(Or the Search for Satisfaction in Beaded-dress Designing)
(Or the Search for Satisfaction in Beaded-dress Designing)
I remember when I first decided to attempt to bead a dress of my own. I was in my early twenties and knowing my passion for all things wearable, a friend brought an old dress out of the attic. It was lavishly covered in tiny silver, gold and green seed beads. Weighing in at almost ten pounds, it was absolutely breathtaking. The body of the dress was all geometric: slim panels expanding into a skirt of petal-shaped triangles held together with lovely godets of beaded silk. I knew on sigh it was not going to fit, and it was probably too fragile and too old to wear anyway. It was a defining moment. I determined at that point in time that I would someday own, and ultimately wear, just such a dress.
I never saw that lovely dress again but the passion for Cotton Club era clothing persisted. The opportunity of making my first beaded gown rapidly presented itself, along with an opportunity to wear it, in the form of a wedding. The plan was to attempt a real Twenties' "masterpiece." Although it would require a good deal of handwork, I had plenty of time and decided it could be done. Intimidated by the "blank canvas" syndrome, I decided I needed a diagram of some sort to follow. Stumbling across some lovely French lace, an idea hit me. Why not embroider over the pattern in the lace with my beads? Since the pattern called for a drop-waist, I decided to begin by cutting my French lace into panels which could be attached to the dress at the waist seam, forming "petals" similar to the original dress that was my inspiration. One wide panel could be affixed to the front and back of the dress, and two much narrower panels could form the sides. This would allow a lot of movement in the garment when being worn. Since each panel could be beaded separately, the handwork became a portable project which I could take with me anywhere. It was a good first-effort and a learning experience.
For my next effort I again used the patterns in lace to craft my design. Looking to capture that really authentic "vintage" look of the beaded clothing from the 1920's, I located and purchased silver seed and pony beads, accompanied by different black plastic floral rondelles and machine-cut teardrops to use on the ends of my beaded fringe. I outlined the repetitive flower design in the lace with silver beads, using the rondelles at the center of each flower. I again used loose panels for flow and movement in the finished garment. The more movement in a beaded garment, the more opportunity to catch and reflect light.
A year or two later I was ready to work with a little more color. I had "done" black and white. I had been given a green silk slip-dress as a gift by a friend, and decided it could use some livening up. Experience had taught me that a simple slip could serve as an inexpensive base for beadwork, providing a fairly safe and inexpensive testing-ground for a beader's first efforts. Having decided upon using large quantities of beads in an assortment of different shades of green, I found my local craft store sorely lacking in variety. Eventually I found several reliable mail-order sources for fabulous seed beads. (See Resources.) As a former painter, I opted to choose my beads the same way I would have selected paint--- my own affinity with the way a given hue would reflect the light. Perhaps selecting a light green Ceylon for its lovely sheen, or picking a silver-lined dark Kelly green for the lovely blood-red center within the darker green exterior. Ultimately, the finished garment contained over 25 different shades (and shapes) of beads. For the lower fringe on this dress I purchased over-sized 2" bugles in three shades of green.
Selection of beads for this project was key to its execution. In order to successfully replicate some of the more intricate patterns seen in Twenties' clothing, design would have to be carried out with color and texture supplied only by the beads themselves. Ready to attempt to execute a design of my own without the use of a lace fabric already containing its own, I studied pictures of architecture from the period. Copying simple drawings onto paper and then, with a dressmaker's marker, onto the dress itself while it was laid out flat. Once I had the beginnings of the pattern transferred to the dress, I began applying the beads working from bottom (hemline) to top. While the symmetry was not perfect due to the stretch in the bias-cut fabric and the weight of the beads, the overall effect was ultimately what I had sought to accomplish. The dress captured most, if not all, of the timeless beauty of the original I had lusted after so long ago. After another 6-8 months of evenings in front of the T.V. or listening to music, and a cost of close to $300, I finally had my vintage knock-off.
Since then I have done some smaller projects. If I don't have the time or the inclination to attempt an entire dress, I will settle for some serious embellishment on an otherwise simple evening gown or jacket. Yet every couple of years I am again driven to return to the Roaring Twenties for inspiration. For my latest effort I chose a sheer burgundy organza fabric in a weave strong enough to hold the weight of almost solid beading. The under-garment was a bias-cut rose-colored slip out of a great pattern from Calvin Klein. I though the pink would accentuate the darker sheer overdress and its handwork, allowing the beads to be the main focus of the finished garment. Once color was determined, I purchased every hue of bead which I believed would compliment the fabric dark pink translucents, cranberry silver-lined rocailles and, of course, anything titled "garnet," seemed destined for my pallette. Then I hunted for inspiration for the perfect pattern. I was still looking to perfect the symmetry of the last dress, when I ran across something in a fashion magazine that caught my eye. It was another version of a beaded dress, done as a spider-web, with an actual spider beaded at the center of the web. While a bit too gothic for me it gave me an idea. I decided to block out the symmetry by designing the dress one row at a time. Using a tailor's pen, I first drew vertical lines on the dress, measuring the distance at the top and bottom and dividing them evenly. Then I drew the lines horizontally, taking care to keep them evenly in proportion to each other. Once I had the lines of the dress beaded in both directions, I began to fill in each square created by the lines with a different design, completing the entire row in that design around the circumference of the dress. The variation of design stolen directly from a picture of my late grandmother in a fabulous gown from the twenties done in really large squares, each differing from the other. After about six months I had another dress which would transport me back in time to an era of carefree and glamorous dressing which is impossible to find in today's department stores for anyone but the ridiculously wealthy. For an affordable $300, I had home-made haute couture.
In between making these four dresses, each of which took the better part of a year of my life, I have occasionally found my passion for beading manifesting itself in amuch smaller way. Once I found a little black wool sweater at a thrift store that cried out for copper beads on the leaves adorning the front of it. A white satin dinner jacket took on a whole new look with a bunch of pink and gold roses beaded onto the upper breast just below the right shoulder. If you aren't up to designing a whole dress at the first go 'round, try your hand at something simple, and use the item of clothing as a basis for your beading until you get a feel for laying out your own designs.
 String 4-6 beads at a time After last bead, secure to fabric at the end by running thread down into fabric (1); Back up through end bead from behind (2). (3) Thread several more beads onto needle and repeat the process (4) |
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What You'll Need In order to get started on a beading project of any size,
you will need a few basic items: Seed beads come in various sizes, but I prefer to use 11/0's. They come in a large selection of colors and types, and their holes are large enough to pass strong thread through. Bead size is measured according to the number of beads per inch when strung. A 10/0 seed bead will have approximately 10 beads to the inch when laid out flat. An 11/0 will have 11, and so on. Remember the more beads per inch, the smaller the bead and thus the smaller the center hole. I have not had much luck working on clothing with anything smaller than an 11/0. Beads are sold by weight (grams, ounces, kilos) or by the hank. A hank is a strung bunch of beads, each hank containing approximately 12 strings that are about 20" inches long. The companies I have listed below will provide very accurate descriptions of their color assortment over the phone, or, for a small fee will send you a sampler card of beads you may be interested in purchasing before you invest in larger quantities. They will also try to match fabric or other colored items to your specifications with beads in stock. You can acquire all the necessary items to begin your own beading project from Garden O'Beadin' 1-800-232-3588; fax: 1-707-923-9160 and/or Shipwreck Beads 1-800-950-4232; fax 1-206-754-2510. For the really elaborate crystals and other adornments, try Ornamental Resources 1-800-876-6762 (in Denver 1-303-279-2102); fax: 1-303-567-4245. They carry a huge selection of Austrian and Czech crystal beads. |
 (1) String number of beads desired for completed strand of fringe; wrap thread around end bead (2) and run back up through entire strand of fringe. |
