At the moment, I am planning my wedding. I'm lead to believe it's quite a stressful thing to do...
We would like our wedding to be as quirky as us, and part of that is basing it on a handmade theme. We would like as much as possible to be handmade and individual, preferably made by us, or people we care about.
One thing I decided I would like to make for the wedding is a small beaded clutch bag to keep my essentials in... such as my asthma inhaler. I've never made anything like this before, and I've certainly never attempted a project this big. I thought it would feel daunting, but I'm so excited about it, I'm enjoying it without feeling worried about the scale of it.
I've seen some bead embroidered bags before on the internet, and from what I can work out, they've been based on an existing bag. The way I'm making mine is to use a plastic mesh bag frame as the base. I've drawn the shape out on some blackout curtain lining, and I am embroidering onto that.
The first step was to decide on a rough design for the bag... I knew I wanted it to be mainly white, but with hints of gold and pale pink. I also knew I wanted a lot of sparkle in it, so I put together a selection of swarovski rivolis and chatons in crystal, crystal AB, rose-water opal and light colarado topaz. I scattered these over the bag template and shifted them around until I had a distribution I was happy with... and then I marked which stone went where.
I've started beading bezels around the swarovski stones, then sewing them onto the backing and embroidering around them.
I am so excited with the progress so far... but I know there is a very long way to go. I will keep updating photos on this so you can see the progress.
We would like our wedding to be as quirky as us, and part of that is basing it on a handmade theme. We would like as much as possible to be handmade and individual, preferably made by us, or people we care about.
One thing I decided I would like to make for the wedding is a small beaded clutch bag to keep my essentials in... such as my asthma inhaler. I've never made anything like this before, and I've certainly never attempted a project this big. I thought it would feel daunting, but I'm so excited about it, I'm enjoying it without feeling worried about the scale of it.
I've seen some bead embroidered bags before on the internet, and from what I can work out, they've been based on an existing bag. The way I'm making mine is to use a plastic mesh bag frame as the base. I've drawn the shape out on some blackout curtain lining, and I am embroidering onto that.
The first step was to decide on a rough design for the bag... I knew I wanted it to be mainly white, but with hints of gold and pale pink. I also knew I wanted a lot of sparkle in it, so I put together a selection of swarovski rivolis and chatons in crystal, crystal AB, rose-water opal and light colarado topaz. I scattered these over the bag template and shifted them around until I had a distribution I was happy with... and then I marked which stone went where.
I am so excited with the progress so far... but I know there is a very long way to go. I will keep updating photos on this so you can see the progress.
So excited by this project Becs and can't wait to see more. If you would like any help with making anything give me a shout. I could pop up for a wedding creating day or something. I love wedding creating!
ReplyDeleteGemxxx
Thanks Gemma. We will have to arrange something soon! A day of wedding crafting, and idea-sharing would be great. Did you want to come up to Salisbury, meet Tim and hang out in my new studio? x
DeleteJust thought I'd pop over and say thanks for your comment on the OTTBS site, but I'm a bit confused. I searched everywhere for a free project from the A&E Of Beadweaving and didn't think there was one. Just check if you're thinking of the same book! And, if you are, could you send me a link so I can promote it? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I have seen the little snippets of your beaded embroidery over the last week - but was feeling so ill, I may not have mentioned how impressed I am with it. It looks amazing! xxx
Looking very sparkly so far! When is your wedding date?
ReplyDeleteIt's looking like it'll be September next year.
ReplyDelete