*Affiliate links are included in this post.
One of my favourite beading books on my bookshelf has to be “Mastering Beadwork – A Comprehensive Guide to Off-loom Techniques” by Carol Huber Cypher, a professional beadwork and feltmaking artist.
When I first purchased this book, I was a complete beading beginner. I leafed through it in eager anticipation of whipping up some great pieces and was hit by the reality that I didn’t actually know how to bead at all. The projects in the book looked amazing (and complicated) to me and to be honest, I wasn’t sure I would be able to do any of them!
So I started at the very beginning and although I haven’t yet completed all of the projects and I definitely haven’t perfected all of the stitches, this book has been a great help to me. Once you’ve done a couple of the beginner projects, it’s easy to see how different stitches lead to different shapes and patterns which can be turned into beautiful pieces of jewellery and other items, such as the beaded star photographed in this post.
Making a Beaded Star
I made the beaded star pictured here by following a pattern and tutorial from “Mastering Beadwork”. It’s actually easy to make as the pattern is quite repetitive as you work your way from the centre to the outside of the star. I can’t share the pattern with you here because it’s copyrighted, but I’ve included a link to the book at the bottom of this post in case you want to make one for yourself.
Once I’d made my beaded star, I used clear lacquer
to stiffen the beadwork, so I could hang it as a decoration on my Christmas tree! You can also use acrylic floor treatment for the same purpose in case you have any of that to hand.
More about Mastering Beadwork – A Comprehensive Guide to Off-loom Techniques
This colourful book is aimed at beginner, intermediate and advanced beaders. It holds a wealth of information about the equipment needed to start beading along with explanations of 16 different stitches, finishing techniques, designs and tips. There is a huge selection of vibrant beading projects with step by step instructions.
If you’re about to embark on your beading journey, this book can be used as a string of beadwork master classes. Each project has been arranged to introduce a stitch and then explore it’s structure, so you can actually work through the book from start to finish and make each project one by one. If you’ve done beadwork before, it’s easy to pick and choose a project to make as there are 62 gorgeous projects to choose from!
This book can be used for inspiration just by looking at the beautiful photographs and checking out the ingredients list. It can be treated like a resource bank, so if you need to perfect a particular type of beading stitch for your project, you can just dip into the book to find out how to do it.
I think this is a great book for any beader as the step by step instructions are easy to follow and even if you’ve done the projects, it’s handy to refer to going forwards!
You can find “Mastering Beadwork” on Amazon.uk for £17.99
or Amazon.com for for $20.12
– these links are for the spiral-bound version that I have – it’s great because the pages lie flat, making it nice and easy to follow the patterns and instructions!
Do you have any beading books in your collection yet?
*Affiliate links are included in this post. Craftaholique is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to www.amazon.co.uk and www.amazon.com.
*Image source – all photos are copyrighted – Craftaholique.
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