Beading a heart on cuffs

[Mariposa]

Ok, its me again...I needs me some more help
:Help
I'm making a pair of cuffs for a dear friend of mine, my heart is sooooooooooo into making this for him, but he wants a design of a heart. :Thinking I know how to do a heart on a loom, thats easy, but how can I do a design of a heart of a pair of cuffs without making it look like a mess? I was thinking of starting the heart the way a medallion is started but then I thought
:Thinking NAAAAAAAAA, I can't get a heart that way......
Any ideas me fellow brothers and sisters?

[Suzizila]

Your medallion idea wouldn't be so bad if you did the heart first & then filled in your circle. You could put some nice curves on the heart if you appliqued it. This is about the same thing I went through when I made a medallion with the head of an eagle in the middle of it. My picture of the eagle got glued to graph paper made for making rosettes. I beaded the eagle first and then worked on the background. When I got finished with it, it turned out to be the right size to fit in the middle of a bustle (but it's going around my neck :) ).

After doing the applique (medallion) part, then you could fill in the rest of the space with the lane (lazy) stitch. Good luck with your project. I hope this helps.

[Mariposa]

Do you think it would look funny if I made the outline of the heart, then started the center of the heart like a rosette, then did lazy stitch around that circle to fill in the rest of the heart?

[Suzizila]

If I were beading a heart, I think that I would keep it all done in one type of stitch. It would be a lot easier that way. One book that I have, by Sadie Starr, has a graph of a heart. The graph is set up in such a way that you can bead the heart like a rosette, but following the shape of the heart instead of beginning it as a circle. What you would have to do is to work from the outside to the inside. If you plan on putting anything in the heart, the graph makes it easier to center your design.

PM me if you are interested in a copy of this graph. :)

Good luck!

[Blackbear]

Mariposa...I also have that sadie starr book..I highly recommend it to anyone who is wanting to know the kinds of questions you have been asking...it shows you in picture detail how to start and finish projects and what do in case you run out of thread and so on... It is a tiny bit pricey but well worth the money!

[Suzizila]

which book, Blackbear?

Blackbear, which Sadie Starr book do you have? I have the one with the graph paper design on transparencies. It comes in really handle for when I want shapes like a heart & really big circles for applique projects. I checked Amazon out & found that they don't have the Sadie Starr book that I bought. Do you have the most recent one? With all of the information in her books, they are not a bad investment & addition to one's beadwork library.

[Blackbear]

I was only aware that she had two books..she has more???
I have the first one with how to bead a cabachon, a crystal and such...the second book I was told that she did'nt get permission from some folks to print some of the stuff she has in it, so I have'nt bothered to get it.....yet anyhow. Yeah the first one does have some graphs/templates, whatever they are called LOL..and it is so nicely detailed!! I knew how to do alot of the stuff she had in there, but it is nice to have it for referrence and some new ideas on how to finish a piece! It makes advanced beadwork look like beginning beadwork it is so nicely done..and the step by step pics is wonderful!

[Blackbear]

Most of the bead stores carry her book, I have'nt seen it at Amazon either..but that might be because it is self published maybe...I know you can call the place I worked at and they would send a copy (price+s/h)...and you can maybe find it at a few of the local bead shops in your area...if not, tell them to order it for you!!

[JingleBelle]

Hi guys,

If I were beading a heart shape, i would flat stitch the outline following the curves and then I would fill with straight up-n-down flat stitches, starting at the center of the heart. Does that make sense?

JingleBelle

[Suzizila]

JingleBelle, I think you and I have basically the same idea. When I used the applique stitch in making a barrette with an eagle in the center, I did the eagle first, outlined the oval shape I was using, and then filled in the background (the rest of the oval). That is the best way to bead around odd shaped designs and still maintain the shape of the barrette or whatever you are working on. It's pretty much the same idea.......just different terminology.

Have you ever worked on a project with an appliqued design in the middle and lane (lazy) stitch in the background? That's a lot of fun & an easy way to fill in the background.


Mariposa, how's the project turning out?

[Mariposa]

MARIPOSA IS BACK FROM VACATION

HEY FOLKS! Hope you all didn't think I was ignoring your responses to my post, but I was on vacation and just came back, I will update you on the heart sometime this week, thanks for all your help.....

Mariposa