Spiral Play - Part 2

I know it has been a while since I posted part 1 of playing with spiral rope with seed beads.  I have been trying to find the inspiration piece with my new organization while still getting ready for my daughter to move back home and taking care of the normal day to day stuff.  Throw in some sickness and a holiday and here we are almost 2 months later.  If you missed part 1 you can find it here.

So one of the things that the girls on the team wanted to know is how to add art beads to a spiral rope.  I do not claim that this is THE way only that it is my way and seems to work best for me. 

First I have to tell you when I found this gorgeous set of stoneware beads by Diana of Suburban Girl Beads.  I just love Diana's stoneware beads they remind me of sand.  I know that may sound strange to some but I love beach sand.  I love the texture, warmth and the colors of it when the sun shines down.  I do not get to the beach often enough so these take me there.

Second I took the information that Jennifer shared on this post and used my phone to take all these pictures.  I would really like your opinion on how they show for you.

I started with this gorgeous set of Diana's beads and the colors of seeds that matched. Now some art beads have larger holes that seedies can sometimes slip through so for the core I choose size 8/0 seeds.  If the hole is really large choose either a 6/0 seed or use a bead spacer to keep the beads from slipping through.

Start your spiral rope and when you want to add the bead do so and add the next section of seeds like you were starting the rope from the beginning.

After you loop the beads and come back out of your core instead of starting the next round you will go back down through the spiral beads and through the art bead.  This is to reinforce the thread path because one thread through the art bead could lead to a breakage.

When you added the art bead you came out of the core.  When I am going back through the art bead I go through the spiral beads to center the art bead better.

And then of course now you will go through all the core beads, through the art bead and then the core beads on the opposite side then continue your spiral. 

This is how mine looks.  I will get a better picture after I clasp it.

So that is how it works for me.  If you give it a try please show me I would love to see what you do with it.

Kristen

Spiral Play - The Basics part 1

Did you ever want to play with seed beads but not sure where to start?  Thanks to the awesome and incredible AJE team they talked me into showing you an easy and fun stitch that can be transformed in so many ways.  I will first show you the basics in this post then in my next post I will show how to add focals and embellishment.

This is a spiral stitch.

Thank you Sue for letting me use your picture because for some reason I did not have a basic spiral stitch in my pictures.

So here we go.  First I will tell you that I only use Fireline 8lb test with a 3lb test diameter.  You can use Nymo or Superlon if you choose to.

Start with size 8 and 11 seed beads

I start with making the clasp loop that way I do not have to go back and put it on when I am done.

Pick up 7 size 8 beads. 

Tie a knot to secure the loop.

Pass your needle through 3 more beads after the knot.

Pick up 1 size 11 and pass through the next size 8 bead.  Repeat this 4 more times.

After adding the last size 11 bead pass through 2 size 8 beads.  This is your clasp loop.  I do this so that when adding a jump ring the ring will not slide out of because of an opening between the beads.

To start your spiral pick up 3 size 8 beads and 4 size 11 beads.

Pass your needle through the size 8 your thread exited and the 3 size 8's you just added.

Push your first completed loop to the side and pick up 1 size 8 and 4 size 11 beads.

Pass your needle through 2 of the size 8's added in the previous step and the size 8 just added.

Repeat picking up 1 size 8 and 4 size 11's.  You will always pass through the previous 2 core beads and the one added in each round.

 Here is what your spiral will look like as you go on.

Let me know what you think and if you have any questions.

Kristen