Carrier beads are the hot new trend in beadweaving, so I was keen to explore how to use these beaded beads in a kumihimo design. I have filmed a series of 3 videos showing different techniques. Carrier beads are large, flattish 2-hole beads which are designed to be covered with a sleeve of peyote stitch made of delica beads. I do not show how to make them because there are several good videos available, as well as magazine and on-line tutorials. My speciality is kumihimo, so I want to show how this new trend can be adapted for use with kumihimo. I hope that viewers will enjoy these videos and find that they inspire their own experiments with this fun combination.
Video 1 – Necklace
Length of video – 11.35 minutes
Close up – 1.52 minutes
Demo 3.45 minutes
Braiding demo – 9.15 minutes
In this video I show how to make a pretty necklace featuring 5 beaded carrier beads and partially beaded sides. The regular round disk is used for this braid, but other braid structures could be substituted if preferred.
In this video I provide a walk-through of how to contstruct the necklace, talking through the different stages of the construction. I use the Prumihimo disk to make the braid, using beads on all four beading cords. The beads can be added into the braid either every time a thin cord is moved, to create closely spaced beads, or they can be added in alternate sequences to space the beads out more widely. Every braid is different, so cord lengths can only ever be a rough guide. The length of cord reserved for the tassel in my necklace was 10-12cm/4-5 inches. The 8 beading cords measured 1.5m/60inches The satin cord measured 1.5m/60inches, use more for a longer necklace. I used 40-50 beads. The allowance for beading cord is generous to allow for beads of larger sizes.
Length of video – 7.46 minutes
Close up – 1.07 minutes
Braiding – 4.00 minutes
In this video I return to Round Braid for the kumihimo element of the design and use bugle beads instead of knotting in between the carrier beads. My aim is to introduce different ideas, which can be expanded into other designs.
