Thursday, January 19, 2012

Bridal Challenge Week Two: Beaded Netting

For this week's challenge, I had hoped to simplify a pattern I had seen in Beadwork magazine.  As I studied the pattern, I realized I would be in over my head since I hadn't done a netted project before and didn't have a feel for the stitch.  I poked around online to see if I could find a better beginner's pattern and found this one at http://www.rubysbeadwork.com/net1.html  As I worked the necklace, I realized I would run out of the white seed beads before the necklace reached the desired length.  I chose to finish off the necklace with a tri-stitch to tie in with the picot edge in the original pattern.  
Reflecting on the project, I see the positive and the negative.  I like the overall look, though I was aiming for a more substantial necklace.  I really like how the slight differences in the beads create a sense of movement.  Finally, I love how quickly the necklace worked up.  On the downside, I don't like how bright the white looks in person and I think that smaller 11/o beads would have looked better (these are 8/o.)
The project did win me over, however.  The following evening, I realized that I would like this particular necklace better as BRIDESMAIDS' jewelry.  I gathered up some 11/o beads and round glass accent beads (4 or 5 mm) and reworked the necklace.  The larger accent beads cause the sections to take a slightly different shape, but the necklace still has a nice effect.  


Beads used in these projects: 
Toho 8/o #121 White Opaque Luster and #2101 Opal Silver Lined
Toho 11/o #3LF Very Light Saphire Transparent Matte, 
#8DF Dark Cobalt Blue Transparent Matte, and #361 Purple Lined Sapphire
Bliss round beads (JoAnn)

No comments:

Post a Comment