Crafts for beads by own hands: ideas for needlework

Today, in the era of automation and serial production, products created by hand are valued rather highly.

This can surprise those people for whom the words hande made are associated with socks tied by a grandmother from a loose old sweater.

The manufacture of items of clothing and ornaments, interior decor and gifts allows masters to express their inner world and feel a magical creative flight. In addition, many ornaments made of beads (you can create your own masterpiece with your own hands) are an excellent alternative to factory mass jewelry.

What determines the price of materials

The reverse side of the development of technologies in the sphere of production can be considered a significant reduction in the price of most goods. Huge plants, which include many shops and production lines, can produce a large number of products per unit of time. Its cost is reduced by reducing the time and costs of processing raw materials, manufacturing blanks and assembling them.

Today, natural beads have very little value due to the fact that they have become much easier to produce. For mining, escalators are used, not shovels, pearls are grown in shells of shellfish on special farms, and do not dive into the depths of the sea at risk for life. Of course, there are valuable stones that are relatively rare or have some unusual properties (malachite, ruby, diamond).

Crafts made of beads can be extremely cheap. This is especially true for those who choose plastic, wooden or acrylic materials and buys them in a wholesale store.

If you want to create an ornament for an elegant or evening image (headdresses and flowers from beads), the craftsmen use glass materials, as well as elements covered with a layer of some precious metal (gold, silver, rhodium). Their cost is also affected by their size, shape, technology of faceting and polishing.

Types of beads

In most domestic shops for handicrafts offer a fairly standard set of materials that craftsmen use to make jewelry from beads by their own hands. Among the popular can be listed:

1. Plastic and acrylic.
2. Wooden.
3. Glass.
4. Ceramic.
5. Of natural stones.
6. Metal.
7. Textile.

Their size and shape are extremely diverse: round, square, rectangular, teardrop, flat, in the form of a ring or disk, and many others. Despite all the splendor of choice, many crafts made of beads have a classic design. It involves the use of round or oblong elements of restrained colors.

Decorative materials from polymers

Plastic beads are the most inexpensive, and their range is most diverse. Here you can find small items, larger and quite huge. Their advantage is a small weight and a wide range.

Plastic often produces imitations of wood and stone materials. Such simple bead jewelry made of beads is great for children, teenagers or for a trip to the beach. This material does not so much heat up in the sun, like metal, and does not burn the skin.

In addition, plastic can be recommended to beginner craftsmen, because cheap beads do not mind spoiling. And when skills and experience are gained, it's possible to make crafts made of beads and other materials at a higher price.

Glass beads

Glass is one of the most grateful materials when it comes to the production of beads. It allows you to create elements of literally any shapes and colors.

The strength and durability of such beads is much higher than that of plastic beads. They do not get dirty, do not get dirty, they do not get irradiated. However, earrings from beads can fall and break, but the fall can be "deadly" for almost all materials.

The easiest way to find glass elements of factory production, they can be monochrome or multicolored. But there is such a technique as "lampwork", the adherents of which make glass beads on their own. This is an amazing skill, which results in unique and unique decorative elements. The ability of a master to encase a miniature object (flowers, other beads, golden drops) is considered the top of the art. This method is not given to every performer.

As a rule, in order to make necklaces from hand-made beads, only a few such elements are enough. They are placed in the product, combining with more simple materials (glass or natural). If the craftsman wants to get an interesting decoration and at the same time save, the best option is to buy two identical items to create earrings.

Natural beads: types and applications

Having set a goal to buy beads of natural origin, you can find that there are three types of decorative stones:

• Whole.
• Pressed.
• Artificial.

The first were indeed extracted from the earth's interior, cut and polished. This is the most expensive kind of stones.

Pressed material is obtained as a result of mixing the fragments and dust remaining after processing the mined stones with the adhesive solution. The resulting substance is subjected to a high pressure, resulting in a substance, in appearance and characteristics, similar to the original fossil.

Artificial stones are completely man-made. At the plant, chemical substances are mixed, of which natural stones are formed in nature, and at times accelerate the process. Thus, not only turquoise, amethysts and other semiprecious materials are made, but even diamonds.

When there is a faceting of natural stones, waste inevitably occurs (chopped and cut off fragments). If they are large enough for dust, but not large enough for cutting, they are polished and sold as chips. This is the cheapest kind of natural materials for needlewomen. Skolks are used to make beads, necklaces, earrings and rings. Also it is actively used for the manufacture of interior crafts (paintings, trees of happiness and others).

A good alternative to natural beads are ceramic. However, their disadvantage is gravity and fragility.

Stone Costume Jewelry

Crafts made of beads of natural origin have a specific design and characteristic appearance. As a rule, manufacturers of such materials emphasize the layered structure of the stone and its uneven coloring.

True, there are stones, the color of which is extremely even and monophonic (quartz, amber, some types of agate and other materials). Being cut, they are similar in appearance and weight to the glass.

Necklace made of beads often contains an element such as cabochon. This is a large décor with a flat base and a processed face. Cabochons are fastened to any base, and at the edge of the braided beads or encased in a metal frame. This is a classic version of the medallion.

Bijouterie from wooden beads

The tree is one of the most malleable materials. From it do anything you like, including beads. They can be of a variety of shapes, sizes and colors.

On the wave of craze ethnic and folk style, wooden beads are in high demand. They are used for earrings, beads, necklaces, bracelets, as well as for accessories (belts, handles of bags, various fasteners).

These materials for creativity have a small value, because the tree is easy to handle and paint. Besides, it's pretty easy.

Such beads can be used for creative work with children, as well as for making a slingshot. The tree is perfectly combined with the bone, some types of stones and plastic elements of the appropriate colors.

Accessories for jewelry

When working with beads, that is, with decorative elements that have a hole, it is impossible to do without several tools and auxiliary materials. In the simplest case, you will need a string and a needle of the appropriate size for stringing.

However, to create more complex items (necklaces, earrings, bracelet with a clasp, jewelry for hair from beads) are useful:

1. Pliers, round nose pliers and pliers.
2. Scissors and needles.
3. Basis for beads and bracelets: cord, thread, fishing line, string, plain wire or "with memory", elastic.
4. Billets for earrings (schwenzy).
5. Base metal accessories (carnations and loops, rings of different sizes, stoppers).
6. Fasteners.
7. Additional decorative elements, suitable for color and stylistics (beads, beads, buttons and the like).

How to make a simple bracelet

In order to make such a bracelet, as in the picture below, you should prepare such materials:

1. One large bead.
2. Elements of medium size as the main material (in this case it is turquoise).
3. Medium-sized beads that have a contrasting color (red).
4. Small metal elements to dilute the haze of the product and add a bit of shine to it.
5. Very small beads (you can have beads). Its color can be the same as that of one of the basic materials (turquoise or red), as well as interspersed with beads of metallic shades (gold, silver, copper or bronze).

Accessories that will be used in the work: a jewelry string, metal rings and locks for tips, fastening.

Begin to make a bracelet

From the hank of the string, you should cut three fragments, the length of each of them should correspond to the girth of the wrist, minus two centimeters per clasp.

Connect the ends of the segments and secure with a lock. Then string the beads on each piece of string in the order shown in the photo. You can come up with your own scheme. It's best to start with small beads, then go to the medium-sized elements.

When all three segments are ready, they should be passed into one of the middle beads, and then to a large one. Next, you need to repeat the order of the set of beads in the mirror order.

Shutdown

When the previous stage is completed, you should go to the final stage: the assembly of the product and the fastening of the fastener. Here it is important to observe several points:

• Avoid freely hanging fragments of string (without beads).
• Do not allow the bracelet to tighten, otherwise it will be too stiff.
• Do not drop the whole structure, as it instantly breaks up into components that will have to be pulled out from under the couch and armchairs.

By joining the ends of the string, they are cut by wire cutters, then they put on and fasten the lock. The last step is the clasp.

Here's a simple way to make a bracelet made from beads of different sizes.