Description
Superduo Duet Innovation
For those of you who are not already familiar with these, Superduo Duet beads are exclusive to the Beadsmith. I first got to use them before they came to market, as part of my work for the Beadsmith Inspiration Squad.
Superduo Duets are basically Superduos with a fabulous colour innovation. The manufacturers, in concert with the Beadsmith product development team, have worked out a brilliant new way of coating the beads so that each single bead has two colours. The colours are split. So, depending on how you use the beads in your work, you can see both shades at once. Alternatively, you can make reversible jewellery by showing one shade on each side. It is very clever and a lot of fun to design with. So, if you want to find out more about the Superduo Duets, read this blog.
About the Superduo Duet Bangle
I want to go back to my bangle design. I confess, there is a tale of woe behind this. The design looks simple – it is – and it has a simple thread path, but it took me a lot of ripping out to get it to work.
The bangle structure needs stability. This is achieved through a combination of good tension and specific thread path. So when I wrote up the pattern for the Superduo Duet bangle, I put in very detailed steps for you to follow precisely. This will help you avoid the hours of frustration that I endured whilst designing the project!
What happens when a designer endures those hours of frustration?…in my case, I initially fell out of love with the bangle. My other Squad colleagues were, happily, not of the same opinion as me. I suspect this may prove to be one of my most popular designs to date.
You are going to be working in Herringbone and combining Honeycomb Jewels (or ordinary Honeycomb beads should work too) with the Superduo Duet beads. As you can see from the gallery photos, if you don’t have any Duets, the project will work just as well with traditional Superduos. You will also need a few size 11 Miyuki seed beads. (Do stick to the brand I recommend – if you’re wondering why I say that, then read this blog!). You can also use True2 beads if you wish – the pattern will explain where and how this design alternative fits in! So, my parting advice is to just read the pattern carefully, follow it precisely and enjoy!
