As usual I was stuck for a birthday present for my mother, and as usual had left it a bit late (under a week). But then inspiration struck on Tuesday as I remembered that Stitch ‘n’ Craft have started selling lovely Shibori Ribbon. Made by Shibori Girl, I’ve wanted to buy some for a while, but have held back as it’s not cheap. However, I thought a yard of it would make a lovely necklace if I made a big beaded bead to thread on it, and it didn’t seem quite so expensive if it meant I could get a whole necklace from only a few hours work.
The colours that were very obviously Mummy’s thing were sadly out of stock, so I gambled on ‘Fallen Apple’, ordered on Tuesday morning and it was with me by Wednesday lunchtime – and it’s perfect for her. Some scrabbling around in my too large book collection turned up ‘Amphora’ in Marcia DeCoster’s Beaded Opulence, and I got started. I’ve made one before, which you can see below top left (reds and black).
My first attempt this time failed – the tension of the RAW base was much too tight (it seems to need to be very loose for this piece, presumably because of the shape and embellishment), and the colours I had chosen (coppers and lime) were much too brash. You can see that one in the middle below, half done and then hacked about a bit to get at the beads. Fortunately the second attempt (bottom right), using much more subtle beads has turned out perfectly, and was all done in just a few hours. I tweaked the design a bit, substituting copper 3mm pearls and matte copper 3mm fire polished beads for the 3mm bicones (Mummy is not really a crystal person), and using drop beads as the central few embellishments to add texture. I’m very pleased, although the ribbon is looking a little thin, so I will experiment with pressing the pleats a little tonight to widen it out. Hopefully Mummy will like it when we give it to her tomorrow.
RECIPE:
‘Amphora’ – Marcia DeCoster’s Beaded Opulence page 107
Shibori Ribbon in ‘Fallen Apple’ by Shibori Girl (Stitch & Craft if you’re in the UK, or available through her Etsy shop and from other US suppliers if you’re elsewhere).
Beads (seed all by Miyuki, from Stitch ‘n’ Craft of course)
- A (11), F (15), G (8), H (drops, substituted for 8s) – 2035 (Matte Metallic Khaki Iris)
- B (11) – Custom Coated Vintage copper, also used instead of 15s around the Drops in step 3 above rows 6, 7 & 8)
- C (3mm FP) – Brown Iris (Robins Beads)
- D (3mm pearl substituted for bicones) – Copper I think (Robins Beads)
- E (3mm FP substituted for bicones) – Matte Copper (Etsy – MoreBeads4U)
LESSONS LEARNT:
- Tension in first layer needs to be pretty loose.
- The substitutions worked well. However if you want to substitute drops in where I did then you will need to use 11s rather than 15s to surround them (as although the top of the drop is over 3mm, the base is much smaller).
- Marcia works with lovely subtle base colours – so it may be best to stick with these if you’re using one of her designs. She then uses several highlight colours in the upper layers, but I also found that using just one worked.
- You can’t really see the fire-polished beads from the centre of layer 1 as there are two layers above – so don’t flap too much about having the perfect ones – use some OK ones and save the nicer finishes for something where they will be seen properly. A darker colour than the rest of your base beads actually seems to enhance the design.
- Good and quick – I’d say around 2 hours if you’re familiar with the design or an embellised RAW fanatic.
The Indecisive Beader 