A bit of sampling

trying out a way of decorating denim

I like writing with the machine using a zigzag stitch.

plastic boxes

I have done a bit of sampling to come up with a template that works for what I have in mind using the plastic wallets I showed the other day.

As i said, The next TVCT exhibition will be work inspired by one of the sculptures which has been exhibited on the Fourth Plinth in London's Trafalgar Square.

first a thick card cube using the original template

Next step to lengthen the side opposite to the original long one.

and eventually the proper length

and trying it out in clear plastic

One is nearly right and one is right. I scored the foldlines with the scalpel I used to cut the boxes.
Now to get on with making the rest.
I also need to sample ideas for display
and to see if there would be a door or window,
and if it wants someone or something inside.

Dutch Spiral - take 2

I have managed to get the Dutch Spiral back to where it was when the thread broke for something like the 3rd time, which prompted me to take it apart.

I had struggled to keep the tension even previously, so now I have put a wooden coffee stirrer inside (the Dutch Spiral is a continually twisted triangle so is hollow). It helps me hold every thing together...which would have been harder because having a double thread now would have meant a bit more juggling. I also find that putting a needle or something through one side of  the triangle on a set of beads just below where I am working, also helps. The above photo shows it at the point where I would probably move the needle up again.

So, now to keep at it til I have 1 metre!

Trim or not

Remember this trim I was starting?

I was doing well but the thread broke. Then I sorted it and I was doing well but the thread broke. So, I haven't touched it for a while.

Today I took it all apart. The thread was lovely and just the right colour, but not strong enough to cope with trying to line up bugle beads with their sharp edges. The choice would be - thicker thread, though I am not sure I have any in suitable colours - or double thread. And since I want to make at least 1 metre of the dutch spiral, I couldn't use double of that colour because I know I would run out.
So, I am going with a pale lavender instead, of which I have more than one little bobbin.

And so we begin again. I should have the pattern in my head now!

more trim

So, having finished the Spiral Staircase sample, I am trying out the Dutch Spiral. (These instructions have been from the Bead Guild here in the UK.)

I have had a bag of the blue bugle beads for some time, but no purpose has come up...til now. Also I have these pink beads which I really never select for anything because they are PINK, very pink. But in combination, I think they work.

It goes faster than the Spiral Staircase and because it is only 2 types of beads, I can have a little tray set up to work in my lap when we watch telly.
(We like cooking shows and so on, but record them and watch them later in the evening - like 9pm or so.)

Samples or Trims

Earlier in the year I was making bead trims or samples.
I started this bead rope, or whatever you want to call it, in April. But things got busy and sitting beading was really messing with my back.

But now that the back is doing better with physio and exercises, I have picked it up again.

And now the spiral staircase is finished!
Well finished as in achieving the goal. Each one of these is a little over 1 meter or 40 in long.

No, I don't know what I am going to do with them. But the idea is to make them to have for possible using as trim. A gown or what, it will be discovered just at the right time!

Zoomorphic - 1

And so it is complete and ready to send off...

oh. forgot to take a photo.
open packet...

Here, the complete pelephant and bird - Zoomorphic 1.
Close packet.
Go to post tomorrow.

Zoomorphic

I needed to send a sample of the Build a Fabric technique to Lady Sew and Sew to have on display in the shop.
The only one I had I could send, I can't find. So, maybe it didn't get back from the Needlework Archive?

City Scape

Well, that one was made from the outer trimmings of the Collared Dragon. I still have trimmings left, so I had a look.

I like finding animals/people in clouds and other random shapes. And I often find I can go from a trimming to make something - even clothes. In these trimmings I could see animal-like shapes. So, I started cutting them out.

Okay. I just need one sample, but already I can see I can do a series. And the word zoomorphic kept running through my head.

So, I settled on this one.

And so far have got the bird and the "pelephant"* stitched down. Now to sandwich and quilt it and send it off.

*pelephant = pointy nose elephant

Weaving Sticks

I mentioned the weaving sticks Caroline Marriot was selling on Saturday. (my fingers want to type stitch so end up typing stitcks!)

This is what was on the sticks I bought. (Although I had already changed the warp threads when I took this photo.)

I like these colours, but don't really have other wool or yarns to go with this. So I dipped into my collection of wools from Linton tweeds. I bought them at the first Sewing for Pleasure show I went to in the mid 90's!

This was just the thing for them. It made a thicker weave, because most were at least 2 threads together, if not 3 or 4. I started it on Sunday evening watching Country File and finished Monday night watching the Sewing Bee!

So, it makes up quick, it is addictive (as in 'you can't stop going on to the next thread colour'), and is a good use of odds and ends of threads that aren't enough to use for something else.

Only what will I do with it? I still need to tie off the warp thread ends and perhaps plait them or put beads on them.
Well, this was a sample, so that is okay. I have some blue and white eyelash yarn I have had for ages that I think will be pretty wonderful worked up on this. Maybe make/buy some more pegs?
I will have to experiment.

Next up sample

So the next sample trim I am trying is the Spiral Staircase.

Taking a hint about colour, I am choosing beads in colours I like.

Blue and white.

This should be fun to pick up now and again or watching telly. Looks impressive, but doesn't need so much concentration.

St Petersburg chain

St Petersburg chain...Finished!

Well at least it is over a metre. I may do the double version. Which means the same again, but joined up along the length. If I do, I will reverse the colours - light purple core colour and greenish blue as accent - to make it more interesting as a trim. But it wasn't the funnest thing to do, so I will go back to it later in the year.

The not fun part may have something to do with the colour choice. I sort of picked out packets of beads I had a lot of. Perhaps why I have a lot is because I am not naturally drawn to use them? Anyway, the packets don't seem any smaller!

Something on Saturday - Another Trim Sample

Yesterday I found that I could listen to Andy Murray's late evening game in Australia while it was still morning here.

So, being as the something I needed to do required more brains than I have left when I am fretting over his coming back from 2 sets down, I decided to pick up the next beaded trim idea and have a go.

This is called a St. Petersburg Chain.*

Not too hard once you get started. The amber bead is a tension bead. Something to hold onto while you are getting started. Then you can untie it and weave the thread in. I will leave it on til I finish because then I won't have to look for where I have put it! I like having the contrast.

*Why, I don't know. The instructions were on a leaflet from the Bead Guild. I suppose you are meant to make a necklace or bracelet, but as I have mentioned previously, I am making up approx. 1 metre of these sample beading stitches to have to use as possible trim on my fantastical garments.

PS Andy Murray won that match and is through to the final. Oh, but that is against Djokovic, so you possibly know the outcome for that. But, there is always hope.

Ladder trim finished

Near the beginning of the year, the ladder sample/trim finally grew to over a metre. The instructions I was following involved a much shorter piece, but you were to come back along both sides to add a bit of edging. (for a necklace/choker)

So, the past few days I have been doing that. I had intended to fill in the gaps between with more arches but I think this is good for now. It looks like a trim.

And as that is what I am wanting...something to enhance something else, I decided I don't need to make a ruffly edging.

Besides a dark purple small width trim will go with things much easier than a statement trim.

Finally a finish

Having a break is a good thing. But you do get to the point where you just want to get something done! Not that I have been having a full break, I have been working on the daily project and the samples....and the Worn Threads and the Stretching Art! But little bits at a time because that has been all I can manage.

Anyway, there we are. So, this week I got the even weave peyote sample finish. At a certain point I had decided to make a choker from it. So, I was getting it to be long enough.
However, since this was a sample - first go at it - the tensions were all over the place! Sometimes the band was thinner than others. Some of that had to do with the white striped beads which are not regular like some of the more quality type of beads. So, thinner beads produced a thinner band.

And so I figured the irregularities would be less noticeable when worn as a choker. And I could put the circular peyote sample piece over the join! I stitched a small hook and eye to lay hidden under the circle. The eye is on the end of the row (perhaps you can spot it on the laid out photo.) and the hook is stitched with the other end on the other side of the circle.

I thought the weight of the circle piece at the front would keep it in place. Where as a plain choker with the join at the back could twirl around because nothing was keeping it in place.

And here it is on Madame.

Not particularly the sort of thing I would wear. And the colours are very specific. But I would wear it for special events at Christmas. So, in the meantime, Madame can model it. Hopefully it will not grow so familiar that I totally forget when it comes to next Christmas!

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.

Sample updates

The even count peyote is now 17cm.


The ladder stitch is now 31 1/2 in.


I have been working on them off and on. Major projects have been put on hold or cancelled whilst I am just taking it easy for a while.

I have been doing a weekly course about managing fibromyalgia pain. However it is in a town to the south of us about 1/2 hour, so the to and fro added to 2 hours learning does take a lot out of you. We have a break now for Christmas and will have the last 2 sessions out of the 9 after the New Year.

There is so much stuff - mostly good - but you really can only take one or two things a week and try them out. After we are stopped, then we can concentrate on getting to grips a bit better with what we have been discussing. And then we have a session about 3 mo later to see how we are getting on. Probably for motivation as much as anything!

even count peyote progress

Over the weekend, I took time off the computer ( because of a bad head again on Saturday), so yesterday I just worked more on the sample of even count peyote.

It has grown from around 2cm to 10cm. If you look, you can see that once I got the technique down, my tension was not as tight.

I don't know what I am doing with these things, but for now, they are samples and practice and something that doesn't require a lot of energy/headspace.

Perhaps the above will eventually go on the top of a Christmas Stocking or something.

more peyote

This sample I have started is called even count peyote.

The instructions I followed were to make a little tassel to attach to scissors...or you can keep going and make something longer. At the moment, I am going to go with making it longer because I am still getting stuck now and then.

Probably something to do with making patterns to begin with rather than solid colours!

This little box of beads I have had for a very long time. The red, white and green never seemed to want to be a part of anything. I did use most of another similar box - the ones you can see in there with stripes that are close together. But for them, the red worked in some instances when I wanted green and orange.

So, now the rest get their call up.

By the way, the misshapen beads, I have been using for 'tension beads' which you take off after you have finished so you can weave the thread tail in. At the start, they are good for having something to hang onto. The circle I did yesterday worked so well with the tension bead left in, that I wove the finishing tail through to catch it into the centre even firmer.

I love that curly bead, but haven't worked out a way to use it yet, because you can't get a needle through it.

Sampling again

I sat down to play with a few Christmassy beads today. I have been watching some videos about doing what they call circular peyote.

This is what I came up with. Yeah, change the instructions the first time you do it. But using different types of beads helped me to learn more than I would have done just going round and round!

*****
Cool! Blogger told me the other day I could drag and drop a photo into the post. It didn't work when I tried it last, but it worked today!

Ladder stitch

Bit by bit I have been adding to the Ladder Stitch bead project.

Yes, the photo is small! I had to stand back to get it all in.

I haven't actually been time keeping, but I did want to see what it was like to do 'yardage' on something. So far, this is nearly 55cm or 22 1/2in. At this point, I am not sure if I want to stop at 1metre (39in) or take it further. I guess I should try to see how much trim I would need for something like the front edge of a garment from neck to hem. Or how far round a straight garment like the recent Lilac and Lace coat.

The pattern I looked at suggested doing an edge along either side - similar to what I do on some of my other things. So, I may do that. I somehow had purchased 3 tubes (over time) of the squarish beads, even though I am not particularly a purple person, so excellent choice for a trial.