Monday 20 October 2008

Sample 4 completed - snakeskin beadweaving

I seem to be catching up on my C&G samples in reverse order just now!! I put Sample 5 (see last post) through the wash this weekend and it is now frayed and, whilst it was never overly impressive, it now looks really rubbish! Just need to trim a few stray threads and press it, but I will try to avoid that kind of thing where possible in future. Really not my scene at all.


Sample number 4 was based on reptiles, so I hunted on-line and found a terrific snake to work from. What do you think of this chap? He's rather cute in his own way, isn't he?

From our source material we had to do some artwork as ever and I just did a section of the last 2½ coils, from which I drew up a beading chart. This kinda taught me how to do charts for things like cross stitch, needlepoint and so on as well, so I think I may well be able to do that after all. Given that cross stitch is about the world's most popular form of embroidery, being able to create charts may even create some income one day?? But I wouldn't hold my breath there!!


Using a beading loom, which you can see here all threaded up and ready for use, the chart was then turned into a piece of beadweaving. I took this photo whilst doing one of the later rows. You string all the needed beads for one row onto the needle, then, from underneath, slot them between the warp threads. After that, you go back through the row with the beading needle and thread, taking care to go over the warp threads this time. Then it's on to the next row.

This is the finished piece, with each bead kind of representing a scale on the original picture and this is the beading needle when I'd finished. It was straight when I started!!! I didn't think I'd like this and most of the ladies in our first year group were saying that they couldn't see themselves doing this again, how it hurt their eyes etc, but I really enjoyed this and didn't find it any bother to my eyes at all. The only hassle was that the beading thread I used, a nylon wire sort of thread, may have been rather thicker than would have been more comfy to use. One of the other teachers who popped in last week to see what we were doing etc said that you had to take the needle back through the whole row at once, but I wasn't able to do that as it got caught and was impossible to pull through. Don't think it made any difference to the finished sample though. I'm hoping to get a nice, little bead loom as I think this type of this has definite potential, as long as you don't mind using lots of beads and remember that the beads are higher than they are wide, so about 2 high would equal 3 wide. Different from the exact squareness of your regular cross stitch!

9 comments:

Nic said...

I love how you've shown the process from inspiration to finished piece!

coral-seas said...

Love the snake, the original and you beading. What a shame Takako Sako will not be at the Harrogate S&K, I'm sure you would have been bowled over by her bead weaving as I was. She invited me to have a go at the exhibition and I took to it immediately (they were using shoe boxes as looms).

By the way, if I understand this correctly, delica's are beads that at the same height and width so give you don't get the distorted image that you do with seed beads.

CA

Veronica said...

All those different embroidery techniques... looks like so much fun. The snake is so cute and your beading reflects the colours wonderfully. Great job, Elisabeth!

Front Range Stitcher said...

Very nice job, thank you for posting photographs of your progression. Very interesting and enlightening.

Susan Elliott said...

Oh, Wily the Snake is a handsome bloke! I like beadweaving myself so it was so much fun to read your post. Your bent needle made me *giggle. I bend beading needles by the hundreds so I'm glad to find another overanxious needle-gripper such as myself.

Stitchingranny said...

The beadwork is very impressive. I have to admit though that knowing how good you are at stumpwork I thought first of all that you had made that snake!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Great work! However, the snake is just freaking me out...Yikes! I've never been a snake-lover...Don't even like worms...Yeeks!
Carolyn
http://www.stitchopedia.com
An encyclopedia of needlepoint stitches…

Kim Dellow said...

Fabulous beading. Kimx

Margaret said...

Thanks for you comments on my blog. I'm commenting on a past post because the rosettes in the photo are horse show ribbons one by my younger daughter. She is a beader, which reminded me of your snake beading. I showed her your snake skin beading and she thought it was cool. Which I think is a compliment from a 13 year old.

 
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