CATERPILLAR
ESPIRITU BRACELET
In
this project, we use a Simple or Straight
Fringing technique. But there are many types
of fringing techniques, and you can also create
your own fringing strategies.
Perhaps
one of the most widely used types of fringe
is adding a Picot Edge. Here you would add
some beads (typically, but not necessarily,
3 beads) between each bead on your edging,
or add 3 beads at the end of a line of beads.
NOTE: In our project, we add what is called
a “stop bead” to each fringe,
and this is the same as adding a “1-bead
picot”.
Other
types of fringe include Netting, Branching,
Looping, Creating Leaves or Petals, Twisting
or Spiraling, or Kinky.
Fringes
can be the same length, or different lengths,
or graduated lengths. They can be composed
of the same beads, or different beads.
How
you do your fringe will depend on the piece
to which are you attaching it.
There
may be odds/evens issues with your fringe,
such as when graduating your fringe so that
there is a clear middle-point. You may have
to coordinate the numbers of your fringes
with the numbers of rows in your piece.
The
technique is easy to do, and offers many possibilities,
only limited by your imagination.
Fringe
projects are good projects for using up your
bead stash.
In
the Caterpillar Espiritu Bracelet, the fringe
pattern and colors are supposed to capture
the essence of the image on the button –
the focal point of the bracelet -- , without
overwhelming that image.
There
is an unfortunately tendency of many bead
artists to overdo their fringe and thus, over-embellish
their pieces.
This
bracelet involves creating a line of beads,
called a “Train”, and then adding
fringe between each of the beads in this Train.
The button is the focal point, so its choice
is critical. Begin by choosing your button,
and then find colors that coordinate well
with the button.
I wanted to use a mix of sizes and shapes
of glass beads, including sizes 8/0, 11/0
and 15/0 seed beads, berry beads, peanut beads,
and 4mm round crystal pearls and druks, as
well as 4mm crystal bicone beads.
I decided to use over 40 colors/shapes/sizes
of beads to create a high level of interest
and wonder. It’s very exciting for a
viewer to interact with so many well-coordinated
colors – and much unexpected. I wanted
to pick up on the stronger colors in the button,
but not in a “strong” way –
“subtlety” was my mantra. The
stronger colors in the button needed to be
present and repeated and well-distributed
throughout the entire bracelet. – but
not necessarily call your attention to them.
I didn’t want any of the 4mm size beads
to be in one of the stronger colors –
the 4mm area of these beads would take up
too much area and volume, and if in a stronger
color, would divert the viewer’s attention
away from the button.
In the Caterpillar
Espiritu Bracelet project...
LearnToBead
Goals:
What
You Will Learn:
- Basic Fringing Technique for embellishment
- Managing Thread Tension
- Reading simple diagrams
- Attaching a button clasp
- Embellishing a button loop
- Working with a very large palette of colors,
shapes and sizes
Prerequisites:
- Orientation To Beads & Jewelry Findings
TimeFrame:
This bracelet takes about 12 hours to complete
|
