Needle Tatting using TRUE RINGS

Here is the sound of my mind being blown: !!*!!
Why? Because I watched some YouTube videos on needle tatting with true rings that blew my mind and solved a nest of problems with which I have been wrestling for years!

First, a little background. Mostly, I like to bead. But I also like to combine fiber and beads to make jewelry--mainly using tatting, tubular bead crochet, and Turkish bead crochet. I am self taught (you can learn anything from books and YouTube videos!) and the first tatting technique I learned was needle tatting. After a while, I learned to tat using a shuttle, too. I find needle tatting significantly easier to learn and also faster to do, but it doesn't look quite as pretty as shuttle tatting. That is why I learned shuttle tatting. But it is a pain to work with beads on the shuttle thread--especially having to wind and unwind the thread all the time to move the beads along. Then, this week, I watched two videos that changed everything for me! The videos are part of the "Beginning Tatting Video Series" on YouTube (associated with the Georgia Seitz online tatting classes); I believe the woman in the videos is Tamie Montgomery. In these two videos, Tamie demonstrates how to construct a needle tatted ring that is a true ring--like in shuttle tatting--and not a self-closing mock ring, which is the usual type of ring produced by needle tatting. She credits Barbara Foster with devising the method.

Here's why true rings are so important...
The usual method of needle tatting involves using the ball thread to make the double stitches on the needle. When the needle is pulled through, you have to hold onto the loop and pass the needle through it--which really makes a self-closing mock ring. Then you have to tie a knot to reverse the work. So all through the tatting, there are these tiny little extra knots at the base of each ring and the end of each chain. Also, the ring isn't as tight as a shuttle-tatted ring is. The combination of these two things is what makes needle tatting look less delicate and less pretty than shuttle tatting (I think). If you use the true ring needle tatting technique, the rings are tighter and there are no extra knots! The resulting lace is, like shuttle-tatted lace, made up of double stitches only, without extra knots, and that is just better!

Here are the links to the videos that demonstrate how to needle tat a true ring and then how to continue with your work once you have done that. Go ahead--blow your mind!
Needle Tatting True Ring video
How to continue with true ring tatting

But wait, there's more...
Experimenting with the true ring technique over the past few days, there are a few things I would like to point out:

1. If you are making jewelry, the tail thread only needs to be between about 4 to 8 feet long, and that is a length that I can manage. The tail thread is used for the rings. I leave the thread for the chains on the ball, which means no measuring there.
2. This is the BEST method for incorporating beads into your designs! Bonus! Because the beads that end up in a ring have to be added before beginning EACH ring, you don't have to string long, complicated sequences of beads--you add the ones for each ring as you go. That also makes it easier to change your mind. And it is especially helpful if you are designing a new pattern or figuring out how to add beads to a tatting pattern that is just thread. You don't have to figure out the whole sequence and then reverse the order for stringing! Hurray! Note that all beads that are going to end up on the chain thread need to be strung before beginning your project, however.
3. The lace is stiffer and tighter than traditional needle tatting.
4. Elements like clovers work just like in shuttle tatting! Another hurray!

Onion Earrings by Janet Palumbo
True Ring Needle Tatting

So I encourage you to watch the videos and experiment with true ring needle tatting. Here are my first two earrings using this technique. In the next post, I will provide a photo tutorial of how to make the blue earrings. -Janet Palumbo

Anastasia Earrings by Janet Palumbo
True Ring Needle Tatting

Grounds for Sculpture Workshops

We are thrilled to be teaching two bead weaving workshops at the Grounds for Sculpture, in Hamilton, NJ. We taught the first one yesterday and the second one will be on February 17. We were very excited to be invited by the Grounds for Sculpture to offer these workshops during the Grounds' exhibit of the amazing beaded sculptures by Joyce C. Scott. 

The Grounds for Sculpture is an inspiring place and we wanted to do something very special for them. So we designed two projects just for them! The first is a peyote-stitch pendant featuring a stylized version of the Grounds for Sculpture logo. Since it is a sculpture garden, we embellished the logo with little flower fringes. 

Workshop participants will learn odd-count peyote. We want them to have some color choices and some design choices as well. So we offer three color combinations, as well as an alternate tribal graphic that can be made with the same beads as the logo pendant. The pendant can hang from a peyote-stitch bail or a simpler bail made of 3 loops of strung beads.

Three fringe embellishments are offered: the flower fringes shown on the purple pendant, the Swarovski crystal fringes shown on the green pendant, and the swag fringe shown on the tribal graphic version of the pendant in hematite.













For the second workshop, we designed an earring that looks like a peacock in full plumage. The Grounds for Sculpture has some resident peacocks and they use these majestic birds in their branding as well. The earrings are made using a modified St. Petersburg stitch and a lot of sparkling Czech faceted fire-polished beads.

Bead Weaving at Princeton Adult School

Diamond and Pearl Earrings designed by
Reem Iversen

We start a four-week course in Bead Weaving at the Princeton Adult School on Feb. 21. We will be teaching three new designs and a variation of an old favorite. I want to experiment with having variations this time--so for all but the last project, each student will get to decide which variation of the pattern she will make. Sounds like fun! Here is the plan...

Diamond and Pearl Earrings--patterns made with 2 colors

Start with Reem Iversen's Diamond and Pearl Earrings. This brick stitch earring is a great project for learning brick stitch. Reem's original design is a solid color. But students who are ready for a little more of a challenge can try one of five 2-color patterns I've added; three of the patterns are shown in the photo.

Geometric pattern from a Mongolian motif

Xanadu Bracelet by Janet Palumbo and plainer variation

The Xanadu Bracelet was designed by Janet Palumbo and uses 2-drop peyote stitch. While watching Marco Polo on Netflix, I noticed this wonderful geometric Mongolian motif (it was appliquéd onto Kublai Khan's yurt outside of Xanadu). Inspiration!

But if the Mongolian motif is too much of a challenge, students can use the same kit of beads to make a plainer and easier two-color pattern (in metallic blue and marine-lined blue in the photo).

Apple Blossom Necklace by Janet Palumbo

When everyone is ready to THINK SPRING! we will make the Apple Blossom Necklace, designed by Janet Palumbo.  We will have three colors of Swarovski crystal pearls from which to choose: Rosaline, Creamrose, and Iridescent Green--all fabulous! The leaf fringe can be plentiful (the Creamrose and Rose Gold necklace), or spaced out a little further (the Rosaline and Purple necklace), or left off entirely. We will offer an extra kit for sale for those who want to make matching earrings.


Finally, we will learn the amazingly versatile Dutch Spiral stitch to make the Crystals in the Dike Bracelet by Janet Palumbo. Dutch Spiral stitch is a favorite because little changes in the number or size of the beads result in big variations in the look. I decided on a moderate "twist" to the spiral, which is achieved by using a mix of size 11º and size 8º seed beads and 4mm Czech fire-polished round crystals.

Crystals in the Dike Bracelet by Janet Palumbo (Dutch Spiral)

My original color is the Garnet and Crystal bracelet pictured on the right. For the other color choice, I wanted to use cobalt as the main color, but wasn't sure what to pair it with. Then inspiration struck again when I was watching Love and Friendship--the movie adaptation of Jane Austen's Lady Susan. One of the costumes was a satin ensemble in cobalt blue, bright orange, and grey. It was stunning! Reem found a silver-lined salmon bead with an alabaster finish that works beautifully. It isn't quite as dramatic as the bright orange, but it has an easier-on-the-eye appeal!

Bead Fest Philadelphia 2016 Workshops

We are thrilled to be offering workshops again at Bead Fest Philadelphia. It is a HUGE beading event and we love being part of it. This year, we will be teaching two projects: Janet Palumbo's Heart-to-Heart Bracelet and Reem Iversen's Heliotrope Earrings. Both projects have been published in BEADWORK magazine. Since publication, we have been tweaking the patterns, improving the instructions, and adding new color combinations! We look forward to helping the class participants make these two beautiful projects.

On Saturday, August 20, from 4:30-8:30 pm, we will be teaching Reem's Heliotrope Earrings. These beautiful dome-shaped earrings combine herringbone and peyote stitches. We will be offering kits in a variety of colors, including our newest one--Orchid. The other colors available will be Pink, Blue, and Bronze.

Reem Iversen's Heliotrope Earrings in Pink, Blue, and Bronze

Reem Iversen's Heliotrope Earrings, in Orchid

Janet Palumbo's Heart-to-Heart Bracelet

On Sunday, August 21, we offer Janet's Heart-to-Heart Bracelet as a full-day workshop, from 8:30 am-4:00 pm. Right-angle-weave, made with either Czech farfalle or Japanese peanut beads, is used to create the double-heart centerpiece, embellished with Swarovski crystal pearls and Czech fire-polished beads. Three colors will be available: Magic Lilac, Bronze, and new Storm cloud Gray.

We hope you can join us!

Janet Palumbo's Heart-to-Heart Bracelet in Gray and Coral

Fireline vs. everything else

A little more about thread...

Choosing the right thread to use for your beadwork is so important! The thread becomes the (mostly) invisible force that holds the beadwork together--it is the force that binds tiny bits of glass into a fabric of light and color.

When I first started to explore bead weaving in the 1990s, I knew enough to realize that I couldn't just use sewing thread. Sewing thread is excellent for sewing, but it isn't engineered for bead weaving: it is too thin, it frays easily, breaks easily, and gets tangled up in knots way too easily. Nymo thread was universally used in the 1990s for bead weaving, and I used it for a long time. I still have jewelry made with Nymo thread. But it was never a pleasure to use. Nymo is a nylon thread; it comes in many colors and several sizes (diameters). Even if you condition Nymo first (and you should always condition your thread), it loves to get tangled up in knots and it is very easy to split the thread with your needle as your work. If you have split the thread with the needle, it becomes very difficult to pull out your work if you later discover you have made a mistake. And we all make mistakes! Either the thread is "caught" because it has been split (and you end up having to cut it to fix a mistake) or it becomes hopelessly weakened when you do manage to pull it out. Nymo is also slightly stretchy and this makes it a poor choice for novice beaders who haven't mastered thread tension yet; they may be disappointed when the weight of the beads stretches the thread and loosens their work.

Silamide is a twisted nylon thread (2-ply) and so stronger than Nymo and more resistant to fraying. It comes in several colors and sizes and it is already waxed. I like it better than Nymo thread because it is less prone to knotting and fraying, but it can also be split with the needle and it can be hard to find in bead stores.

I assume one of the influential bead weaving teachers out there has some connection with fly-fishing, because suddenly about a dozen years ago everyone started using Fireline for all types of bead weaving. Fireline is made by Berkley and it is a fishing line. Berkley describes it as a thermally fused superline that "changed fishing forever." Believe me, it has changed bead weaving forever, too! Berkley says: "It is simply the strongest, most abrasion-resistant superline in its class!" Strong: yes, this is really strong thread; I can't break it with my hands no matter how hard I pull. Occasionally, the sharp edge of a Czech bugle bead will snap Fireline, but used with seed beads and even crystals, it won't break. Abrasion-resistant: yes, it withstands multiple passes through crystals. Even if you have to pull it out (remember those mistakes we talked about?) it usually maintains integrity and can be rethreaded on the needle. It will take a lot of abuse before it starts to fray. Superline: yes, it is super! and virtually impossible to split it with a needle. Of all the threads I have tried, pulling out a mistake is easiest with Fireline.

Recently some new Japanese nylon threads have become available: OneG, SoNo, and KO. They are similar to Nymo. I have tried the K.O. thread and find that it is too soft for bead weaving. It might work well for a piece that you want to be extremely soft and flexible, but I don't use it for more "architectural" bead weaving, where you are building a structure of beads. Some people recommend these Japanese threads for bead embroidery. I imagine they would work well for that, but I usually use Fireline for bead embroidery as well!

So, back to Fireline: use 6 lb. for most bead weaving; you will be able to make many passes through seed beads. Use 8 lb. for bead weaving that uses Czech bugle beads or other beads with very sharp edges; it is a little stronger (and thicker). I have used 10 lb. for stringing projects and it works well. If many passes through tiny size 15º beads are needed, 4 lb. Fireline comes in handy. I use the smoke color for almost everything; I use the crystal color if most of the beads are white or very light, or for some transparent beads. You can also run crystal Fireline over a Sharpie marker, let it dry, and repeat, to make thread of almost any color. Fireline doesn't stretch, which is a good thing! And because it has a little bit of stiffness to it, if I pull tightly after each stitch, it has some "memory" and stays put.

One more thing...Fireline is more expensive if you buy it on small spools sold specifically for bead weaving. Buy a large spool (125 yds. or 300 yds.) sold to fishing enthusiasts--it is exactly the same thing and less expensive!

Janet Palumbo

Thread Matters

We have noticed that many of our bead weaving students are a little confused about the names for different parts of the thread. So here is our treatise on the anatomy of your bead weaving thread! We hope you find it useful.

Saucerful of Crystals Bracelet

Saucerful of Crystals Bracelet by Reem Iversen and Janet Palumbo

Designed by Reem Iversen and Janet Palumbo, the Saucerful of Crystals bracelet is a lot of sparkle for your arm!

Our pattern for this bracelet was published in Perlen Poesie Magazine, Issue no. 26 (Sept. 2015). This beautifully produced and exquisitely printed magazine is the European leader in bead weaving and jewelry design. We are thrilled to be included in this high-end publication!

The e-pattern is now also available from our Etsy shop (instant download for instant gratification). The e-pattern contains our detailed step-by-step instructions, with full-color diagrams for each step. Reem recently taught this pattern at the Bead Boutique in Naples, FL and the students told her these were the best instructions they ever used! (We hear that all the time from our students!) Visit our Facebook page to see photos of the great color palettes chosen by the students.

This pattern uses 176 Swarovski bicone crystals (like we said, a lot of sparkle for your arm!), 2-hole piggy beads, and high quality Japanese seed beads in 3 sizes.