - they are combined into one flower.
Whole flower bead arrangements should consist of a minimum of five colors. You can glue the stem with corrugated paper, or wrap it with green thread.
Be sure: products made from beads are a great DIY gift!