BEAD LOOMWORK.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 230, 28 September 1935, Page 4 (Supplement)

BEAD LOOMWORK.

LET'S MAKE A COTTAGE MAT.

ARTICLE 11. Bead loom work is simple anil rather exciting, and those girls who have worked with looms are inclined to find ordinary beadwork rather dull in comparison. Handbags, teapot stands and jug covers are easily made on the homemade loom, instructions for \ the

Fig. 1. The cot tape design fully worked out in beads. making of which appear below. Braid-like necklaces of very tiny beads may also be made in this manner.

There is only one disadvantage in this loom beadwork, and that is that the weaving, although firm on each

side edge, has no secure finishing off on the two ends of the warp lines. If a lining (as illustrated in Fig. 2) is used, however, this overcomes the difficulty quite well.

Tlie method for making a small loom can be seen in Fig. 3. The two pieces of dotted card (a and b) are the old-fashioned pierced cardboard. This card is used to keep the warp threads at equi-distance. The piece

(b) is loose so that it can be moved I up and down. Any piece of card can be marked out with dots and pricked through if lioled card is not obtainable. The warp threads must be knotted together firmly (see knot c), then brought out through holes in the card and the card fixed by a pin to a cushion or firm object. The second card (b) is next slipped on and the other ends of the threads knotted and secured so that the lines lie not quite taut. (For large or weighty pieces of loom it is better to tack both ends of the warp threads on to a loom or frame Fig. 2. Such a small object as a table napkin ring can be made without a wooden frame.) The thread for the bead Weaving must next be firmly knotted to the

side (see point d), a bead threaded on and the thread taken over a waip line, another bead threaded on and the line taken nnder the warp. The advantage of having a card at the top is that it keeps the first row of beads from straggling irregulaily. In our second illustration the loom was made out of four old Slats. The position for the small nails was pencilled off at regular distances of 3-lOths of an inch. It is wise to measure the beads used and see how much room.each requires. It is necessary that there be one more line than the number of beads. Therefore, as our pattern in Fig. 1 has 19 beads to the row, there are 20 tacks and 20 strings. | (Next Week: Construction of the Mat.)