Beading woman's traditional outfit?

[Powwowtrail17]

HI, I'm pretty much new to this.
I am a pretty good beader and I would like to bead my own traditional oufit in the fall and was wondering how to go about it.
I don't want to bead lazy stitch, I would like to bead tacking down every two? I have seen outfits beaded non lazy stitch and I like it.
Does anyone have any tips or anything??

THank a bunch:D :)

[Czechy]

details please

Will you be beading on canvas or leather or velveteen or...?
Will your dress be full-beaded or not?

We might be able to give more specific suggestions if we got a better idea of what kind of outfit you want to make.

:)

[Powwowtrail17]

It will be either beaded on canvas or leather, I"m thinking leather though.
Fully beaded.
:)
Thanks:Angel2

[tipis]

Before you decide material, since you say you are going to make a traditional outfit, what is the tribe???? That can make a bid difference. How traditional do you want to be??

tipis

[lsijohn]

The fully beaded dresses (yokes) I have seen are all done on canvas, then buckskin fringe added. I don't think I've ever seen a fully beaded yoke where the base was buckskin.

I have a fully beaded yoke that I will be starting probably later this summer. I am going to use canvas as the base. The canvas is acutally called "duck cloth" at the fabric store. It is a lot more stiff than regular canvas.

Please let me know how it's going once you get started. I will do the same.

[Selina]

Hi Redfringe!
I made my fully beaded yoke using buckskin as base!
:bouncy:
You can see it in the gallery.
:Wave :Wave :Wave

[MuzeBl]

Is the canvass attached to the buckskin after the beadwork is done? or is the fringe attached off the canvass?

[Selina]

Well, I attached the fringes BEFORE beading the youke, so that I could bead over the stitches.
I think this works also with buckskin and canvas.

[lsijohn]

OMG, Selina!!! That is awesome work you did!! :Thumbs

How long did it take you? Did you bead directly on the buckskin? What kind of needles did you have to use? What size beads did you use? How did you figure out the pattern for your yoke?

What I planned on doing is working right on the canvas, and doing all my beadwork there, and then adding the buckskin fringe to the edge of the canvas/beadwork.

[Selina]

Hi Redfringe!

thx for your compliment!
Well, I started out in 1997 with it. Usually I didn't want to make the yoeke fully beaded, so I had only the stars.
Then later in 1997 I visited a friend in Texas and we went to a pow wow in OK, then I decided to make the yoke fully beaded.
My friend gave me a magazine from "whispering wind" with a special about "fully beaded yoke dresses".
There I got new ideas.
I used bead sizes from I think 10 to 12, and the needles were John Sharps.
But you have the history of my outfit on my website:
http://members.kabsi.at/selina

But the pics are not quite correct anymore, cause the leggins and moccs are now fully beaded (which you can see on the start-up page of my website)

would be nice if you write me a short entry into my guestbook :D

glad if I could help :D

[Czechy]

I am about half done with my fully beaded Lakota-style yoke. I used duck cloth/canvas for the base and beaded directly onto that. All my edges were bound with ivory-colored narrow bias tape. When my beading is all done, I will line the backside with calico and then sew my sleeve fringe on top of the bias tape edging. I can't wait. I have horses with riders and women holding flags as my main designs. My beads are Czech 12s and I use the size 12 sharps or short beading needles and Nymo D thread, doubled.
Beading a yoke is a huge project. Have fun!

[lsijohn]

Czechy, you said you are about 1/2 done. How many hours do you think you've put into your project up to this point?

Something else I forgot to ask is how many hanks of beads you estimated that you would end up using.

[Czechy]

I've done about 160 hours so far and expect I'll total about 300 by the time I'm done. As for the amount of beads, I think I saw an equation somewhere that said what 1 hank of 12/o round Czech beads would cover in square inches. I'll look for that. Depending upon the length and width of your yoke, I think between 2 and 3 kilos of beads is about right. I bought 3 kilos of my background color and a half kilo of the main design colors but I purposely bought a little more so I could make some accessories to match like hairties and stuff. Better to have more than you need. Plus, price by the kilo is usually cheaper than by the hank.

I'll come back tomorrow with that equation.

[Selina]

Hey Czechy!
Would love to see the yoke, when it's finished!
:D

[Czechy]

Okay, here's how to figure the number of hanks you'll need to cover a certain area.
A hank of size 10 round Czech beads will cover 24 square inches.
A hank of size 11 beads will cover 21 square inches.
A hank of size 12 beads will cover 20 square inches.

Measure the length and width of your project and multiply these together. So if I have a yoke that measures 45 inches by 30 inches then the total area will be 1350 square inches. 45 x 30=1350. If I am using size 11 beads, I divide my 1350 by 21 and get 64.3. That tells me I would need about 65 hanks of beads to cover my yoke. 65 hanks is about 2.5 kilos worth.