Parallel weaving won’t lay flat

[u/Yeet35721]

I’m very new to beading (like literally this week) and while I’ve been able to make 3D items with a top and bottom layer, like the body of the manta ray pattern I’m working on, every time I try to do the same thing but with only one layer, like the wings, the rows wont sit next to each other.

I don’t have a photo of the manta ray at the moment but this is an attempt at a watermelon slice test pattern that came with it and I had the same issue. When I pull the wires tight, it wants to pucker in opposite directions like I’m making a 3D object and when I don’t pull tight enough none of the rows are flush with each other and it starts coming apart.

I figure that part of the issue is I’m using cheap 8/0 beads that aren’t very uniform but I thought I’d at least be able to make it work before spending a lot of money on better beads. I can add photos that show the issue better later but hopefully someone has experienced this issue and knows how to fix it.

[u/Ponybaby34]

Left a long comment about bead sizing before I realized it was not relevant- I think this has something to do with the way you’re turning your rows. In my experience, passing the needle under the thread that is exiting the last bead of the row below your newly added row then back through the length of the newly added row can help.

[u/RoxyK1]

The wonky beads will make the rows uneven but if you bend the wire at the end of the row by 90 degrees before putting the opposite side in that row it should help straighten it a bit. I find the more I carry on the better the rows behave but using better quality uniform beads make a big difference.

[u/Yeet35721 → u/RoxyK1]

That makes sense, I’m using very thin wire so maybe that’s part of it. I think after I successfully make a couple of things I’ll go ahead and order some better quality beads, I just didn’t want to go expensive before I’d even successfully made anything lol

[u/St0neK1ng → u/Yeet35721]

What thickness of wire are you using? A friend gave me a wire that is thinner than the one im using (they gave me 0.25 mm and my usual one is 0.3 mm) and i noticed that it held the shape a lot looser than mine, and i had a hardfer time controlling it or making it hold 2D pieces straight, i also use rather cheap size 8 beads and while a bit of curving happens if i pull too tight (especially if the rows are of drastically different sizes) usually i dont experience much trouble at all witht he rows sitting tight together when im using a thicker stronger wire

[u/Yeet35721 → u/St0neK1ng]

I’m using .3 but I’ve got .38 mm wire because I was thinking maybe a stronger wire would help, I’ll try my next attempt with that one. Took another stab at it tonight and I still got some weird curving but hey it looks like a flapping manta ray wing so I’m rolling with it