Today we will make one more beaded Easter Egg. For making it we will use the square stitch bead weaving technique. This technique is very simple, but is quite time-consuming for implementing, because the egg is completely covered with beads and the beads are plaited in one by one. But this technique allows you to get neat rows of beads that lie one above the other and you can make a variety of patterns on the resulting canvas. However, for the first time we’ll do without patterns and just braid the egg by colored rows of beads.
We will need:
- size 11 seed beads, I used seed beads of five colors: orange, yellow, green, purple and pink,
- wooden or plastic egg,
- nylon thread and a beading needle.
As usual, for all the beadwork you will need a very long thread, so I recommend you to take a thread of the convenient length (about 1 meter). As soon as it becomes too short you should fasten it, passing in a zigzag manner through several beads, and then cut it off. Next, take the new thread, weave it into the product in the same manner and then continue weaving using this new segment of thread.
For our convenience let’s divide the process of weaving into three stages.
The first stage: make a ribbon of two rows of beads.
String onto the thread two orange and two yellow beads. Place the set of beads about 10 cm from the free end of the thread. Number these beads from 1 to 4 in the order in which they were stringed onto the thread.
Pass the needle through the beads 1 and 2 starting from the free end of the thread.
Tighten the thread. Make sure that the free end of the thread remains of at least 10 cm in length. The yellow beads have lain above the orange beads.
String onto the thread one orange and one yellow beads. Number them as the beads 5 and 6.
Pass the needle through the yellow bead number 3,
and then through the orange beads number 2 and 5.
Tighten the thread. The last two beads have lain close to the other beads in two rows: the orange bead - in the lower row and the yellow bead - in the upper row.
In the same way continue stringing the beads by two so that they form two rows of beads. Make sure that after each step the thread comes out from the last added orange bead.
So make a ribbon which length fits the circumference at the middle of the egg.
Next, connect the ends of the ribbon to each other. Pass the needle through the orange bead number 1.
Then pass the needle through the yellow bead number 4.
Then pass the needle through the extreme yellow bead at the opposite side of the ribbon,
and finally pass the needle through two extreme orange beads at both sides of the ribbon.
Tighten the thread. We’ve got a closed beaded ribbon.
As we got used that its first row consist of orange beads, lead the thread through the yellow bead to the top of the beadwork. So the next row of beads will be located above the row of yellow beads.
The first stage of weaving is completed.
At the second stage you should make additional rows of beads with the same quantity of beads in the each row. You should add as many rows of beads as it is needed to cover the middle part of the egg. At this stage the beading can be carried without the egg, you may only try the band on the egg from time to time. Or you can bead directly on the egg if it is more convenient for you.
At this stage use the flat square stitch technique. String a bead onto the thread
and pass the needle in the opposite direction through the bead that lies just below in the previous row.
Then pass the needle through the last added bead and tighten the thread. So the last added bead has lain above the appropriate bead of the lower row.
In this way continue adding the next beads one by one. First pass the needle in the opposite direction through the bead that lies in the previous row,
and then pass the needle through the just added bead.
So add the beads till the end of the row.
After that it's desirable to pass the needle through all the beads of the resulting row in order to constrict them. Otherwise the weaving can be loose.
Next, in the same manner make the other rows of beads that cover the middle part of the egg. The quantity of rows depends on the size of the egg and the size of beads. The resulting band should fit the middle part of the egg and it should reach the points where the egg begins narrowing from its both sides.
The third stage of weaving consists of covering the tops of the egg. At this stage you should reduce the number of beads in the each row. The technique of beading is similar to the one that we used at the previous stage. Start beading, adding the beads one by one, each bead above a single bead of the previous row. At the point where it is necessary to reduce a bead, string one bead and pass the needle through two beads of the previous row.
After reducing a bead continue adding a few beads in the ordinary manner (each bead above a single bead of the previous row) till the next point where it is necessary to reduce a bead.
At this stage the beading should be carried directly on the egg in order you could spot the quantity of beads to reduce. Each row should consist of such a quantity of beads that it should fit the egg and there were no empty spaces between beads in the row.
As for me, in the 1st row at this stage I reduced 1 bead after 9 ordinary beads (i.e. I added 9 beads in the ordinary manner and then added one bead above two beads of the previous row). In the next rows the reduction goes faster.
After completion of the each new row pass the needle through all its beads in order to constrict them.
The end of the egg’s top can be different. If the penultimate row turns to consist of 5 or 6 beads, you can place only one bead inside it. In my egg the penultimate row consist of 9 beads and I made the last row out of 3 beads.
In this manner you should braid both tops of the egg.
The beaded Easter Egg is finished!
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