Beading Instructions : Stringing

Free Beading Project: Wire and Bead Chain Using Vintage Metal Beads

Jennifer VanBenschoten — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 13:00:00 GMT

I loved these curved metal beads from the July 2012 shipment of A Grain of Sand's Bead Hoard Curiosities Club. They reminded me of stringing macaroni onto yarn with my mother and sister when I was kid! But their lovely gold finish and their unusual curved shape made me wonder what would happen if I used them to make a wire and bead chain necklace. The result was an unusual, vintage-style beaded necklace that I can wear with just about anything.

Materials:

9 20mm curved gold vintage tube beads (A)
18 3mm gold round beads (B)
10 5mm gold jump rings
8 feet gold craft wire, 20 gauge
Gold clasp of your choice

Tools:

Combination pliers OR chain nose and round nose pliers
Wire cutter

		Step 1: Working from your spool of wire, slide on 1 B, 1 A, and 1 B. Make a wrapped loop at the end of the wire, and push the beads against the loop. Tip: When threading the curved bead on your wire, you might find it easier to use your pliers to gently push the wire through the bead.

		Step 2: Cut your wire 1 1/2" from the other end of the beads.

		Step 3: Make a wrapped loop at the other end of the link. Repeat until you have completed 9 links.

		Step 4: Open a jump ring and string on two links. Close the jump ring. Use the jump rings to connect all 9 units. Attach one jump ring to each end of the necklace, and attach the clasp using those jump rings. Close securely.

Enjoy!

Bead Happy,

Jennifer

For more great vintage beads, check out A Grain of Sand.

How to Bezel a Cabochon with Peyote Stitch for Bead Embroidery

Jennifer VanBenschoten — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 06:00:00 GMT

I have trust issues with the cabochons I use in my bead embroidery. The first time I tried to use cabochons in my bead embroidery, I just glued them to the bead embroidery backing and started stitching around them. To my surprise and dismay, those cabochons started to peel right off the bead embroidery backing after just a couple of days and the whole piece was pretty much ruined.

After that, I learned how to stitch a peyote bezel around my cabochons to hold them securely in place, and I've been thrilled with the results ever since. If you stitch your bezel correctly, there's no way that cabochon is going to pop out of your bead embroidery.

Ready to try a peyote stitch bezel for your bead embroidered cabochons? Here's a tutorial with helpful tips and hints:

Materials

Cabochon: This can be any size, any material. For beginners, it's best to start with a smaller (less than 30mm) piece in a regular shape like oval or round. Don't try working with square cabochons until you understand the basics of stitching a peyote bezel around a round or oval cabochon!
Bead embroidery backing: Your preferred material is fine. Some people prefer Lacy's Stiff Stuff, Nicole's Bead Backing or a piece of fusible webbing that has been ironed on to a piece of fabric. For beginners, a stiffer bead backing like Lacy's or Nicole's is best.
Cylinder beads in size 11: Approximately 5 grams in a color to match or contrast with your cabochon and bead embroidery backing.
Seed beads in size 15: Less than 1 gram in color to match or contrast with your cylinder beads for securing your peyote stitch bezel.
Beading thread: Nymo D or Fireline 6 lb. test are preferred for these kinds of peyote stitch bezels.

Tools:

Size 12 beading needle
Scissors or thread cutter
Chain nose pliers (optional but useful for pulling needle through a tight spot)

Step by Step Instructions:

		Step 1: Affix your cabochon to your bead embroidery backing using either glue or double-stick tape. Tie a small knot on one end of a comfortable length of beading thread (no longer than five feet). Thread your needle and bring it up through the bead backing so that you exit next to your cabochon. Try to come up directly alongside the cabochon -- make sure your needle isn't angled from under the cabochon on the back side of the bead embroidery medium. Pick up 2 cylinder beads and push them down the thread so that they line up against the edge of your cabochon.

		Step 2: Pass your needle down through the bead embroidery medium right at the edge of the second cylinder bead added. It's always better to be closer to the bead than further away. If you stitch too far away from your cylinder beads, your bezel won't fit properly.

		Step 3: Pass your needle back up through the bead embroidery medium between the two cylinder beads you just added. Again, stitching closer to the beads is better than stitching further away, and try to make sure that you needle is moving straight and not at an angle.

		Step 4: Stitch through the second cylinder bead and pull your thread snugly.

		Step 5: Continue to add beads in pairs around your cabochon. Don't worry if your line isn't perfectly straight -- once you start working in peyote stitch, it will straighten out nicely. We'll be working in even-count peyote stitch, so make sure that you add your beads in pairs. Leaving every other bead "loose" and not stitched down to your bead embroidery medium will make for a better-fitting peyote stitch bezel. A common problem is reaching the end of your round and only having enough space for one more bead. In these cases, I prefer to stitch in an extra bead, usually a very "skinny" cylinder bead that I've culled from the rest of my cylinder beads. (Don't throw away those imperfect beads! They're quite useful!) It's important to have an even number of beads in your first round so that you can work even-count peyote stitch for an even and secure bezel around your cabochon.

		Step 6: Pass through the first bead added. Pick up a cylinder bead, skip the next bead in the round, and pass through the next bead, pulling snugly.

		Step 7: Continue to work in even-count peyote stitch all the way around your cabochon. Make the step-up at the end of each round. Work as many rounds are necessary so that the bezel comes up over the edge of your cabochon. You don't need to have it extend too far over the edge -- just one bead's width over the edge is sufficient for a secure peyote stitch bezel.

		Step 8: Work one round of even-count peyote stitch using the size 15 seed beads. Pull snugly on your stitching to secure the bezel around your cabochon. Weave your thread down through the bezel and into the bead embroidery backing. You've finished your cabochon and are ready to start working backstitch around it or add any embellishments that you'd like!

Bead embroidery using cabochons can be big and elaborate like the work of Sherry Serafini and Heidi Kummli, or it can be as simple as stitching a simple bezel around a beautiful cabochon and stringing it on a necklace! You can add bezeled cabochons to cuff bracelets or glue them onto ring findings for spectacular gemstone cabochons rings.

Now it's your turn to show us your best bead embroidery using cabochons! Take a picture of your best peyote-bezeled cabochon and post it in the Reader Photo Gallery.

Bead Happy,

Jennifer

Copyright Law, Ethics and Your Beadwork

Jennifer VanBenschoten — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 04:00:00 GMT


	My Back to Byzantium necklace has been the target of several instances of copyright violation.

Which of the following statements is true:

A. If you pay someone for a class to learn a particular design, you then own the rights to that design and can use it however you wish (i.e., to sell finished pieces for profit).

B. If you buy a beading pattern from an artist or a website, it's okay to make copies of that pattern and hand them out to your friends.

C. If a project has been published in a magazine or a book, then you automatically have permission to make that project and sell it for profit.

D. It's okay to copy a beading project that you saw in a photograph or in a bead shop without giving credit to the original designer.

Time's up! Did you figure it out? If you think that none of these statements are true, then you are absolutely correct.

A. If you pay someone for a class, then you own the rights to that design. This is absolutely not the case. If the class was to learn a particular beadweaving stitch (such as right-angle weave, peyote stitch, or herringbone stitch), that doesn't mean that you now own the rights to that beadweaving stitch. Likewise, taking a class to learn how to create the original design of the teacher doesn't mean that ownership rights of that design have now been transferred to you. While it's true that there's nothing to stop you from creating and selling finished pieces of this original design (unless that designer has a team of high-priced and high-powered attorneys), it's just not an ethical thing to do. These teachers put their designs out there for others to learn from, and many of them sell their own finished pieces as a source of income.

B. If you buy a beading pattern from an artist or a website, it's okay to make copies of that pattern and hand them out to your friends. When you purchase a beading pattern from someone through a website or an online selling venue such as Etsy or Artfire, you are paying to use that pattern for your own personal use, unless otherwise specified at the time you purchase it. That doesn't mean that you can now email a copy of that pattern to all of your friends who you think would like a copy! It's the same as copying a movie or a CD from a friend. Lots of people do it, but that doesn't mean this is okay. In my opinion, it's the same as stealing from someone who is trying to sell their handmade goods for a living.

C. If a project has been published in a magazine or a book, then you automatically have permission to make that project and sell it for profit. The patterns and projects that are published in magazines such as Beadwork and Stringing are published so that you can learn how to make that project and expand your own beadweaving and jewelry-making skills. Personal enrichment, inspiration, and learning are the goals here, not making a profit from someone else's design. It's always a good idea (and the right thing to do) to ask the artist for permission before making up copies of a design and selling it.

D. It's okay to copy a beading project that you saw in a photograph or in a bead shop without giving credit to the original designer. I have a good friend who designs beautiful beading patterns and sells them to earn income. It's very distressing to her when she sees pictures of her patterns being "shared" on various websites, or when someone posts a picture with a description that states they copied this pattern from a photograph. In this case, the right thing to do would be to find the artist who designed the pattern or project and purchase a copy of the instructions from them or buy a copy of the magazine where the project first appeared. Remember that these artists are also trying to earn income from the sale of their original patterns and designs.

What if your copyright has been violated?

If you discover that someone has violated your copyright of an original beadwork design, there are a few things that you can do. The first would be to send a polite but firm email or letter to the person and let them know that what they have done is unethical and possibly illegal, and tell them what actions you would like them to take to correct the situation (i.e., removing a photograph from their website or blog, purchasing a pattern or removing an item for sale from an online store or gallery).

If your letter goes ignored, you can contact an attorney who specializes in copyright and intellectual property law, but remember that an attorney will charge you, sometimes a great deal of money, just for writing a letter. It's easy for large corporations to defend their copyrights because they have the resources to retain and compensate attorneys who specialize in intellectual property law, but you may not have the same deep pockets as a corporation.

Don't let copyright violations get you down.

Just because someone has violated your copyright, don't let it stop you from creating new and better beadwork designs. The best defense we have as artists is the ability to grow and develop new ideas and new styles of work to stay one step ahead of the copycats. It doesn't feel good to have your ideas stolen and used without your permission, but unless you're able and willing to spend a lot of time and money fighting the copyright infringement, the best thing you can do in that situation is turn it around and do something positive about it.

If you're interested in learning more about copyright, ethics and beadwork, these links from Beadwork magazine will be of great interest to you:

Ethics in Beadland by Mary J. Tafoya

Ethics in Beadwork Quiz

Do the Right Thing: Copyright, Ethics and You by Marlene Blessing

Have you ever seen someone use your original design without your permission? What did you do about it? What are your thoughts about copyright, ethics and beadwork? Please share your thoughts and experiences here by leaving a comment on the blog.

Bead Happy,

Jennifer