Sunday 3 January 2016

And the bead keeps going on and on... 1-2 Jan

Day 1+2 January 2016

The plan for the start of 2016 is to carry on with beaded fabric bits alternated with tassels. I started tassels in October as a way to bead onto small charms. In doing so, I found the solution to the concern I had about re-designing something every other month. (Because the alternate months were beading onto something unusual.) I enjoyed the designing, but not the pressure of coming up with something each time. And usually, the project took much too much time out of my day.
So, this year, I am trying to get back a bit of the time involved with the daily project. As I have less energy for things, I need to use it for the big things and not use it all up on small things!

However, as you may have noticed, I have been doing some of what I called bead samples. These are fun to work on when I am taking a break from other things, or in the evening when I haven't got much wits left for full on creating. So, I plan to carry on with these. Probably something new each month, but who knows? I am not going to pressure myself with times and goals on this. I do plan to keep each 'sample' going until it has become a trim that I can use on some of my fantastical garments. So, I guess at this point, I will begin to call them trims!


So, anyway, I am starting this year's Bead On project with the tassels. Next month will be the fabric bit... which is still in the thinking stage.

Trial - I wanted to develop a design similar to the others, but the way I was doing them, it meant that they always had an even number of dangly bits. I wanted to try something to get an odd number - 5, if possible.

There was one more before this trial set - but I forgot about the 5 part and it had 6! Okay, why do something new if you have 6! Plus, there were a few changes needed. So, here is the one that works with 5.

And then one more step was to get it to hang better when you would stitch it to something. The above piece would work great as an earring or pendant, but I want to have the possibility to stitch them to a gown. Just a minor change of making the loop endings closer together. I think they still could be slightly asymmetric earrings, but they lay against a surface better.

no.1

no.2


By the way, I am still posting the week's beads on Sunday.

2 comments:

Linda M said...

Hi Sandy,
I love that you keep changing these up a bit. You must have a wonderful collection of beaded bits now.

Sandy said...

Thanks Linda. Yes, the collection is growing. I am finding it hard to want to break up the set!
But I also know that when they are the right thing for the job, then everything will fall into place.
This is also why I am setting about doing trims. It was something I had been thinking about before the beginning of last year, but couldn’t work out an acceptable plan for the daily part of it. But I know it will help to complete a gown if I have trims which I have made as well. Although I am not consciously making the trim to ‘match’ any of the sets.
Sandy