How I Got into Bead Weaving

When many people think about "bead weaving", it conjures up images of intricate, but sometimes, garish pieces, usually done by middle-aged women. There is nothing wrong with this image, but my friends at the place where I work were amazed when I, as a 24 year-old with blue hair, discovered a love for brick stitch!

I work at a bead shop and hadn't done much jewellery making before I got the job. (I know... I don't know why they hired me either!) After hearing about bead weaving and the stigma attached, I didn't attempt it at all. It seemed unnecessarily complicated and fiddly, then I was browsing a magazine for ideas for another project, and came across a gorgeous bunting necklace that was made using brick stitch! I love bunting... There's something about it that's just so cute and makes me think of tea. Yum!

Now my first attempt was awful. At the time, I thought it was really good, but looking back, no. It was awful. I even made a pair of brick stitch triangle earrings that were for a magazine project (and were featured in the magazine!) and I'm so ashamed of them now! From that moment on, I developed a delica-addiction. It's not healthy the number of tubes of beads I now have! They are useful to have though.

Look at those terribly wobbly triangles!!

It took me a while before I started to create my own patterns. I used to copy other people's and give them to my friends and family members. I didn't realise how easy it is to  make your own pattern! With the help of Bead Tools, it's so easy! I tend to make them with a reference picture open next to the pattern page. It does take a lot of trial and error though, and I'm often not in a patient mood!

This panda is made using a pattern I made myself.

I heard about square stitch thanks to Pixelosis. She creates amazing pixelated pieces of jewellery using this technique. I knew that I wanted to give it a try! I'm still extremely new to this stitch and have only recently mastered the art of increasing! I really want to make tutorials on this stitch, but it takes a very long time to make charms with it. Definitely one for people with patience. With square stitch, it's possible to make things using Perler/Hama bead patterns, and there's lots of them all over the internet!

I need to master Peyote, then I will have three different stitches under my belt! There are so many bead weaving stitches out there! I'm excited to see what things I can create with them.

My favourite stitch is definitely brick stitch. Do you have a favourite? If so, which is it?