I'm a big fan of Jamie Cloud Eakin's books, and this one is no exception. Bead Play with Fringe is obviously a labor of love, in which Jamie sets out to demystify all the different forms that fringe can take, and why some styles work better with some pieces than others do. It's a brilliant book, beginning with the supplies you will need, and working through fringe styles that are increasingly challenging.
In the supplies section, Jamie explains bead sizes and which beads will make the best fringe. She also covers the needles you'll need and the best threads to use.
And then the fringe starts! "Fringe Basics" is a nice overview of all the various styles covered in Jamie's book. She starts with a basic single strand fringe style, and helps you work your way through all sorts of kinky, branched, looped, twisted, and spiraled fringes. Jamie also gives instruction on how to vary the ends of your fringe, including the standard turn-bead, a picot, leaf, and loop end, and a very nifty seed bead star end. And they are all interchangeable, giving you so many exciting options when you get to work on your own projects.
An incredibly helpful section in the basics shows you how to attach fringe properly to work done in all the different stitches. For example, attaching to the hole edge of peyote stitch is much different from the edge of right angle weave, and it's also different from attaching to the side edge of peyote stitch instead. Jamie has been very thorough.
Then Jamie launches into the meat of the book, all the different types of fringe in all their variation-ed glory! She even includes projects with exact bead counts so you can practice the different styles...and make a cool wearable piece doing it. I think my new fave is Jamie's spiral fringe, which I can't wait to try!
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