So, how are you today? I hope you’re raring to go and following along nicely.
Don’t forget, if you are getting stuck, just leave me a comment at the end of this blog and I will help you out!
If you need the previous days’ instructions, follow this link.
Day 3
Make sure you have the little piece you made yesterday. Today, you are going to turn it into a complete flower centre.
Step 5
Take your starting piece. Pick up the 6mm round bead.
Feed your two ends of wire through the bead, so they enter from opposite sides.
Pull the ends up tight. So, your little beaded structure will be sitting around half of your round bead.
Step 6
Repeat steps 1-4 (from day 2 – you can refer back to that blog here: it will open in a new window) to make a
second identical set of beaded stamen.
Now repeat step 5, so you will feed the two wires from your new stamen through the same 6mm bead.
The new stamen should sit around the other half of your round bead.
Twist all your stem wires together underneath your round bead. You just need to make a few twists to secure everything, not twist all the way along the wire. This completes your flower centre.
Step 7
We’re going to get ahead now, ready for tomorrow, when you will make the petals.
So, thread at least 170 flower beads onto the matching wire. Secure the beads by
knotting the end of the wire.
To ‘knot the wire’, just make a small loop with the end and twist it to hold it in place. You don’t need to worry about making this neat – it is simply to stop the beads from falling off!
Now, you’re all set for tomorrow…
And remember, if you are struggling or have questions, leave a comment so I can help you!
Day 3
Now we get onto the fun part…the strawberry. I call this technique the beehive basic or dome basic.
You are going to be wrapping your wire for this. So, please focus on that! If you start to twist your wires (and it’s easy to do), you will struggle to get a good strawberry shape… All will become clear later on!
I’m not going to lie to you – this technique is really tricky. So, I hope that making the leaves has reminded your fingers how to work with wire.
Again, I will take this slowly. So, we are going to take two days to make the full strawberry. Then, the following day will be a simple session of light relief. So, hold onto that thought if you find yourself struggling in the next couple of days!
Step 3
Start by cutting two 12” (30cm) lengths of your red wire and set these aside. You will need to trim off the knot at the end of your wire, cut your two lengths, then re-knot the end of wire. Make sure you don’t lose any beads in the process!
Step 4
You are going to be working in a technique which is a variation of the ‘basic’ technique. You have probably used this in the past to make single petals or leaves.
However, the initial set up is a little different. You are aiming to create a set of five spokes of wire – four of the spokes will be the two pieces of wire you cut off and the fifth spoke will be the end of your working wire (on the spool). So, take a look at the diagram to familiarise yourself with the idea.
Step 5
Start by taking your two pieces of wire (from step 3). Leaving a 6” (15cm) stem wire on the spool, wrap this spool wire once around the middle of your two pieces. So, you will end up with 2 strands of wire on one side of the wrap and 3 strands on the other side.
Step 6
Now separate the strands out so they form five spokes, roughly in a circle. Take care not to pull either of your single wires through – you need the wrap to stay in the centre.
Move your ‘stem wire’ so you can then make a single wrap around this, a
t the point next to your previous wrap, in the centre. Don’t add any beads yet. This wrap is simply to secure the wire at the start. This spoke is going to become the start and finish of each round.
This is the piece of wire that has your knot, so this will provide a handy marker. It marks your end point for each round. So, you will not lose your place as you start to add the beads. Try to keep everything as neat as you can, but I know this is fiddly!
Step 7
You are now set up ready to add your first round of beads. Each round is made up
from five ‘rows’.
A ‘row’ is defined as the action of adding beads and wrapping around the next spoke.
So, start by sliding 2 beads down your wire. Move them into place so they sit snugly between your first spoke (the one you just wrapped) and the next spoke (NB it doesn’t matter which order you use the spokes on this row – this just sets you up for the rest of the berry).
Step 8
Slide another two beads down and wrap round the next spoke.
Each time you wrap, make sure you are going over the top of the spoke wire, around the back and over the top again.
Repeat this another three times. So, you will end up with a complete round that contains 5 rows and each row has 2 beads. I’m not going to lie, this is all very fiddly, so just keep it as neat as you can and it will get easier!
Step 9
You are going to keep adding rounds using the same technique. Each round will have an increased number of beads in the five rows.
So, in order to accommodate this, you need to pull your spoke wires downwards. You are going to find that your wires move all over the place. So, focus on making sure there is no gapping in the row that you are adding each time.
As long as you do this and move those spoke wires accordingly, each row will be fine. Then, at the end of each round, just pull/push everything into place.
I’m going to give you two more rounds for now. That will just stabilise everything, then we can leave this and come back tomorrow.
So, round two has 3 beads in each of the five rows. You can see this in the photo.
Round three has 4 beads in each of the five rows.
Carefully place your work down and stop for today.
Again, if you have any questions, just leave me a comment below. If you are finding this really fiddly, that is exactly what I would expect. So, don’t give up! The next few rows will get easier. Then your second and third strawberries will be fine!
Day 3
Today, we’re going to mix things up a little and add some variation to the spiral… But don’t worry – it’s nothing too complicated!
Step 9
Pick up 1(A), 1(B), 1(C), 1(B). Pass up through the top 3(A) in your existing chain and through the (A) you just picked up. Then slide your new (B), (C), (B) to the left as usual.
So, apart from the different beads, your technique is just the same.
Step 10
Pick up 1(A), 1(B), 1(D), 1(B). Pass up through the top 3(A) in your existing work and through the (A) you just picked up. Then slide your new (B), (D), (B) to the left.
Note: if you have just one type of 4mm bead, you will use this for both the (C) and the (D).
Step 11
Keep repeating steps 9 and 10 until your length of beadwork measures 2/3 of your desired finished length.
You may be starting to run short of thread by this point. So, if that is the case you will need to finish one thread and start a new one. To do this, you want to weave back down through the ‘side’ beads and downwards into your core (the (A) beads). Weave down away from the end of your work, then knot between beads (a half-hitch knot). Pass on through a few more (A) beads in the core, knot again for security. Then continue through a few more (A) beads and trim your thread.
To start a new thread, the process is reversed. So, thread into the core, well below your end point. Knot between beads to secure the thread. Pass on up through the core, knot again, then continue through to exit from the top of the core. So, you are ready to continue with your spiral stitch.
If you have never ‘knotted between beads’ before, don’t worry. I have a free tutorial right here that shows you exactly what to do. So, just pop over and download that.
That’s all for today. As usual, if you have any questions, just leave a comment below.
I imagine you can guess what’s coming next! So, see you tomorrow…
Day 3
Hopefully you have all your little components (the centre plus six petals) in front of you. So, you are now ready to join the flower…
Step 8
Take one of your petals and your centre.
Thread your needle onto the thread on the petal and make sure you are exiting from the first bead in a pair of beads on a corner.
You are now going to stitch the final row (step 5 from day 1) around the petal.
For the first 3 beads in the row, you will use a (C) bead that is already attached to your centre.
So, pass through the (C) that sits in the corner of your centre, then into the second bead in the pair on your petal.
From here, pass into the next (C) on the centre, then into the next bead on your petal, then into the third (C) in the centre and finally into the first bead in the next corner pair in your petal.
Your work should now look like the first photo.
Add a new (C) bead around the other five sides of the petal, just as if you were adding the rest of the row.
At the end of the row, finish your working thread securely. (9 new (C) beads in this step).
Step 9
Take your second petal and join it so that the first side attaches t
o the centre and the second side attaches to the other petal.
So, for the first two stitches, you will use a (C) from the side of your centre hexagon.
You should then be at the next corner (pair of beads) on your new petal.
Then the next two spaces should each attach to a (C) from the other petal. Your work should now look like the photo.
Finally, add your new (C) beads around the other four sides of this new petal – this should be a total of 7 new beads.
Now finish off your thread.
Step 10
Repeat step 9 three more times to join the next three petals.
Step 11
The last petal joins in the final space.
So, join the first side to the edge of your first petal.
Join the second side to the centre.
Join the third side to the fifth petal.
Then add your new (C) beads to the remaining three sides – this should be 5 new beads.
Finish your working thread.
Well done! You now have a little Peyote flower, built using geometric Hexagon shape. So, that’s all for today.
Tomorrow is a nice easy day of tubular Peyote. Once again, if you’ve got any questions before then, just leave a comment!
