Attempting to make your own art beads gives you a better
appreciation
for the art beads you buy. Here's the story behind my recent fabric pendant.
The Anticipation Begins . . .
A few months ago I saw an announcement for a mixed media pendant swap hosted by Cloth Paper Scissors magazine. Readers send in an original pendant and get another one back in the mail. I was very excited about it and started making sketches right away. For me, sketching can be a useful delaying tactic when I'm full of ideas, but don't actually have the time in my schedule to create. I decided to make my pendant out of fabric, something I hadn't tried before. (Fabric beads, yes, but not a pendant.)
Making the Pendant
Once I moved from the sketching phase, there was still a lot of anticipation. More than once I've sketched an idea that seemed brilliant on paper, but didn't quite work in the real world. Every evening I couldn't wait to pull out my fabric and thread and start working. I tend to work on "quick" projects that I can finish in an evening, so it was a nice change to work on the same project for several nights in a row.
I used fabric scraps, embroidery thread, beads, ribbon, and a button to
create this pendant. There was some trial and error. For example, here are some early flower petals I tried to make. It was very hard to embroider around such tiny pieces and then end results were too light and flyaway. (In fact, they kept attaching themselves to the sleeve of my sweater and for awhile I was finding little yellow petals on the stairs, on the sofa, on the kitchen floor. Love me, love me not . . .) I ended up stitching the petals to a second piece of heavier fabric to give them a bit more weight and help them hold their shape.
Front of the pendant |
Back of the pendant |
The Anticipation Continues . . .
I'm pleased with how the pendant turned out and have already cut out some fabric pieces for my next pendants. It was actually a little hard to send this pendant off in the mail, but I'm trying to have faith that it will go to someone who will enjoy it.
My anticipation hasn't diminished. In fact, I think it's increased, now that I see some of the creative possibilities for fabric pendants. Plus, I'm anticipating the mixed media pendant that I'll receive in the mail in a few months. The anticipation never ends!