Category: Crafts and Hobbies
Hey there,
Was wondering if anyone here does beading. I've been considering taking it up, but not sure on what supplies and tools i'd need. Also, what is the best way for a blind person to do this, what needs to be done in other words.
you need a nipper tool, crimping beads, crimping pliers, and some wire that's 49 strand. I just started with some big plastic beads just make sure I would really like beading. I am totally blind and really enjoy it. I can use microscopic seed beads with the ease of the sighted. the only thing I can tell you about starting is just give it a go and who knows, yhou may become a jewlery disigner.
Hmm, I've never considered this one. I guess I should ad it to my list of possible trades. ut I too was a it curious as to how I'd go about this as a totally blind individual.
If you are organized, and patient beading can be real fun. If you are just starting out I'd stop by either JoAnns, Pottery Barn, Michaels, or your local craft store and ask for clear elastic string, the thinner the better, and a beading needle, which actually is easy to thread because all you have to do is gently pry the needle apart, slip an end of your string through then slowly let the needle close, slip the string down to the very bottom and it catches in the end of the needle.
I'm not explaining it very well, but once you have it in your hand and carefully explore you'll get what I mean.
This needle/thread combination will make your first beeding attempts a breeze, whether you are working with uge beads or micro beads.
I used to do some beading with my cousin when I was a teenager. She had a huge container filled with an asortment of metal and glass beads, and we used alastic string. I'd like to get back into it, but I'm not all that patient.
I two would like to take up beading!! How do you go about determining what texture beads will work best with different types of string??
I've been beading for two years now, so hopefully this advice will help.
1) start with cheap stuff (plastic beads, cheap wire, basic clasps, etc.) That way, if you decide you like it you can always buy more valuable things like sterling silver, etc.
2) For tools, you'll need crimping pliers, beading scissors (you can get some that are pre-oiled for like $5), and an assortment of pliers (flat-nosed, round-nosed, etc.) and wire cutters when you actually use wire itself. Personally, I have a 4-in-one tool that I can use to cut wire, make loops, close jump rings, and simply be a pair of pliers; it's greatly decreased the amount of tools in my tool kit.
3) Seed beads are actually fun to work with once you get the hang of it. I started out only on seed beads; now I use them as contrasts or spacer beads. If your fingers are small or nimble enough, you'll actually get the hang of stringing them quite quickly.
4) Online bead shops are great once you know what kind of beads, wire, chain, clasps, and crimps you want to work with, but find a good bead shop in your area if you can. Part of the fun of shopping through beads, particularly when you're getting into stones, glass, and the like, is to actually feel the beads. They're hung so that you can feel them, and that's 95% of the fun! Also, specialized bead shop employees can actually fill you in on beads themselves; I've found Michael's in particular to be very unhelpful, as they know the basics but can't answer more in-depth questions.
5) Start out with a small organizer (either a travel one or a table-top). Make sure that any dividers cannot move! This is super-important if you're traveling with your beads and tools, as you could have a HUGE mess when you try and bead later. Michael's has a good plastic organizer with little trays that snap out. The plus side to this is that you can place braille labels or Penfriend labels on the lids of these trays so you know what bead colours are what.
6) Make mistakes! Your first couple of pieces will probably suck, and might break if you don't get the hang of crimping. That's okay!
Sorry for the long post. If anyone has further questions, please don't hesitate to ask me either on here, in a PQN or by private mail.
Thanks!
Crazy Kate
thanks for the help. i might be intrested in that multi tool if i can get started. Hopefully in about 3 weeks or so i can branch out and maybe get the chance to experiment with this, finally
Rat, how has it gone for you so far? Been able to start up yet?
haven't had the chance to get to a store yet so not muchas been done
Thanks for the extremely in depth post. That really explained alot. I might try it as a hobby and then see how things go. I'm getting so many craft ideas now and don't want to wear myself thin for the business, since I really need to decide on a few things and stick with them. That said, there's no reason why I can't learn to beed and then add some decorations to baskets. *smile* I think that might help them sell better. Btw, the Krafter's Korner from the NFB is holding a class on double-stranded beading. If you hurry, you could register and take it. I think there's a fee of about $10 that covers all classes, though I'm not sure if it's per year or only for one time. At any rate, their site is here.
http://www.krafterskorner.org
Even if you can't make it to the class, they have free phone conferences every Monday night and an excellent mailing list where you could ask all of your beading and other craft questions, and no, you do not need to be a member of the NFB to join them.
Tiffany, thanks for the input! :) Glad my post helped (if it was my post!)
I'd love to get into bead weaving and stuff... That'd be gorgeous! I actually put red and white beads (my jersey colours) on my goalball eyeshades.
Kate
Yes, it was your post to which I was referring. I love the ideas and it certainly helped. If I hear anything on the list about this, I'll let you know. But in general, there are alot of great people on there with many years in crafts. It's truly wonderful to find people who are blind and visually-impaired who do these things. While sighted people can answer many questions, talking with them isn't the same because they don't understand our particular way of doing things and the challenges that face us.
Eleni
I fully agree. I am thankful to remember what colours go together, and what they look like, and sometimes contrasting shapes/colours is fun!
I've been wanting to get back into beading for a while, so this thread's been very helpful. Does anyone know of any sources of accessible beading instructions? I know there are a lot of books out there but haven't found any in a format I can use yet. The one resource I have found and liked is the Bead Daily IPhone app. It collects jewelry-making blog posts and YouTube videos and has a really good beaders glossary. It's free and fairly accessible with VO, so IDevice users should give it a look.
I found the book Jewelry Making and Beading for Dummies book at the library. I scanned it and found it to be incredibly descriptive and helpful. Also doublecheck WigJig University; their site is quite descriptive as well.
Kate
Thanks Kate, will check both of those out. I found a jewelry-making book on Bookshare, haven't started it yet so not sure how good it is. Will let you know.
Awesome! Amazon Kindle's store has several beading books on it. Might check them out. What kind of beading are you interested in? And which book did ya find on Bookshare?
Thought I would bring this up again, jjust for giggles
Any other ebaders out there?
I like beeding. too. it is fun.
Thank you all for these resources. I just got a beading kit and began the endeavour myself. It's a ton of fun, I made my first necklace in two days! I'll keep checking up on this board to see if there are any more resources available. Can you only make bracelets, necklaces, and earrings with beads? Or would it be possible to make other jewelry findings, rings? This is kind of a stupid question, I was merely being curious.
Also, an organizational tip, I put all my beads in individual plastic bags with the colors braille labeled on. I didn't have containers, and this was the easiest and most portable way to keep them together.
You can make rings if you use memory wire.... that's the only way I know to make rings. If you want to make findings you would likely have to use wire and other metal, and use different tools to put them into shape.
Ok. That makes sense. Thank you so much. Could anyone describe the best way to put clamps on findings? The instruction sheet I have with my kit didn't really help too much. Lol. I figured out how to put the crimp beads on, but I'm lost as to what way o put the clasp on without it going down the wire.
You bet! If you are using a thinner wire, you can actually do this one of two ways:
1) If you have a bead stopper, you can simply get your piece put together furst and then add crimps and clasps.
2) If not, then you will have to double-up your wire at the end by:
a. Put your clasp's small loop into the wire and simply fold the end so that you have about 1/2-inch where there is a double wire
bb. Treat the crimp like a bead. This will then give ou the stability of keeping your clasp on once you clamp your crimp shut.
cc. Use your crimping pliers to flatten, then round out, your crimp bead.
d. Gently pull on your clasp to verify that it is secure.
ow you can add your beads to your piece, and then loop the other end of your wire through your clasp's other end or jumpring or split ring. This is the trickier part because you shoudl, in theory, have much less to work with.
Hope this helps.
Good luck!
Kate
Hi everyone. So glad we have so many enthusiastic beaders here, and just reading these posts is inspiring me. Bookshare has added a number of good beading books lately. These include Beading Basics by Carole Rodgers, Simply Beautiful Beading by Heidi Boyd and The Beader's Bible by Dorothy Wood. There are other books dealing with more specific jewelry designs, incorporating beading and knitting and working with polymer clay. I haven't read any of these yet but I hope they'll provide descriptions of various techniques and how-tos on tool use among other helpful things. Will let you guys know how I do.
got in to it a few weeks ago but didn't bring it up here because it would take up too much time, not that wasting time on here isn't. hahaha!
yeah, I started with copper wire, some crystal and glass bead, I think my first one was completely crystals, it was black gray white.
I also got containers, and stuff. hyeah, I think I made about 20 or 30 in about a week. so a few a day, or maybe it was a week and a half, not too long though. fun! and rewarding!
Like I said, Beading and Jewelry Making for Dummies was awesome, because it gives step-by-step instruction that are very descriptive. I made a necklace for my friend's grad just by following the instructions; she still has it and loves it.
I love beading. I need to get someone to sort out all my colours though, as at the moment they are all sorted by type. Someone gave me the idea of using those tablet boxes with the multiple compartments to store beads in, but I'm not sure I want to go down that route. I have a big box with compartments in and that seems to work ok. By type I mean round ones, oval ones, big ones with ridges on, etc. Probably a fairly blindy way to sort things, but I either have very nice friends who don't want to hurt my feelings or stuff's actually turned out OK. Please lets keep this topic going. I've only just rediscovered the boards, and I love hearing from other blind crafters.
LOL I organize by colours, then by shapes. When I buy new strands of beads, I tend to ahve a design idea in mind for them... so then I don't wind up with weird stuff.
Sometimes if the colours contrast well you can mek them work with their shape... but colours should match.
I once took an airplane flight with a travel oranizer... its dividers went up and down... so all my beads were messed up. Took my poor long-suffering husband over a month to sort through them because most fo them were little itty bitty seed beads