rosette help

[atoka]

Hi all
I'm trying to learn how to make rosettes but they always come out looking like sombreros. can someone give me some simple basic instructions to try?
Wa do
Atoka

[Czechy]

It took me a long time to get over that same problem. My guess is you are beading your first few rounds too close to each other. Then all the succeeding ones all press up against them and they bunch up and won't lay flat. Try these two things: 1) Use a stiff backing that won't pucker on you. An index card will work. 2) Stitch the first few rounds with a bit more space between each round. Hopefully, this will help.

[BeadMan]

The most important factor for rosettes is the material you are beading on. All the really good rosette makers I have ever known bead on stiff paper or cardboard (single ply like a cereal box) Some coat the material with clear fingernail polish to make it even more stiff. Czechy's advise of not crowding the rows is very important too. Another advantage of beading on cordboard or paper is that you can draw out guidelines very easily.

Hope this helps.

[Blackbear]

you don't even need guidelines after a short time... you learn to just lay the beads down in the path they are supposed to be going...but to put your needle in...don't make the same mistake I still make occasionally... put the needle through your backing in front of your last strung bead...NOT next to the last row of beads you put on..that is how they crowd. Just right in front dead center of the last bead you strung..and then bring it right back up in the middle between your last beads like you would... in other words..at all costs..avoide putting in or bringing out your needle next to a finished row.

[atoka]

Thanks everyone for the excellent advice. I'm gonna print off everyone's instructions and put them in a folder so I can reference them as I bead.
Backing?! Ow, Lord, no wonder my rosettes look awful. Iwas supposed to use backing!
(Beating head against monitor) stu-pid stu-pid stu-pid
Atoka
PS
Maybe a better question would be, how do I make a rosette?

[wyo_rose]

Since you have your backing all figured out, the next step is to start with one bead in the center. I usually look for a bead that kinda squarish. Almost as wide as it is long. So go up from the back with your needle string the bead on and go back down.

Now for your first row, usually 6 or 7 beads fit all the way around. Depends on the size of your beads. So go up half a beads width away from the center bead string on your 6 beads and lay them out in a circle around your center bead and see if they fit. If you have to add another bead, do that now, then go right thru the first bead of that row again. Pull it tight and hold your circle of beads down over the center bead. Push your needle to the back right where the thread exits . Now you're ready to tack.

I usually do 2 thread applique, but have done small rosettes with one needle in a pinch. So this is where you'd break out your second threaded needle and tack your first row of beads down. This is just bringing the needle up between each bead and back down between the same beads but on the other side of the original thread. For this first row, tack down between every bead so it stays nice and even.

Now start your second row. Bring your needle up half a bead's width away from the first row. String on some beads and hold them in place next to the first row. Tack down between every second bead. Add more beads until your complete your second row, going back thru the first bead of that row to make a complete circle.

And so on and so on. And just remember not to crowd your beads.

[atoka]

Wa do

Ah thank you thank you.
I'm printing off your instructions now. I'll start my rosette after dinner tonight. I'll let you know how I do.
:D
Atoka

[OLChemist]

Oh, Atoka, been there done that and have the ugly beadwork to prove it. I was working on my first rosette in the lab and a colleague asked why I was beading a yarmulke....

Originally posted by Blackbear
you don't even need guidelines after a short time... you learn to just lay the beads down in the path they are supposed to be going...but to put your needle in...don't make the same mistake I still make occasionally... put the needle through your backing in front of your last strung bead...NOT next to the last row of beads you put on..that is how they crowd. Just right in front dead center of the last bead you strung..and then bring it right back up in the middle between your last beads like you would... in other words..at all costs..avoide putting in or bringing out your needle next to a finished row.

Read , memorize, and recite. That is the entire secret to getting rosettes or any kind of applique to lay down flat, whether you do them two needle or one.

The other trick is to use the thickest thread with which you can make two or three passes through the beads. If the thread is too thin the beads will slop around. I do my rosettes one needle, so I sometime take the thread completely through a second time. This evens the lines up a bit, but can be a problem if you pull the thread too tight. Also, keeping the distance between "tacking" stitches small -- two or three beads -- will make your work tight and smooth.

Index card or manilla folders make good backing material. For stuff that will be mounted on dresses or the like, you can back then with a couple layers of interfacing and brown shopping bag. The bag can be carefully torn off when done. I use nail polish or acrylic gloss medium to seal the paper before I bead and after. This will keep the backing in barrettes from absorbing sweat and turning to mush (also it glues the threads in place further stablizing your work).

I use an light awl and a foam placemat to make the holes to spare my fingers when I push the needle through. I find that much more comfortable than making holes with the eye in my fingers.

But, follow Blackbears and Wyo_Rose's advice and it really does work.

[n8tivechick]

would someone mind taking a picture of how to do the 2 thread method... i have had people explain it to me sooooo many times, i can't get it. maybe it is that i haven't seen it..... grrr HELP!

~kelli

[powwowbum49]

Sorry no advice from me...everyone else has covered it very well so far.

All I do have to say is ..... sweet barrette!

[Blackbear]

WOW!! that barrette looks like it was done in hex beads....is this so?? If so...I'm doubly impressed!

[atoka]

I'm debating

Afternoon all
I'm debating as to whether I should do my rose on carboard backing like a rosette or just do it on cloth. I think the cardboard would be stiffer and would make it easier for me to affix the pin.
What do you al lhtink?
Atoka

[n8tivechick]

yeah i think the cardboard would work good... ceral box type...

~kelli