camwyn | (no subject) (Reply)

Bought a copy of Maggie Meister's beading book Classical Elegance when I saw it on sale for $5 a while back. I'm working on the Macha necklace in there. First step involves making eight disks of size 11 cylinder beads in two-color peyote spirals; these disks are thirteen rows each. Second step, thirty-two disks made of rows 1-6 of the same pattern. Step three, attach three each of the small disks to one of the big disks, equidistant from each other; repeat w/the remaining seven big disks and 21 of the remaining smaller ones (put the other small ones aside). Step four, with right-angle stitch, sew two of these together back to back, but stuff the central part with plastic wrap before sewing it up completely. Repeat until you have four stuffed spiral units.

I just finished the fourth stuffed spiral unit. It took me an hour and a half for this single unit, maybe more, and that was with all the spiral disks already made. My shoulder hurts. I have never respected Native American bead workers and Garment District embroiderers, embellishers, and makers of sparkly costumes more.