Friday, March 25, 2005

A Few Beads

One of my sons gave me beads for Christmas. It occurred to me that the large silver-wrapped amber bead might be nice on a necklace to go with this fabric:

necklace3

The color shows up funny on my monitor: the amber is a deep rich gold. I made the amber into a pendant, using 14 ga. silver wire, and strung a variety of beads to go with it. There are glass, silver and semi precious beads, and two carved wood or seed beads (also part of the the gift from my son), plus some silver charms which were a gift from my friend Mollie.

I like balanced but asymmetrical work, so some things match and some don't. I tried to avoid the *phallic pendant* look, so easy to achieve, so hard to forget!

A few quick answers to comments: I chose unmercerized cotton weft for the fabric because it is *sticky* (being unmercerized) and will hold the smooth silk together well. I choose wefts based on a) the color (purple in this case) b) the size and c) the surface finish: either unmercerized or raw silk for their rough surface. With smooth threads like silk, using a slick (mercerized) weft means the seams might not be stable once the fabric is sewn into a garment, even close sett and firmly beat fabric. I wash all the fabric off the loom, and wash my clothing (honest I do) once it's sewn up (no dry cleaning).

And Char: the blue band is just part of the fabric: it will be sewn 4 panels together, with sleeves added. The sleeves are the same as the kimono sleeves you've seen me wear: like this.

And for Jesse:

yurt4

a photo of my studio. Obviously taken in late Fall; the new green leaves are all out on the trees, now that it is Spring (that comment is for Claudia). (And notice how I refrained from saying *my darling son Jesse*? His friends would only tease him). Happy Easter!

3 Comments:

Blogger Charleen said...

The necklace is very cool. Does darling Jesse read your blog? He picked out some gorgeous beads.

5:35 PM  
Blogger claudia said...

The yurt! Be still my heart....For this, I forgive you your evilness.

7:53 PM  
Blogger Spindlers2 said...

Oh, how nice to se the yurt! I love the beads, too - any chance of a closer view?

9:12 AM  

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