Favorite Techniques: Netted Fringe

No matter how many beading techniques we learn, there will always be one or two that we return to again and again. Perhaps they have a look or feel that we really enjoy, or work well with our favorite beads. Sometimes the best stitches are the ones that we can just sit back and weave with ease, and they are the ones that make beading a relaxing pastime.

Today, my guest is Virginia of Goblins’ Market, who shares the origins of her favorite beading technique.

Inspirational Beading: What is your all time favorite beading or jewelry technique?

Virginia: It is so hard to choose a favorite. I love to make netted beaded fringes on scarves and I love to work in circular right angle weave.

Inspirational Beading: How do you first learn to use this technique?

Virginia: I worked out netted fringe on my own but learned the stitch I use to create a foundation row from a Bead & Button magazine in the early 1990's. I learned circular right angle weave from a Marcia DeCoster article in Bead & Button several years ago.

Inspirational Beading: Of all the creations you’ve made with this technique, which one is your favorite?

Virginia: I think my favorite creation so far is a scarf I made for a friend's daughter last spring. It was made with an orchid purple silk/rayon velvet that I dyed and overdyed myself, and edged with a gorgeous netted fringe. I used some yummy green table cuts for the fringe finials.

I really enjoyed working with such rich colors on that sumptuous velvet surface. I also really enjoy knowing that the recipient will value this scarf for a long time - both as a gift from her dad and something hand made by me. I hope her daughters will enjoy it as much as she does! I love to work on custom orders - especially when they involve both fiber and beads!

Inspirational Beading: Can you share any tips for getting started with this method?

Virginia: When working with a beaded fringe, it is very important to have a sturdy, well spaced foundation row. I'm working on creating a tutorial to offer in my shop on creating a foundation row - I may get it done by January 2011. (And that may be a very optimistic estimate!)

The foundation row secures the fringe to the fabric and is the basis for the spacing of your fringe. Getting that on neatly is the first important step. The next challenge with beaded fringe is to work with a fairly long thread and to remember to tie off often. The length of thread I work with is often prone to tangling, especially since I work with a doubled thread for strength.

Be patient. Never tug on a knot. Use your needle to loosen knots. Go slowly and work in a position and place that allows you to see your work clearly. Eventually you will find a way to hold the thread apart from itself with your fingers as you stitch. This will help you minimize knots and go faster.

I always tie off after every third section of netting or after every 4 or 5 single strands. This minimizes bead loss and re-working time if the unthinkable happens to your scarf and the fringe gets broken. I also always include a small vial of repair beads for these velvet scarves. They may travel a very long time in their lifetimes and I want their owners to be able to easily find the necessary beads for a repair, should that ever be needed.

Inspirational Beading: Do you have a favorite material to use it with?

Virginia: Silk Velvet! I also put simpler beaded fringes on some of my other hand painted and dyed scarves but velvet and silk dupion are the only fabrics I've worked with so far that really can carry the weight and luxury of a full netted fringe really convincingly.

Inspirational Beading: If someone had to choose to learn only one technique, would you recommend this one?

Virginia: I would recommend that they learn the foundation stitch. Once one has learned to put the foundation row on neatly and without significant trouble with tangles, they will have worked with the beads and the fabric enough to begin making intuitive guesses about how they can add onto and embellish that basic foundation. The foundation row lends itself very nicely to peyote stitch - I have added solid peyote strips to the bottoms of scarves instead of dangling fringes in the past to very good effect! - and to many variations of fringes.

Inspirational Beading: In your opinion, what is the best place for beginners to learn this technique?

Virginia: I am a "manipulative" and visual learner, so learning from illustrations in a magazine works well for me. (That's a good thing because we live very far from any large city with an active beading guild!) Anyone who is an auditory learner should look for a teacher, a class or a guild to learn from.

I occasionally teach a "Beading on the Fringe" class on applying fringe to a scarf or ribbon; some of my students pick up the techniques just by looking at my illustrations. Others need to see me walk through the steps several times and still others need me to talk them through it step by step. It all depends on how your brain processes information best.

Recommend sites for fiber arts and more:

Stitchin Fingers
Pin Tangle
ArtCloth Studios

Copyright 2010 Inspirational Beading and Goblins' Market

Beaded Star Fish Necklace

After seeing my Moonlit Garden Necklace, many friends left messages for me saying “I love that starfish necklace!” Because I had flowers in mind when I made it, it never occurred to me that the five petals might appear as sea stars.

The Inspiration:

Once I realized the potential of these five sided star creations, I envisioned a necklace covered in tiny starfish. I searched around for the perfect colored beads to create some little sea creatures from.

The Beads:

I chose some bright orange cat’s eye beads for the base of some new starfish beaded beads, and found 15/o seed beads to match. To create a necklace to decorate with them, I selected some lovely green meadow pinch beads, clam shell beads, and a mixture of topaz and caramel seed beads.

The Beadwork:

To be sure that the starfish beads were recognized, I wanted to create something that had a strong overall ocean theme. Although I’m not a fan of fishing nets, there’s nothing quite like netted beadwork for aquatic pieces.

I used the starfish beads and clam shell beads to decorate the ends of a large netted scarf. I’m really pleased with the way the netting turned out. Instead of a fishing net appearance, it looks like water rippling over a bed of golden yellow pebbles.

Copyright 2009 Inspirational Beading

Beach Bunny

One of the worst things about growing up is that you have to buy your own chocolate come holidays like Easter. The infamous bunny didn't visit me this year, and I have a serious craving for jelly beans!

To ease my longing for treat baskets and colored eggs, I decided I would bead something to capture some of the festive elements of the spring holiday.

The Inspiration:

I started with some egg-shaped Luhuanus shell beads, which have a lovely pastel pink shade. They were a birthday gift, and I have been waiting for just the right project to use them in. Both the shape and color are perfect for an Easter project.

To really tie the shell beads in with the Easter beadwork, I decided to create a necklace that had elements of spring, as well as the ocean. Ideally, the finished piece would be something to wear while combing the beach on the first warm day of April.

The Beads:

For the beach element, I selected some pearl-colored white Ceylon 6o’s, and mother of pearl chips. I hand selected each chip for size and shape, using only those that were not too flat or sharp edged. Of the three strands of chips in my stash, only a small fraction of them were ‘just right’.

On the spring side, I chose lavender iris mix seed beads - a very Easter egg-like color - and 8o’s in a robin’s egg blue. The lavender beads are one of my favorite shades, and I have been hoarding them for a long time. Often I wonder if that reluctance to use beads is counter-productive, but eventually the perfect inspiration comes along and it’s time to let the beads go. I had no reservations about scooping up these beads and getting to work.

The Beadwork:

To really let my favorite beads shine, I wanted to do something big and bold. I decided to create a scarf with widely spaced netting. It has a really nice weight to it, and drapes without sliding as lighter lariats tend to do.

The Luhuanus shells didn’t make it into the necklace until the very end. Early on I decided not to let them get lost in the beadwork, and reserved them for the fringe. Deciding on the fringe created yet another dilemma. Coral fringe would have fit in with the shells, but I wanted to mimic the look of a knitted scarf. The simplicity of the looped fringe really compliments the shells, as well as the netting.

I really underestimated the amount of beads it would take to create so much netting. Between the beadwork, and the culled beads, I have nearly depleted my entire stash of lavender seed beads. For a while I almost considered stopping after the first few rows of netting, but it was obvious that more layers were needed. Fortunately, it was totally worth it. I’m so pleased with how the piece turned out, I plan to make another very soon.