· Roll-up Beads reprinted From "Jewelry Making" episode DJMK-208 DIY network

Louise Duhamel shares her technique for using plastic straws to create beads.

Materials:

Drinking straws
Undyed muslin or cotton
Acrylic paint
Rubber stamps (optional)
White glue
22-gauge copper or silver wire
Beads and charms
Yarn (optional)
Wire cutters
Needle-nose pliers
Small paint brushes and paint sponges

Cut the straws into pieces sized from 1 – 2" long (slightly longer than the finished bead)

1. Tear -- but don’t cut -- the muslin into strips ½ - 2" wide and approximately 6" long.

2. Wet the muslin strips in water and wring them out.

3. Paint onto the muslin in colors you like. If want to add a stamped image, do so now, but only on the end of the fabric which will show.

4. Paint white glue onto the fabric leaving approximately ½ - 1" unpainted with glue at the starting end.

5. Roll the fabric onto the straw, leaving a bit of the straw showing at one end for you to hold onto. Let it dry thoroughly, preferably overnight, so that it is entirely dry. You can do a lot of beads to this stage and embellish them later.

6. When fully dry, remove the straw.

7. Paint some metallic paint on the two ends of the fabric bead. It helps firm up the fibers.

8. Cut wire into pieces 6-9" long.

9. Bend a small loop at one end of a piece of wire (to prevent the beads from coming off). Add beads.

10. Roll the beaded wire around the straw/fabric bead and add a final loop to hold it in place.

11. Optional: wrap a piece of interesting yarn around the bead and tuck the ends under the beaded wire to secure.

12. Thread beads onto necklace cording or wire.

RESOURCES:
Belle Armoire
Art to Wear Magazine
22992 Mill Creek Suite BLaguna Hills, CA 92653
Phone: 949-380-7318
E-mail: retail@bellearmoire.com
Web site: www.bellearmoire.com

GUESTS:
Louise Duhamel E-mail: enchante@adelphia.net
Web site: www.LouiseDuhamel.com

Project pages

reprinted from young embroiders web site Feb 2006

paper and fabric beads

Rolled paper and fabric beads are fun to make. They can be used for making necklaces and bracelets, or for decorating other textiles as border patterns, decoration for edges, decoration on frames or parts of fringes and tassels.

The basic shape is a long, narrow triangle, but you should try different widths and lengths of triangles to produce a variety of beads.

Use colored and painted papers, paper cut from magazines, and different kinds of fabrics. You will find that paper can be cut more accurately than fabrics, but you could iron Bondaweb onto your fabric and draw your shape on that. Take care using the iron, and cover your fabric with baking parchment. You might like to let some fabrics fray at the edges for a textured look.

Cut the long triangle from paper or fabric. Starting from the widest end, roll your bead round a knitting needle or tube. You can get a big split pin from the hardware shop and this will hold the wide end of the bead very securely.

You will need to run some glue along the centre of the bead for the last two centimetres. Hold the end firmly in place until you are sure it has stuck.

Museums often have some lovely examples of glass or faïence beads from ancient Egypt which could give you ideas for designs for your paper and fabric beads. If you use fine elastic as your thread you will not need a separate fastening.

drawings from the Kelvingrove Museum Glasgow, Scotland