Description
Dagger Beads Beaded Bead
This pattern gives instructions with diagrams for making a beaded bead using dagger beads.
I have had a stash of dagger beads for a long time. They fall into that category of ‘beads I bought because I liked the colour and shape, but had no plans for!’ I have, on occasion taken them out and tried something with them. For example, the flower beads I made a while before (you can find the pattern here). But somehow they’ve never become part of my staple beading materials.
I did also find them useful for embellishing a herringbone rope once. But this is the first time that I’ve used dagger beads as the centrepiece of a design and I rather like the results. These beaded beads are very tactile and quirky with their spike feel. I thought about christening them, ‘hedgehog beads’!
Techniques
You will be using Right Angle Weave for this pattern and working in its tubular form. If you are new to Right Angle Weave, then do not attempt this…yet!
The dagger beads make it more challenging to see the thread path. So I strongly recommend that you make sure you are really happy with the tubular Right Angle Weave before you start trying it with dagger beads.
The pattern uses a little increasing and decreasing to give the beaded bead some shape. So, I found that using a strongly contrasting colour of size 15 seed beads really helped to both add some firmness to the bead and also mark the ends of rows. You will also need to make sure you keep good firm tension if you want to get the best results from this design. The beaded beads don’t take too long to make and the end result is a lot of fun.
This Dagger Beads beaded bead pattern is sold with the understanding that it is for your personal use only. You may not copy it to give or sell to anyone else. You may use the beaded beads that you make for yourself, or give them away as gifts. But if you would like to sell them, then please email and check with me first – thank you!
