Monkey - the sign of the 2016 year

We continue our seasonal series of beading tutorials on winter and Christmas beadworks. As you know, the 2016 year is the Year of the Monkey in the Chinese zodiac. We already have a tutorial on a flat beaded monkey in brick stitch on our site and today we will make another monkey, in the technique of 3-D beading on two segments of wire.

We will need:
- size 10/0 seed beads of four colors: red, pink, black and white;
- wire 0.2 mm thick.


As I have already mentioned, for making a monkey we will use the technique of three-dimensional beading on two segments of wire.
The main idea of three-dimensional beading on two segments of wire is that the each row in the beadwork consists of four tiers: upper, lower, left and right. So, making a row, we should first make the upper tier, then make the lower tier, after that make the left tier and at last make the right tier. It is very important to strictly keep the above mentioned order of tiers during the process of weaving.

We have already met such a beading technique, so you can learn the basics of three-dimensional beading on two segments of wire in this tutorial, it is a very detailed tutorial with step by step photos.

Now the upper tiers of beads will form the face of the monkey and then its tummy, the lower tiers of beads will form the back part of the monkey’s head and then - its back, and the side tiers of beads will form the monkey’s sidepieces.

We will make the monkey using the following pattern:

Click to enlarge

For basic weaving (for the monkey’s head together with body and legs) we will need two pieces of wire 150 cm long each. For the ears and the tail we will need three additional pieces of wire 25 cm long each and for the arms - two additional pieces of wire 60 cm long each.

Now, take two main pieces of wire and start weaving.

All the tiers of the 1st row make in one step. String 2 red beads on one wire, 4 red beads on the other wire and place all the beads in the middle of the appropriate wire. Then cross the ends of the 1st wire (with the smaller quantity of beads) through the extreme beads on the 2nd wire. Tighten the ends of the wires trying all the beads to remain on the middle of the wires. We’ve got all the tiers of the 1st row: the upper and the lower tiers consisting of 2 beads each and the left and the right tiers of 1 bead each.

In all the next rows make tiers step by step in the above mentioned order: first make the upper tier, then make the lower tier, after that make the left tier and at last make the right tier.

Please also note: as the finished beadwork should be round in a cutaway, you should slightly curve the tiers of beads after making the each row. It is very important to do so just after finishing the row, because some rows consist of a small quantity of beads and you will not be able to give a shape to the previous rows when you have finished those small rows.



Keep on weaving and make the 2nd and the 3rd rows according to the pattern.

After that take two additional pieces of wire 25 cm long each (that are needed for the ears) and pass them through the left and the right tiers of the 3rd row accordingly. After that leave those additional wires alone for a while and continue weaving on the basic wires.

Continue weaving and make the 4th and the 5th rows according to the pattern.

Now take the ends of the additional wires in the 3rd row that are pointed towards the lower tiers and pass them through the appropriate side tiers of the 5th row in direction towards the upper tiers. Pull the ends of the additional wires so that they are of equal length and right away after that weave the ears of the monkey. Use the technique of flat weaving and follow the pattern.

Next, continue the basic weaving according to the pattern and make the rows from the 6th till the 11th. While making the 10th and the 11th rows, pass through the side tiers of those rows two additional pieces of wire 60 cm long each that are needed for the arms. Right away after that make two arms.
To make the main part of the arm, use the technique of 3D weaving on one segment of wire. Then make the hand according to the pattern.

Then continue the basic weaving according to the pattern and make the rows from the 12th till the 17th. While making the 17th row, pass through the central bead of the lower tier the last additional piece of wire 25 cm long that is needed for the tail. Right away after that make the tail, using the flat weaving (ladder stitch) and following the pattern.

Then continue the basic weaving according to the pattern and make the 18th and the 19th rows of the body.

At last, make the legs on the remaining ends of the basic wires (follow the pattern, all the arms and legs are identical).

The beaded monkey is finished!

Here are some photos of the finished beadwork from different angles:

Side view:

Front view:

P.S. If you like this tutorial, share it with your friends on social networks using the buttons below the post.

Don't want to miss new tutorials? Subscribe for email notifications of site updates or follow us on Twitter!