Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Beaded Millinery Leaf

 I figured it out!  I used what I had on hand, like I do, so it isn't an exact copy and certainly not as elegant looking but I did figure out how to do it.  I didn't have any floral wire that was thin enough to fit through any of the beads I have so I just used some thin brass wire.
Since I have the new camera and I need to practice, I took pictures along the way. Macro pictures - wowza!  Okay, not the best macro pictures, but I'm still learning.  They were taken without a tripod, which is awesome to me.  Love that!!
 I had no idea how much wire it would take so I cut a piece 24" long and hoped for the best.  I strung on one dark green bead and moved it to the center of the wire.  Then I strung a light green bead on one side and a light green followed by a dark green on the other side.  The next step is to take the end of the wire on one side and thread it through the beads on the opposite side.  Then do the same with the other side.  I love how the background in this picture is out of focus.  I wish I knew how I accidently did that.
 This next picture shows how it looks with the wire from one side strung through the opposite side.  You can click these pictures bigger and get an even better look at the paint spots on my workbench.
 This is how it looks with the wire from each side strung back through the opposite side.  Each bead will have two pieces of wire inside it.  I alternated which side had the uneven number of beads.  I don't know if that is important but it seemed like it might be to keep the unused length of the wire even on each side.  Gently pull up each side until all the wire is taken up and the row is snugged up against the previous row.
This is how my experiment holds up to the original.  Wouldn't these be great done in black and metallic colors like bronze and pewter?? Maybe that is just my creepy goth steampunk side talking but it sounds interesting to me. 
Go forth and make leaves.  Email me if you have questions!

10 comments:

Betsy@My Salvaged Treasures said...

Yeah, you did it! Now you're going to make an entire bouquet right? Thanks for sharing.

vintage grey said...

Hi Kathy! These leaves are beautiful! Great job in figuring out how to make it! These would make beautiful pins to wear on a sweater! Love your creativity! I am your newest follower! xo Heather

My Vintage Mending said...

Oh. those are good. I love them. Yes metallic and black well done. Smiles..Renee

oldgreymare said...

You and my crazy beader friends who find this relaxing...... HA! to me? NO WAY! Makes me a nervous wreck lol They have tried many times to indoctrinate me but I resist.

The leaf is great and I am sure he will not be the lone one for long. Enjoy <3 I would think clear and patinated silver would be outstanding...
xx
z

and honey, can we lose the word id thingie? It is 2 words now and I always mess it up lol

Andy's Attic said...

Good job! I would never figure that out but then, I wouldn't even try...too complicated for me.

ps. now on my third try to get the letters correct to prove I'm not a robot...

Annette said...

I knew you would figure it out, and it looks pretty simple too! And metallic colors would be awesome! I'm guessing that in the second photo, you're holding the leaf? The farther away your subject is from the background, the blurrier the background will be.

Laurie said...

Wow -- you are so quick!

Diane said...

This is excellent!--the different color possibilities too....

karlascottage.typepad.com said...

Pretty in any color!

Linda Carole Bloom said...

These are great! I'm going to forward them to my daughter who makes jewelry. (I'm more the needle and thread type, but who knows - this is very intriging) I think metallic would be great - think Christmas! Well, actually DON'T think Christmas - I'm dying for warm weather right now!