Beading “My” Way

When I first started beading, there were no books readily available in my area about beading. My
daughter brought home a lovely beaded earring a friend had given her, and I decided I wanted to learn
to make it. Since I have always done lots of crafts (my mom taught me to crochet when I was five) I
was confident enough in my craftiness that I went out and bought myself some beads and taught
myself how to make that earring—or at least, I taught myself to make one that looked the same. I
found I loved to do the beadwork, so I bought more—and MORE—beads and started experimenting
on making necklaces and other pieces of jewelry as well. Soon, I looked around and I had made over
fifty designs of my own, all without benefit of knowing what the names of the stitches were or what
the traditional, “accepted” ways of doing those stitches were. I developed my own techniques, and it
wasn’t until several years later when I bought my first pattern book that I learned what the traditional
techniques were. I tried the traditional techniques, but learned my methods seemed to work much
better for me and for the designs I had developed using the “Charlotte Approach”, so I persisted in my
own methods.

About Thread—Over the first years of my beading odyssey, I tried everything from dental floss to
Nymo thread, but once I started using the tiny little size14 beads (mostly Czech at that time), I started
using silk thread in size 00 and a size 13 needle for the small beads, and quickly learned the smaller
size needle and thread worked wonderfully for the larger beads as well. I also learned that although the
silk is not as strong as nylon to begin with, it doesn’t shrink the way nylon can, and it seems to wear
much better. I certainly don’t presume to tell anyone they have to use the exact same materials I use or
do anything exactly the way I do it, but I thought I might share a little of what I use and what my
methods are. I am sure you have developed your own beading habits and I am in no way suggesting
any of my methods are better than those anyone else uses; they are simply what I have found on my
own through trial and error, and they have worked wonderously well for me. I haven’t used any of the
new threads so I can’t say how they compare to the silk—I just started using the silk and quit looking
for any other threads!

Over time, I learned two thicknesses of a small size thread, instead of one thickness of a thicker thread
can actually work better, because the two thicknesses make the piece stronger. Using the small thread
allows for more reinforcing to make the piece hold its shape better. In addition, using a doubled piece
of thread allows the use of an old trick I learned in counted cross stitch to begin a piece or to tie on to
the piece without any kind of knot or a lot of “slow-me-down” going back and forth to assure your
thread won’t pull or work lose over time. Simply thread both ends of the thread through the eye of the
needle, which leaves a loop in the middle of the thread. To tie on a piece, pull the thread through and
run your needle through the loop and pull it up, then go on with your beading in a normal way. (I
generally tie on at the end of a row a couple of rows down and run the thread up through the edge to

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the row I am about to start so it looks normal when I start beading. See Figure 1 for threading
diagram.

Figure 1—Cut about 2 yards of thread and fold it in half

so that you have a loop in the middle. I still use beeswax,
and I wax the thread thoroughly until the two plies of
thread cling together as one. Cut the two loose ends to
the same length and thread them together into the eye of
the needle. This is made simple by the small size of the
thread, as well as by “Needling” the thread so it slips
through the eye of the needle easily.

Needling the Thread—Hold the thread tightly between your thumb and forefinger and pull it through
your fingers until you can’t see the thread. Then gently roll your fingers back until you can barely see
the tips of the thread. Next, bring your needle to the thread and push the eye of the needle into the
thread. This is known as “needling the thread” and can cut down the length of time it takes to thread
by half—or even more!

I generally use black thread on everything except the pieces that have a lot of white, clear and light
colored beads. I find black thread has the effect of making the piece appear to be brighter and crisper
and that the black that shows on the edge of the piece is less offensive to me than white is when it
shows. I frequently edge my pieces with a dark color just so the black will look natural. HINT: If you
use white (most beading threads don’t come in colors other than black and white in the smaller sizes,
for some reason) and it shows enough to bother you, take a fine point felt tip pen and color the thread
that shows. You’ll be amazed how this small bit of camouflage will tidy up the look of your beadwork
and the color will last and last!

General List of Materials:

Needles – size 13 (you might also like to have a size 15 on hand for tight squeezes)
Beading thread – size 00, black or white silk or nylon
Size 6 silk or nylon carded, triple twist bead cord in black, white or color for necklaces
Scissors
Bees wax, if desired
Clasps, bead tips and ear wires of your choice, as applicable
Large tapestry needle or jeweler’s awl, as applicable, for hand-knotting between the beads (Use
needle or awl to slip inside the knot and slide the knot into position snugly, but not too tightly, at the
base of the bead.

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 About the Beads: I have mostly abandoned my Czech seed beads in favor of the Japanese seed beads.
The reasons are many; Japanese seed beads have a more uniform size, larger holes and far more color
variations.

Working the base row of Ladder Stitch:

Begin by picking up two beads (for a single drop ladder, shown;

four beads for a two drop ladder, or six beads for a three drop ladder row.
Draw them down the thread toward the loop, as shown in Figure 2. Run
the needle through the loop.

Figure 2

Run the thread back through the beads in the opposite

direction as shown in Figure 3. Draw the two beads (two rungs of
the ladder) together. At this point you can either pick up a third
bead and continue to add beads as shown in Figure 4, or secure the
beginning of the joining of the two beads by going on around
Figure 3 through the second bead.

These Figures represent the beginning of the base row

of the brick stitch (also known as ladder stitch).

Figure 4

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 At the end of the base row, go back through the
entire base row by zigzagging in and out of the row to
reinforce, as shown in Figure 5. Begin the next row of
brick stitch as you would normally as shown in Figure 6, IF
the second row represents an increase. Figure 7 shows a
decrease at the beginning of the row.

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7--To work a decrease at the beginning

of the row, work down the outside of the
previous row and come up in the second bead
form the end; then begin brick stitching.

About working the open areas:

When working a “sculptured” design, or one that has open areas left unbeaded in the design, you will
need to work one side at a time from the place the opening begins to the end of the open area and then
work the second side up to that point, then start the joining row from one side to the other, adding
whatever beads need to be added in the middle to make the design work as graphed. See Figures 8-11
as an example of how to work the open areas.

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Figure 8--Work one side of the split from the beginning to the
end of the split area.

Figure 9-- Work the same number of rows on the opposite side of the
split

Figure 10-- Work the first row all the way across, brick stitching the
edge of the first side, then “casting on” rungs of ladder stitch to span
the split. Attach to the other side as shown and continue in brick stitch
the rest of the way across the row.

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NOTE: Sometimes the opening opens and closes gradually, moving back toward the joining with the
other side one bead at a time. This type of opening is not shown, but is worked in the same manner.

Figure 11--Finish the row to close off the split. The next row, you will
return to regular brick stitch.

The same loop trick can be used for beginning any

piece of beadwork. I use it when I am making round
netting variation beginning rows as well, as shown in
Figure 12. NOTE: You can also use the loop trick to
begin peyote projects. Tie onto the end bead, string all the
beads you want on your base row, keeping the line loose
enough so when you begin the next row of peyote, the
thread tightens enough without making it too tight.
Continue by working the peyote in the usual manner.

Figure 12–As an example, pick up five beads and

draw them down the thread almost to the center loop
(shown by green arrows). Run needle through the loop
and draw the five beads into a close (not overly-tight)
circle and run the needle and thread around the entire
circle of five beads in the opposite direction (Shown by
red arrows) to secure the circle.

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 Two ways to attach to the bead tip to finish your necklace. My favorite way to end the necklace is
with a bead tip, which makes the necklace look professional and complete. There are two ways of
doing this, and unless I specifically include another option in my instructions, one of these two ways
has been used.
I use one of these two methods for a
simple, single strand necklace. Generally, I
like to hand tie knots between each two
accent beads and between the accent beads
and the segments of smaller beads. Tying
is a little more time consuming than merely
stringing, but it provides a little more
security in the event your necklace ever
breaks. With the necklace hand-knotted,
you minimize the number of beads you
stand to lose.

To hand knot, first tie a loose knot in the

thread near the bead you are knotting
against. Slide the tapestry needle or the
jeweler’s awl into the knot and use the
Figure 13–When using carded bead cord, begin one end needle or awl to gently slide the knot into
with a knot near the end of your bead cord, as shown on the place against the bead. As you withdraw
left. Pull the needle and cord through and tie another knot the needle or awl from the knot, continue to
at the base of the bead tip. Glue the end knot with white push the knot toward the base of the bead.
craft glue to secure the knot; when the glue is dry, clip the You want the knot to be snug against the
end of the cord close to the knot, taking care not to clip too bead, but not tight.
closely.
At the other end of the necklace, use the
needle or awl to position the knot down
inside the cup of the bead tip as far down as
possible, leaving the knot a little loose.
Snip the cord off, leaving about an inch of
cord at the end and fray out the end of the
cord and pull it in opposite directions to
position the knot as deeply inside the cup of
the bead tip as you can. Glue the knot and
snip off the excess cord when the clue is
dry.

If using thread instead of cord, I run the

complete length of the necklace loosely at
Figure 14–Use this method when you don’t have bead cord. least three times, circling through the beads
Run the needle and thread through a bead that will nest in the beadtips to anchor and tying off near
inside the bead tip. Reinforce by running through the same the middle of the necklace. Tie the first
way twice more. end to the bead (with loop trick) to start.

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