Flowers from beads are a magnificent interior decoration that can revive and transform the decoration of your home, bringing a sea of bright colors to it.
In this article, we offer you an interesting master class, which describes in detail and clearly how to weave a gladiolus from beads. In fact, this is not difficult, the main thing is to be patient. Beadwork is a painstaking work requiring a lot of time. Bead gladiolus can be performed by a needlewoman who has some skills in making flowers. For beginners who are working with glass beads for the first time, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with the basic techniques in advance.
Beadwork: gladiolus. Tools and materials necessary for the manufacture of crafts
So, in order to create an original interior decoration - gladiolus from beads, you will need to prepare some supplies and tools. Of course, you will need beads. It is desirable that it be medium in size - it’s perfect for number 10 or number 9. Good beads are usually made in Japan and the Czech Republic. In order to make bead gladiolus more realistic, it is advisable to select beads of natural colors, for example, pink, lilac, yellow. For leaves, you should take beads of green and dark green colors. Also for work you should prepare a copper flexible wire with a diameter of 0.30 mm. To make the stem, you will need a metal rod. You should also prepare wire cutters, green threads, PVA glue and scissors. To make crafts, you need a beautiful vase or flower pot, alabaster and decorative pebbles.
The first stage of work - weaving petals
So, we begin our work on the manufacture of crafts "gladiolus from beads." The scheme is as follows. First, make inflorescences. In total, one gladiolus flower will consist of six petals, three in the upper and lower tiers, as well as stamens and pestle. In order to weave a bead from a bead, take a 70 cm long wire. At one end, form a small loop, twist the wire under it three to four times. On the other end, collect 5 beads - for the central row, and then bend the wire in half, leaving 15 cm from the end with a loop. Next, put your fingers in the bend and with your other hand twist the working wire (1 cm), tight enough to the fingers. The figure clearly shows what you should be able to do.
Now string 8 beads. Place this row of beads (it is considered the first), firmly pressing it to the center, and then fix the end of the working wire, maintaining a right angle. Next, collect 8 more beads and complete the second semicircle of the first row, tightly laying the working wire to the central beads. Lock the end again. Similarly, weave three more rows. As a result, you will get a neat petal consisting of a central axis and 5 rows of beads on each side. To make one flower, you need to make 6 of these petals. Your gladiolus from beads will look more natural if you make the petals different in shape and size, for example, two will be narrow and long, and the rest rounded.
The second stage of work is the implementation of the core of the flower
After making the necessary number of petals, we turn to the creation of stamens and pistils. For this we will use the needle weaving technique. Take a piece of wire about 20 cm long. We put 5 beads on it. Pass one end of the wire through four beads, passing the first. Repeat this operation three or four more times. So we get stamens - "needles" from beads. You also need to make several exactly the same elements, in terms of the number needed to create all the colors of the gladiolus. Do the pestles like this: on the wire, collect 6 beads. Pass one end of it through all the beads except the first. We decided to make on the stem of our gladiolus 5 open flowers, respectively, “needle” cores and pestles, we need the same amount.
The third stage of work: creating leaves using parallel and circular weaving techniques
We will describe how to weave gladiolus from beads, including its leaflets. We will do this in the parallel weaving technique, which means working with the two ends of the wire towards each other. First, beads - 3 pcs. Are collected on a wire 25 cm long, and then bent into a ring, passing one end into two beads. Then tighten the wire so that its ends are equal in length. So it turns out the first two rows, one consists of one bead, and the second of two. Then three beads are strung on one end of the wire, and its second end is passed through them in the opposite direction. Thus, the production of the leaves of the "gladiolus from beads" crafts continues. The scheme is approximately as follows: 1: 2: 3: 4: 4: 5: 5: 6: 6: 5: 5: 4: 4: 3: 2: 1 (numbers indicate the number of beads in a row). Such long narrow leaves need to be made 2 pcs. In addition to them, several more sepals will be required for the design of inflorescences and blooming buds. We will perform them in the technique of circular weaving. We make them with an axis of 2 cm and four arcs. Such leaves must be woven at least 10 pcs.
The fourth stage of work: we carry out the opening buds
On the stem of any gladiolus is often a lot of green buds. For greater realism of our product, we will make 5 drop-down inflorescences. We perform them in the same way as small leaves, with circular weaving. We will make all the buds of different sizes in order to nicely place them on the top of the stem. We will make the axis 2 cm long. And the number of arcs will vary from 4 to 8. We take the wire for the axis 10 cm long. We will fold the resulting green leaves and form beautiful closed buds. When all the details are ready, you can begin to assemble the flower.
The fifth stage of work: collecting petals in inflorescences
First, collect the petals and stamens with pestles together. In the center of the needle center, assembled into a bundle, insert the pestle, fix the structure. Screw the green threads to the central lobe of the core. Then fasten two long petals so that they are next to the stamens. Lastly, screw the center lower and upper side elements. On the same principle, collect the remaining flowers together. Then attach sepals to them - first under the lower central lobe, and then under the upper. Only two for each flower.
Sixth stage: design elements in a single design
For the stem, take a piece of thick wire or some rod. Start wrapping on top of the smallest green first, after a short distance - the next larger bud. So arrange all five buds. After them, start wrapping all the flowers on the stem. At a small distance from a large inflorescence, screw a long sheet. Attach the second 2 or 3 cm below the first. Form all visible parts of the wire with green threads. You can also use green paper. Tip: if you want the thread to fit as tightly as possible to the wire, carefully coat the last with PVA glue.
Beaded flowers: gladiolus in a flower pot
You can beautifully decorate our excellent floral arrangement with a vase or flower pot. In order for the design to be stable, it should be well fixed in the tank. To do this, put the gladiolus in the pot. Make a gypsum solution and pour it into a container with gladiolus. Leave the craft for a while alone, to dry. Alabaster will reliably fix the product. You can decorate the gypsum layer with decorative pebbles or corrugated paper. In addition to a flower pot, you can use a frame to decorate gladiolus. Choose a beautiful baguette and plain fabric for the background for your product. Take a piece of thick cardboard that is suitable for the frame and glue a cloth on it. Attach your gladiolus to the canvas and attach it with threads. That's all, the wonderful panel is ready.
How to care for gladiolus from beads?
Such a charming interior thing does not need watering, fertilizers and spraying. Nevertheless, care should still be taken of her. If the craft becomes dusty, carefully remove dirt with a soft brush. Wipe each flower and leaves thoroughly with a damp cloth. Also, glass cleaner can be used to clean bead products . Your gladiolus from beads can be washed also under a stream of tap water. After the "shower" it will be necessary to dry the flower with paper towels. If your craft accidentally falls and loses its former beautiful forms - don’t worry, the product can be easily restored by carefully straightening the bent petals and leaves. We hope you enjoyed our workshop on how to make bead gladiolus. For beginning masters, perhaps it will seem complicated at first glance. But in fact, all the techniques used in the work are pretty easy to learn. I wish you creative success!