Beaded Butterfly - simple master classes of beautiful products for beginners

Any kind of applied art has a centuries-old history of development. Products with beads and glass beads have absorbed all peculiarities of folk art and nowadays this kind of needlework gets a new development and application.

Appearance of beads

Small glass beads evolved from glass beads known since ancient times, which archeologists find in great amount in excavations of ancient cities. In Russia, the mass hobby of products made of glass beads and beads began in the 18th century, when the first factory for the production of this material near St. Petersburg appeared.

In addition to the decoration of clothing details: belts, cuffs, collars, hemlines and cuffs, it was widely used to decorate interiors and religious objects. Known panel on the wall of one of the royal country palaces, made of colorful beads. Also in the life of landowners it was used for paintings, wall pictures, household items.

In church decoration beads are found in framing icons and shrouds, panikhdil, various scrolls and tassels. Most often stylized images of plants, insects and animals were found in beaded ornaments.

Materials for beadwork

To delve into the creative process, you should prepare in advance all the necessary materials and take care of the tools, so that nothing distracted during the work. During needlework, you may need the following:

colored beads, glass beads, sometimes semi-precious stones or rhinestones;
A ruler to measure and draw the size of the piece;
A wire so thick that it can be freely inserted into the holes of the small beads;
a fishing line, on which the main part of the beads is strung in order to obtain a flexible and thin product;
scissors, which are needed for trimming knots, so curved, manicure ones will be more suitable;
Pliers are needed for cutting wire and fishing line.

Beads need to be selected by color and size. It is important that they match the colors, and the size of the beads was the same and round in shape. For convenience, the working table is covered with a white monochrome cloth, so that on its background small materials and the product itself were better visible.

Beaded butterflies

Colorful multicolored insects made of beads are an exquisite decorative element in interior design. They can be attached to curtains, lampshades, picture and photo frames, decorate a casket, mirror or kitchen items.

In clothing and accessories beaded butterflies also find interesting uses. These are brooches, pendants, hairclips, decoration of a belt, scarf or bag. Beaded insects look especially elegant and beautiful when they complement women's or children's outfits.

Various weaving techniques

Popular beaded butterflies can be weaved in three different ways:

parallel;
mosaic;
volumetric.

For those who take their first steps in this kind of needlework, a master class with step-by-step photos of weaving butterflies from beads is designed. In the parallel technique, two wires are arranged in parallel.

After one end of the wire is worn on all the beads of the row, through them, in the opposite direction is padded the other end. After threading, all the beads are pulled tightly with the wire so it is not visible. All rows are made the same way and each bead inside contains two counter rows of wire.

The product looks flat, but, if desired, the wire can be bent slightly to give a three-dimensional shape. Scheme of a butterfly made of beads and wire can be found on the relevant pages of the Internet

Volumetric mosaic weaving from beads by experienced craftsmen reaches the level of true art. In this way one can make complex compositions from several parts. They remain supple and maintain their shape.

For a mosaic weaving take a strong thread or a thin line, 2 meters long. To fix the beginning, after 10-15 centimeters from one end, it is necessary to put a thread through a bead twice. So it will not let slip all subsequent rows of beads.

Next, you need to pass the fishing line through the beads of two rows and the first of the third. Then, returning to the very first fixed bead, the third row should be threaded, alternating this process with repeatedly passing the thread through the beads of the previous row.

As a result, the edge should be similar to the brickwork pattern, where the bricks through the rows protrude by half. So continues all the weaving, only periodically turning the direction of the needle in the opposite direction.

Volumetric weaving is more suitable for creating small sculptural figures. For this type of weaving you need a wire of such thickness that it is placed in the holes of the beads twice.

After putting the first bead, you need to bend the wire exactly in the middle, then the next row to thread as for the parallel technique. All subsequent rows are braided in the same way, according to the scheme.

Using different types of beaded decorations

To make a fashionable three-dimensional brooch out of a beaded butterfly, it is necessary to attach a clasp to it. On a simple ready-made hairpin you can attach an insect made of beads. You can also make an elastic band for hair, decorating it with a handmade, colorful and voluminous butterfly.

The easiest way to make such jewelry for children's clothing or room is available to a child of middle school age. You will need a wire thickness of 0.2 mm, round beads for the wings and antennae, different colors and flattened larger beads for the body.

Weaving begins with one end of the body, in a parallel technique of weaving. To it attached tendrils of wire, which is bent in the middle and it is strung with beads darker, then loops and circular forms of gathering the wings of several colors of beads, can be blue and pink with lilac dots.

A butterfly brooch from beads and sequins is made on the basis of a dense material, like felt. French sequins are sewn to the fabric either as a base for small beads, or as independent elements that form a scaly pattern by overlapping each other.

Using the different direction of sewing the sequins, you can achieve unique iridescent effects.