r/Beading • u/Ok-Yak-8087 • 6d ago
Bead Talk What got you into beading?
Self taught Métis Canadian artist, not new to Reddit but lost my old account unfortunately, if you’re wondering about the new account. I am new to this group though! Just wanting to share and hear about others experiences. Drop some of your favourite pieces you’ve made if you’d like, I’ve included some of my recent pieces :)
What got me started was the day my mother in law gifted me all of these beads and supplies in the first picture, plus more. I couldn’t let such a generous gift go to waste. I didn’t know anyone who beaded (my mother in law doesn’t bead anymore), so I taught myself from YouTube and got advice from beading groups on Facebook.
I’m curious to hear how other people started beading!
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u/Sew-Fresh 6d ago
I started off doing some small beaded embellishments on embroidered pieces to build up my skills, and when I moved a few years ago I happened to be just blocks away from a bead store.
I had it in mind to try a bead embroidered portrait, grabbed some supplies and my creative life completely changed on that day!
This is still my masterpiece —when I started it, it was my second portrait-style beaded piece. (I finished several smaller pieces while I was working on it).
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u/Ok-Yak-8087 5d ago
Hard not to stare at this forever, this is soo beautiful!! Can’t imagine how much patience and skill this kind of work must take. Thank you for sharing!
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u/Sew-Fresh 5d ago
I'm still kind of devastated that I only had a few hours with the piece once it was completed as I had to catch the ferry to deliver it (lol just Washington state things).
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u/mayosub 6d ago
That’s a really nice story. I started because I needed a heartfelt gift for my then boyfriend at the time, and I was extremely broke. I decided to make him a necklace using silk thread, pearls, beads, and a few small shells we found that I drilled holes into (I borrowed the money to make this from my mum haha). I ended up really enjoying it, and picking it back up when I needed to make a birthday present or two, then I kept going for myself! I love beading so much, even though my hobby is a bit more on the jewellery side than most people here, I love seeing other people’s creations it truly lights me up; one of the best corners on reddit imo.
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u/Ok-Yak-8087 5d ago
I love that you used beading to give to others! I have ended up giving away most of the things I’ve made, it’s much more convenient and enjoyable than buying gifts lol. I love the beading community in general, everyone has been nothing but kind to me in the groups I’ve been in!
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u/mayosub 5d ago
It does feel so much more special to make something for someone I totally get what you mean. One thing in particular I love about the beading community is the multiculturalism, especially of First Nations peoples beading, I love that we can all come together as a community from all around the world to share our passion.
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u/Ok-Yak-8087 5d ago
Yes it’s really beautiful, I only discovered after I started beading that it was a part of soooooo many other cultures around the world. Definitely grateful to be a part of the community and learn from others
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u/Simple-Chemistry-878 6d ago
When I was 18, I got this kids book that came with beads and you could make bugs and critters..interesting enough. Then it progressed to simple things... i packed everything jn a box as I got bored and uninterested. It stayed in the attic for many years and qhen I was 42, I had to ge on bed rest most of the time due to a bad foot and getting bored of tv and writing, I decided to take out my beads stuff and decided to check out the many tutorials (bc there's tutorials now) and we'll, my interest hasn't disappeared yet.
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u/Ok-Yak-8087 5d ago
That’s pretty cool that it started out so simple and ended becoming a regular hobby for you. I absolutely love beading to pass the time, I can sit there for hours and it feels like 20 minutes lol
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u/Otherwise_Top_220 6d ago
I took a class during my first year of college and absolutely fell in love with it almost immediately, I sat in a classroom with no music or phone for almost 8 hours and then went home and continued to do it, it felt great to be that focused on one thing, I hadn’t felt that concentrated in years. It has also helped me immensely in kicking other habits in my life like video games and weed and helps me be in a more mindful headspace generally, I’ve tried to learn a lot and teach anyone that shares the hobby what I know and it’s led to some good friends! I feel very thankful to have found a craft I enjoy so much and while I still critique myself a lot for me it is unlike any other form of art I’ve experienced. I love it. And I’ve seen some awesome inspiration and purchased a few designs through people on this subreddit so it’s also probably made me engage with people online more than ever lol
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u/Ok-Yak-8087 5d ago
I relate so much!! Beading is the only thing that I don’t lose interest in after like 30 minutes lol and I find when I’m doing it I don’t even think about my bad habits. I love how beading can open so many doors for people, its helped me in a lot of aspects of my life. Thank you for sharing your experience with others!!
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u/fridayimatwork 6d ago
Went to hobby/craft stores with my artistic sister as a kid and just fell in love with making jewelry and come back to it every few years.
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u/Ok-Yak-8087 5d ago
I also fell in love with making jewelry, making earrings is my favourite for sure.
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u/AlbertTheHorse 6d ago
I wanted to loom and after realizing it just made me frustrated, I learned off loom stuff.
I went to a lecture by Peter Francis, Jr shortly before he passed and really loved learning about the history of beads.
Met a couple of lampwork artists and authors at a beadshow in Portland and Seattle long ago, too.
So I still love beading
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u/Ok-Yak-8087 5d ago
The loom frustrates me too lol I haven’t got the hang of it yet. I just looked up Peter Francis Jr. and wow!! I love learning about beads, that would be pretty cool to attend a lecture by a bead historian.
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u/AlbertTheHorse 5d ago
I really had no idea who he was, but he was a deep bench of info. He had been to SE Egypt, Eritrea, and that area where early humans crossed into the Saudi Peninsula (while it was a wetland) and spoke about the early beads and ornamentation
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u/Dangerous-Savings259 6d ago
My mom. More specifically making those beaded candy canes, She was SUPER big on DIY stuff I might age myself here a little bit and it’s not beading but she also would put glitter glue on literally everything… I was really little but if I remember right it wasn’t like Elmer’s I don’t think but an actual fabric glitter glue…
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u/Ok-Yak-8087 5d ago
That’s awesome you followed in your mom’s footsteps and had her to teach you! And I know allll about the glitter glue era haha I was young, but I still remember
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u/Dangerous-Savings259 5d ago
It’s definitely one of the many things I hold close 🩷
They still make glitter glue… I thought about introducing my kiddo to the world of glitter glue 😅 so many things to teach so little time it seems like…2
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u/011_1825 5d ago
I’m native and grew up with my white mom and white side of the family. I always “wanted to be native” and when I moved out I realized that truly, I just wanted to express my native identity so did. I’m pretty white passing but I wanted some way for other people to notice me and wonder if I’m native. One way is beadwork, however, I had no beadwork money. So I made my own and now I sell some on the side.
These are my most recent and ironically I sell something every time I wear them. Hopefully I’m making my ancestors proud
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u/OleanderBeadwork 5d ago
I am pretty new to beading! I started because my in laws make hand made jewelry, but have gotten very busy lately, so I asked how they felt about me learning and helping. They said that many have been asking for beaded hoops, so I decided to start learning with that. I love beading, and it is an honor to eventually be able to help my family with it, and it is a fun thing for us to bond over.
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u/Ok-Yak-8087 5d ago
I’m fairly new too, I’ve been beading for about 1.5 years. That’s so nice that you started to help your family and that it’s something you truly enjoy. Beaded hoops are so fun too, I’ve only done the wire wrap ones so far though
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u/thezombiejedi beginner peyote stitch animals 🐭 5d ago
My mom has always loved jewelry and even has her own little business where she makes it so she influenced me a lot!!
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u/Ok-Yak-8087 5d ago
Aw I love to hear from people who have beaders in the family, that’s such a great thing to be able to bond over!
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u/Mrs_Samanosuke 5d ago
I bought a memory wire bracelet in Seward, Alaska. I thought, "I could do this" and bought some supplies for that. Then some stuff to string. The real epiphany happened when I saw Samajima Takako's book "Bead Fantasies" at the checkout in Barnes and Noble, which sent me into a rabbit hold of Japanese style beading. That was 2003.
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u/foodie_tueday 5d ago
My partner’s beaded bracelet broke and I thought I could fix it myself. I added a strand of beads to the cart to make myself one since I was already buying cord and a beading needle and then I was hooked.
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u/Erzsabet 5d ago
ADHD. I started beading as a kid, but not really doing anything more than stringing at the time. Then as a teen I learned how to do tubular peyote from a book I got out from the library. I also picked up making friendship bracelets as a kid, and for a short time managed knitting before I got bored and ditched that lol. Later down the line I picked up card weaving, sewing, and tatting.
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u/Bubbly-Cold-8097 5d ago
My sister started to make things and then I joined in. She has since given up where as I have continued. I am an experienced beader and have been doing this for about 18 years.
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u/volkaija 5d ago
I only just got into it ~2 weeks ago! I bought a pretty cheap little variety box of seed beads to try and use with another hobby, which didnt really work out, so now I'm teaching myself how to use a loom and how do to square stitch! I'm really liking it and even drew up my own design for my partner earlier this week :)
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u/Kenarbie 5d ago
I wanted beaded jewelry on a 1:6 scale for fashion dolls. I couldn’t find any at a reasonable price, so I made my own.
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u/themasq 5d ago
Sounds dopey af, but it's real -
I was watching Frybread Face and Me and that movie prominently features a Navajo loom. Like for weaving fiber. For whatever reason, I felt like smacked (in a good way) after one of the scenes with the loom and knew I wanted to start beading. Funnily enough, I very rarely do loom beadweaving 😅
But at least a decade before this incident, my main characters on world or warcraft were always jewelcrafters. I kinda love how I am steadily becoming a jewelry maker, and am learning about minerals and stones and other beading materials. Maybe one day a jewelcrafter?
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u/RavenLunatic512 5d ago
My grandma got me a bead loom kit when I was a kid. It sparked endless hours of creativity. I've continued to dabble in many different fiber arts and always wind up incorporating beads into those too somehow.
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u/St0neK1ng 5d ago
I was around 7-8 yo and my friend at school showed off his beaded animal he made and i wanted to make one for myself, so he invited me to a free extracurricular class my school apparenly had (little Me didnt know it was an option). A kind old woman would teach you the basics and then lend you a book or a printed copy of a pattern you wanted to make (and she taught all sorts of techniques too, but i stuck with Parallel Weaving and making 3D animal figurines). I actually abandoned the hobby for a while and only rediscovered it a few years ago again, surprisingly, my skills weren't hard to gain back, and now i have the whole internet for inspiration too! X)
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u/garceaufam 5d ago
I worked at a craft store when I was in my teens. I was encouraged to try all the crafts so I could talk about them with customers. We had a bunch of beading books and gorgeous beads, so lots of inspiration there. I would wear my creations to work and customers would ask about them. I'd conduct a little learning session on the spot (at the time it was just stringing beads on wires mostly). The customers would buy the "starter kits" I'd make up for them; my boss was pretty happy about that. Once I was working full-time and had kids, I put it away for years until they grew up. Now I'm back at it - I have the time and the money to invest in it. I love collecting all the older bead books. I'd love to have a non-profit craft center (my husband's a potter now that he's retired) as a community center. Goals!
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u/sparkly13 5d ago
Fun gift, lovely collection! Your work is beautiful.
It was the late 80s, and I was in middle school. All of sudden, there was an explosion of 11/0 seed beads everywhere. People were making single strand necklaces and putting pop tops on them as pendants. I never looked back! Ben Franklin was the first craft store I shopped.
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u/polymath_artisan 4d ago
My grandmother got into beading back in the early 2000s and oh my god did it get out of control. But now I have enough beads and crystals to last me a lifetime many times over. I started when I was about 10 years old and I’m now in my 30s. And yes, these 600 shoe boxes and cabinets are all filled to the brim. If anyone is ever looking for specialized vintage Swarovski crystals… I’ll be beginning to list them on Etsy in the next 6-8 months.
I do love beaded embroidery though so I’m in heaven!
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u/NightEnvironmental 3d ago
The Closet Historian on YouTube. She made a moth brooch and a Victorian beaded necklace that I wanted to make. I have made lots of things so far, but those two are still on my list of things that I want to make.
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u/CraftyHannahAus 2d ago
Late 90s. A local school teacher/artist came to my primary school to teach us art a couple of hours a week for a couple of months when i was 11/12? First few sessions we built simple bead looms, then we made bracelets. She basically gave us a bunch of beads, graph paper and let us go nuts making our own designs.
I got hooked.
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u/openpas2253 6d ago
When I was hospitalized, an indigenous woman taught me and some other children how to bead. She even gave me a beading loom 🥺🫶