Beaded Embellishment: Techniques & Designs for Embroidering on Cloth

by Amy Clarke Moore, Robin Atkins

Beaders, quilters, and fiber artists will find this book invaluable for its solid technical information about how to apply beads to cloth, resulting in unique creations that will stand the test of time. This guide teaches about bead embroidery stitches; seed, bugle, novelty, and charm beads; woven, nonwoven, and knitted clothes; and Nymo, embroidery, and cotton sewing threads. The four foundation stitches as well as several variations on those stitches are illustrated. In addition, 10 beautiful projects, ranging from simple to complex, give beaders a chance to apply this new skill. Projects include an embellished small bag, an embellished jean jacket pocket, decorative pins, necklaces, and an embellished scarf.

Genres: Beading, Crafts

128 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2002

About the author

Born in 1969 in Boulder, Colorado—the daughter of a professor of language acquisition and a watercolor artist—Amy grew up in a nurturing environment of literature and visual arts. Her work is born out of a passionate interest in fairytales, myths, and art.

Amy started beading in 1998 to complete a staff project for Beadwork magazine, and she was hooked from that moment on. She enjoys the process of stitching the beads to cloth. Each bead is like a thought, and the spiral path of her beadwork is like the passage of time, with each moment building on the next until an image emerges.

Amy was the editor of Spin-Off magazine published by Interweave Press in Loveland, Colorado for thirteen years. She is now a Montessori-trained art teacher in a public, charter Montessori middle school. She earned her B.A. from Cornell College in Iowa, majoring in Spanish, Latin American Studies, and Art. She earned her M.F.A. in Fibers from Colorado State University’s Art department. In 2002, she wrote Beaded Embellishment: Techniques and Designs for Embroidering on Cloth with Robin Atkins. Soon after, she married and changed her name from Amy C. Clarke to Amy Clarke Moore.

Reviews

[Aviva · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read the book through and now need to go back and work through the lessons and some of the projects. Although I borrowed the book from my library, I think this is going to be one of those I feel a burning need to own. :)

The book is definitely written for novices like me who have never done any bead embroidery, with a range of projects from easy to quite complicated. Lots of great photos and well written instructions. I loved the photo gallery at the end for inspiration. :)

Highly recommended for those who, like me, want to learn how to do this but didn't know where to start.

[Probibliophile · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although some of the examples are a little on the hippy-dippy side, most of the teaching samples are beautiful, and the stitches themselves are well explained. The author's discussions of beaded embroidery she has seen all over the world is both interesting and informative.

[Mary D · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good resource. Good pix.