Male Traditional Regalia Beadwork

[nighthawk]

I have a question I want to ask yall folks. I am a male traditional dancer starting on a new regalia, going to bead it all, breach cloth,vest,side tabs,etc.. Well the questions is what is the best style as in beadwork to use on my regalia lazy,applica(sp)? Help me out please. I'm using size 13 charlotte true cut beads. I have it drawn out and ready to go. Some of the designs I 'll have to put on using applica, so then can i carry that style on and do the entire regalia that way or does the background have to be lazy. Or should use lazy on the whole thing and rework the designs to be done in lazy rows? Time is no matter I'm doing it myself and want it to look right. Thanks for any help.

[lightningflash]

Wow, you've got quite the project ahead of you, using those tiny beads! But it will be worth the effort in the end, because it'll be beautiful! If you have all geometric designs you could do it all in lazy stitch, but I have used a mixture of applique/lazy stitch in most of my work. You can do your designs in applique and then fill in all the background with lazy stitch. It looks pretty nice. A lot of times if you have floral or curvy patterns they just don't quite look right if you try to work them into your lazy stitch rows.

[contemptradish]

yes, lazy your background at least. it'll go SOO much faster that way.

[nighthawk]

Thanks guys for the input hopefully by sometime next year you'll see me dancing out there you'll know you each helped me in your own way. Thank You

[Raven Thru The Mist]

Modified stitch

What I do instead of a lazy stich to keep from snagging and ripping off beads is to do a basic 6 bead through on one thread, snag needle into about 1/2 the thickness of the leather and just a bit wider than the bead, then take thread back through all 6 beads, catch another snag in the leather up the side of 2 beads, then cross the through threads to opposite side of bead row, snag the leather the distance of next 2 beads, cross over, snag through one bead distance and take thread through the last bead then start another 6 bead round. This stitch works well in long straight runs and even intricate floral swirls. It also helps to wet the leather just ahead of work area so you don't end up breaking needles going through stiff or thick materials. I also while the area is still wet use a piece of scrap leather to cover the beads and a rubber mallet to set each bead down into the worked area with a light tap so it makes its own little cup to keep the bead standing well. This also works not just on deer hides but also on canvas, as the stitch moves with the material underneath, and has some stretch and play in it. Don't pull stitch to tight in rounds or rosettes tho or they bow out.

[nativegal]

I like using applique when it comes to beading larger items and different patterns. Using the beads in different ways other than going in one direction, makes it stand out more. Just my opinion.