Why Not Make a Beaded Button?

We all know about beaded beads, ideally a self-supporting, rigid, regular structure made up only of smaller beads. Well how about beaded buttons? A quick trawl of the net turns up mostly buttons made up from a covered button base, with seed beads over the top. I think that it is time to make more self-supporting, rigid, regular and robust beaded buttons!

When I make a piece of jewellery, it is an essential design element to finish it off with a clasp that is in keeping with the actual work. I quite often make a button and loop. Though I could use a toggle and loop, it's just personal taste. Of course a loop and button of the same beads as the work is best.

A button shape is preferable to a round shape because a loop needs a really close fit to keep from slipping off a round bead, but it will catch easily behind a flat button shape.

Pellet beads + Chaton, Tila Beads, and Seed beads + Chaton, beaded buttons

These beaded buttons could also be used on actual clothes, for example a skating dress that already had lots of gems and embroidery, (that was destined only for the dry cleaners).

Another beaded button that I have made is on the Buttercup Bracelet. Each buttercup is effectively a button, so the bracelet can be fastened to any length, by choosing which button to put the loop over.

Buttercup Bracelet

And finally a four-square beaded bead on my Rainbow Helix Bracelet

Rainbow Helix Bracelet

So there's definitely plenty of scope for making beaded buttons. It helps to start with a flat shape of bead, such as a tila bead. Keep it simple, the finished bead must be robust enough to stand some manipulation when pushed through a loop, and that loop does not need to be too tight.

Right, I'm off to make some pyramid beaded buttons! 

Keep a look out for other beaded buttons that might be out there, I would love to know where they are?

This blog has now moved to :TooTallToBead.co.uk

The Lost Stitch? Square Stitch!

I have just completed my latest project currently called, for want of a better name The Wiggly Bracelet. I came to make it because I needed a break from duo beads, I've been playing with them too much!
Thinking about ways of using czech, two holed, tile beads, I decided to make a ric-rac inspired bracelet, with what I thought might be called a variation on herringbone weave, but with uneven bead counts, originally with four strands, but it turned out that three strands worked best. 
Any way I made this:-

Wiggly Bracelet with beaded bead clasp.

However, its been bugging me all week what this herringbone-like stitch might be called?

Well, the penny dropped yesterday, and I remembered that it is called square stitch. 

Now, I'm not sure that I have seed anything made in this stitch for a really long time, it is really useful for surrounding focal beads, and it goes around corners!

So lets all have a go designing something in square stitch, bring it back!!!

What followed is a Double Wiggly Bracelet, also with beaded bead. 

Here' s a close up of my beaded bead. I'm calling it the Impossible To Teach beaded bead. It's really pretty, and tactile, but you have to do so many thread passes to make it stable, that I'm sure nobody but me could be bothered!

Let me know what you think about square stitch!

Bonne Perler!