Autmn Garden

8/22/2019 Autmn Garden

1/638 Bead&Button|www.BeadAndButton.com

A profusion of French beaded

leaves and flowers makes a pretty-

as-a-picture accessory. If you want

to make a choker, as shown here,

refer to the Designers Note on p. 40

for suggested adaptations to the

bracelet instructions.

Autumngarden

WIREWORK

Use one simple technique tomake a lush floral garlandfor your neck or wrist

designed byAllaMaslennikova

materials

bracelet 6 in. (16.5 cm)

150seedbeads

10gcolorA(flower,maincolor)

3gcolorB(flower,accentcolor)

3gcolorC(leaves,inner-round,

lightcolor)

4gcolorD(leaves,innerround,

mediumcolor)

10gcolorE(leaves,outerround,

darkcolor)

3-strandboxclasp

21crimpbeads

131214ft.(4.14.3m)26-or

28-gaugecraftwire,colorAorB

1720ft.(5.26.1m)26-or

28-gaugecraftwire,colorE

5ft.(1.5m)flexiblebeadingwire,

.014.018

chainnoseorcrimpingpliers

wirecutters

toothpick(optional)


2/6 www.BeadAndButton.com|October 2010 39

In this simplified version of the French beaded flowertechnique, loops of seed beads on wire make an adorable

array of sweet blossoms and leaves. Arrange them on a baseof flexible beading wire for a comfortable, stunning accessory.

stepbystep

Bracelet base

[1] Measure your wrist, add 38 in. (1 cm),and mark this length on a piece of paper.

Place the clasp at one end, within the

marked distance (photo a). Remove half

of the clasp, and place it at the other

end, aligning it with the other clasp half.The area between the clasp halves will

make up the body of the bracelet.

[2] Cut 5 ft. (1.5 m) of beading wire.On one end, string a crimp bead and

one clasp loop. Go back through the

crimp bead, but dont crimp it.

[3] On the long end, string four crimpbeads, then go through the correspond-

ing loop on the other half of the clasp.

Go back through the last crimp bead

added (photo b). Check that the wire

between the clasp halves is the correct

length, and use chainnose or crimping

pliers to crimp the crimp bead (Basics,

p. 98) your wire just went through.

[4] Pick up a crimp bead, and gothrough the next crimp bead on the pre-

vious strand. Repeat twice. Adjust the

tension of the wire so that the working

strand forms small swags and the over-all piece is slightly curved (photo c),

then crimp the three crimp beads on

the previous strand that the working

strand just went through. The crimp

beads on the working strand will remain

uncrimped until step 5. Pick up a crimp

bead, go through the next loop on the

first clasp half, go back through the

crimp bead (photo d), and crimp it.

[5] Repeat step 4 twice to make twomore strands (photo e).

a b

c

e f

d

g h i

[6] To add the final strand, go throughthe crimp beads on the previous strand

without adding crimp beads. After goingthrough the last crimp bead on the

previous strand, pick up a crimp bead,

go through the final clasp loop, and

go back through the crimp bead. Adjust

the tension so the piece straightens out

(photo f), and crimp the crimp bead just

added. Do not trim the excess wire,

and note that the very first crimp bead

added in step 2 is still uncrimped.

[7] To stabilize the base, string a crimpbead, then weave the wire over and

under the strands in the base, making

sure youve gone past some of thecrimped crimp beads (photo g). Loop

it around, weave it through the base,

and go through the crimp bead added in

this step again to form a loop (photo h).

Do not crimp it yet.

[8] Repeat step 7 twice to make twomore loops, then go through the

uncrimped crimp bead from step 2

(photo i). Adjust all the loops, and crimp

the four uncrimped crimp beads. Trim

the excess wire, and set the base aside.



k 1 k 2

q

l m n

o

j 1 j 2 j 3

p

Bach

[1] Cut 2024 in. (5161 cm) of colorE craft wire. Make a seven-leaf branch

as follows:

Leaf 1: Leaving a 2-in. (5 cm) tail, string

seven color C 150 seed beads, make a

loop, and twist the working wire

around the tail (photo j1). If needed,

insert a toothpick into the loop to give

the loop a nice round shape. Pick up

enough color D 150 seed beads to makea loop around the previous loop, and

twist the working wire around the tail

(photo j2). Repeat with color E 150 seed

beads to make a third loop (photo j3).

Leaf 2: Begin another three-loop leaf,

securing the first loop of Cs about1438 in. (6 mm1 cm) away from the

previous leaf(photo k1). Complete as

for leaf 1 (photo k2).

Leaf 3: Continuing with the working

wire, make a two-loop leaf: Make the

first loop with two Cs, five Ds, and

two Cs. Make the second loop with

Es (photo l).

Leaf 4: Repeat leaf 3 (photo m).

Leaf 5: Make another two-loop leaf,

but make the first loop with two Cs,

three Ds, and two Cs (photo n).

Leaf 6: Make a one-loop leaf with one

C, one D, five Es, one D, and one C

(photo o).

Leaf 7: Repeat leaf 6 (photo p). If neededreposition the leaves so they zigzag from

side to side up the stem.

[2] Coil the working wire aroundthe stems between the top four leaves

(photo q), and set the branch aside.

Do not trim the wires.

[3] Repeat steps 1 and 2 to make atotal of 1013 branches, varying the size

and quantity of leaves as desired and

making three branches with Es only.

designersnote:

You can use this same

technique to make a choker.

Begin with 5 yd. (4.6 m) of

beading wire to make the base,

then make about 33 branches,

three large flowers, 10 medium

flowers, and 20 small flowers.


4/6 www.BeadAndButton.com|October 2010 41

r 1 r 2

s

u

t

v

Flowers

[1] Cut 2528 in. (6471 cm) of colorA or B craft wire, and make a large

flower as follows:

Layer 1: Using color B 150 seed beads,

make a loop of seven beads, leaving a

2-in. (5 cm) tail. Repeat to make a total

of six loops in a row (photo r1). Twist

the working wire around the tail, then

form a five-petal flower, placing one

loop in the center (photo r2).Layer 2: Using color A 150 seed beads,

make a two-loop petal right next to

layer 1 the same way you made the

two-loop leaves (photo s). Repeat until

you have made five two-loop petals

(photo t). Twist the working wire

around the tail, forming the second

layer of petals around layer 1.

Layer 3: Using As, make five three-

loop petals (photo u). Twist the working

wire around the tail, forming the third

layer around the previous layer. Set this

large flower aside. Make another large

flower if desired.

[2] To make a medium flower, cut14 in. (36 cm) of wire, and work as

in layers 1 and 2. Repeat to make a

total of four or five medium flowers.

[3] To make a small flower, work as instep 2, but make only three loops of Bs

in layer 1 and make one-loop petals

instead of two-loop petals in layer 2.Repeat to make a total of five or six

small flowers, but make some with

seven-bead loops and some with nine-

bead loops (photo v).

Even if you dont have

a green thumb, you

can make a bracelet

of beautiful blooms.



x

w

z a a

Assembly[1] Figure out where you want toposition the branches on the base.

Intersperse the one-color branches

evenly among the three-color branches

(photo w).

[2] Select a branch to attach to thebase. Coil the working wire around

the stem and a strand in the base near

a leaf connection point (photo x). Make

two to three coils. Continue coiling the

wire around the stem until you reach

the 2-in. (5 cm) tail. Coil the tail around

a strand in the base two or three times,

and bring both the working wire and

the tail out to the front of the bracelet.

Do not trim.

[3] Repeat step 2 to attach the remain-ing branches along the base, hiding

the crimp beads as well as possible and

overlapping the branches somewhat.[4] When all of the branches have beenattached, there will be a pair of wires

sticking out from the end of each

branch. These wires will be used to

attach the flowers, and ideally there

will be a pair for each flower youve

made. Decide where you want to

place each flower (photo y).

[5] Choose a flower, and twist its 2-in.(5 cm) tail together with the pair of

wires from the corresponding branch.

Start near the base of the flower andbranch (photo z).

[6] Wrap the twisted wires three orfour times around the neck of the

flower where it is attached to the branch

(photo aa). Trim the excess wire, and

straighten the flower.

[7] Repeat steps 5 and 6 to attach theremaining flowers. If you have flowers

left over and no branch to attach them

to, simply coil the tails around a branch

wire a few times, then secure and finish

it as in step 6. w

Alla

Maslennikova

of Moscow,

Russia, works

for the largest

Russian bead show,

Beading Design. Visit her website,

beadlady.ru, or e-mail her at

[email protected].

y


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