Beadwork is one of the most common and popular types of needlework. Labor is painstaking, but at the same time fascinating. A lot of time can be spent on creating one thing, so patience and perseverance are required. To help needlewomen, there is a special device - a beadwork machine, which will help you quickly and efficiently make any jewelry or accessory.
What does the machine look like?
The device can be purchased in specialized stores where goods for needlework are sold, or ordered on the website. Outwardly, it resembles a specially designed frame made of wood or plastic. In order to fix the work, a special spring is provided. You can find machines of different sizes. For example, a work surface may be eleven by sixteen centimeters.
Special spools allow you to adjust the tension of the threads. If you do not have the opportunity to purchase a useful little thing, it is more profitable to make a machine for beadwork with your own hands. Then, when you create it, you can take into account all the necessary nuances.
Weaving methods on the machine
Special devices are designed for direct weaving using weaving technique. Initially, several threads are fixed on the machine. Their number sets the width of the future product. The threads are located to the working surface at an angle of forty-five degrees strictly opposite to each other. Thus, you are guaranteed to get a smooth and neat little thing. Now you need to tie a working line with a needle to the base, collect beads on it in accordance with a pre-selected pattern, pass it under the threads stretched on the machine, distribute the beads evenly between them.
Now you need to pass the line through the beads. In this case, it is necessary to ensure that the thread lies over the base. This will turn out the first row of the future bracelet or belt. Well, if you yourself have designed a beadwork machine, how to use it, you already know in advance.
Special bolts that will wind the already woven fabric will help to adjust the length of the product. When weaving is completed, the base is removed from the machine. Extra threads need to be fixed (tied in a knot) and trimmed. They can be braided and fastened. The machine provides ample opportunities for creativity. You can change not only the length, but also the width of the product.
Beadwork Patterns
Pattern for weaving, you can choose from those that offer for cross-stitch. They can be found in specialized needlework magazines. If you have already chosen an image, it is enough to simply divide it into squares yourself and proceed from this scheme when weaving the product.
How to create a machine yourself
If you are not satisfied with the finished thing, just consider several ways to make your own beadwork machine at home. It is pretty simple.
You will need a ruler, cardboard, several stationery clips, metal corners. The cover from the album, the old book, is useful as a basis. Thick paper, having previously marked it with a ruler in DM, bend it in the shape of a corner and fix it on it. Make slots on the cardboard. There are two pieces of such parts that need to be made. The edges of the base are also marked in a similar way. After that, both blanks are placed on two sides, opposite each other. Threads are pulled at an equal distance. Their ends need to be twisted together and attached to the base using office clothespins.
A simpler, but also quite convenient, is a beadwork machine made of boards. It will take a piece of cardboard. It must be folded in half, make even cuts at the bend at an equal distance. There will be two such details. Then prepare a level board. Fix cardboard blanks on both sides of it. Now you can pull the threads and get to work.
You can get the machine from a shoe box, on the opposite sides of which make the same cuts - they fix the working thread. A more professional design will turn out if you create it from wooden or metal parts. In this case, it is necessary to focus on existing models.
Tips for the craftswomen
Much depends not only on your beadwork machine, but also on the quality of the beads, so preference should be given to Czech or Japanese material. Then you are guaranteed to get a neat product. When working on the machine, it is important to make the first row correctly. He is the most difficult. Because the beads still do not hold and slide off. To measure an already finished product, it is enough to use a pin with a plastic head as a mark. It doesn’t matter what your beadwork machine will be: bought at a store or made by yourself. The main thing is that thanks to such a device, you can create a magnificent thing in just one evening, without making extra efforts.