Beginner’s Guide To Beadwork
By Madeleine Rollason

     If you want to learn how to weave beads together using a needle and thread (not a loom), then this book might be a good place to start. Most of the offloom stitches are here-- netting, brick, peyote, right-angle weave and herringbone--and there is even a very basic first chapter which deals with making a necklace simply by stringing beads. This sounds like something anybody can do, but if you don’t know how to fasten off the threads and make it strong enough to stand daily wear, then a few fundamental instructions are vital. Here, too, is the inevitable but brief bead history, a bit about the materials used and a lush gallery, as well as several attractive projects.

      The staged photographs that accompany each project are excellent, and I wish I had had something like this when I learned to bead. Small but clear, they illustrate every step of the process and soon a wearable item is lying before you and you have a new skill in a very painless manner. The complexities of increasing peyote are not dealt with, however, although the easier methods of increasing and decreasing brick stitch are. I was disappointed, though, by the gallery, which showcases some very fine pieces of work (whole page photographs) with no instructions and rather left me wondering why they were there, as some dealt with stitches not covered in this book (or in two cases possibly not in any books). This was my only real gripe, however, and I certainly learned a few things and made up some simple, fast and attractive everyday pieces. I haven’t found another beginner’s book that explains the stitches so well.

    If you cannot find beads and findings locally, try searchpress.com for a list of suppliers or opt for my suggestions:

In the UK: G J Beads
Spellbound Beads

In the US: Shipwreck Beads ship internationally and have the world’s largest bead catalog!

For crafting ideas and some free downloads visit homepage.ntlworld.com/rachelahyde/index.htm