Bead Journal Project: May 2014

Tidal Pools

Link to Tutorial

I've been wanting to play around with shibori ribbon for quite some time now!  I got waylaid by soutache braid for a few projects, but it didn't really satisfy my deepest urges.  Shibori now...that's a different story.  I've actually experimented with creating some shibori fabric myself for a quilt, but the beautiful shibori ribbons that I bought are a far cry from my fabric, which was coarse muslin, not silk.  Still, it gave me an appreciation for the process.

So, for my Bead Journal piece for May, I used shibori ribbon stitched to interface-backed fabric as the foundation for a cuff bracelet.  It is backed with an ultra-suede type fabric.  I didn't end up with any of the fabric foundation showing, so that might have been kind of a waste, but it did help me to settle on colors.

I did end up using a few of the bead-weaving stitches that I've adapted for bead embroidery (see Bored By Back Stitch), but mostly I used regular back stitch and stack stitch for this piece.  A friend has suggested it be called Tidal Pools, and that seems appropriate to me with the pearls and the ocean jasper focal!

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Copyright 2014 Cyndi Lavin. All rights reserved. Not to be reprinted, resold, or redistributed for profit. May be printed out for personal use or distributed electronically provided that entire file, including this notice, remains intact.

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