Beadweaving & Embroidery

Beadweaving & Embroidery

My early years of beading involved wire-working. I created a lot of pieces, working with stones and beads, and gave many to friends. However, I never quite got the hang of finding materials that didn’t turn. The work would look dingy over a bit of time. Frustrating.

Then I took a class at a local library that combined beads with stitching using a needle and thin fishing line, called beadweaving. It was easy to thread, (undo), and knot, and the stitching process was incredibly meditative for me. The love affair was immediate. Books and magazines with patterns and stitch types filled my space quickly. Trips to bead stores became an adventure of colors, shapes, and combinations. Following a pattern with various stitches prevented boredom, while repetitive stitch lengths provided the meditative quality I craved. I became prolific. Many advised me to open an etsy shop. But the time and cost of the beads could not be recouped fully and I was not interested in creating more than one of any design.

Enter, bead embroidery—a perfect combination of all that I loved about beadweaving with my background in layout and design. This involved creating unique pieces and the ability to use and combine in interesting ways the leftover beads from previous projects. The projects take quite a bit more time and thought in designing and executing, but the satisfaction in the final piece is very rewarding.

Whenever I want to slow down time, however, I resort back to the methodical and snug bead-fitting satisfaction I find in beadweaving.