Art Nouveau ZigWing Bangle a sneak peak into a piece from Contemporary Geometric Beadwork, Volume II, by Kate McKinnon

Transcription

1 Art Nouveau ZigWing Bangle a sneak peak into a piece from Contemporary Geometric Beadwork, Volume II, by Kate McKinnon all rights reserved please do not distribute or duplicate 1

2 Art Nouveau ZigWing Bangle By Kate McKinnon This elegant piece is built on the sturdy architecture of the MRAW Zigged Band, a structure from CGB, Volume I. Please note that this is a draft layout, and will be edited down (and have illustrations added) for the final version of Volume II. If you are new to Zigging and Zagging, or to using our double-layered technique, please refer to Volume I and/or our helpful YouTube videos for both a straight MRAW Band (start with that one) and a Zigged MRAW Band. Find those videos on our Contemporary Geometric Beadwork YouTube channel (with lots more to come): 2 Advance Sneak Peak: Contemporary Geometric Beadwork, Volume II, by Kate McKinnon

3 Materials: medium to heavyweight beading thread (we used Nymo B from the 3-ounce cone, in Sable Brown) g of 11 cylinder beads, and 5 g of seed beads in sizes 11 and 15 Technique: Tension: Difficulty: Wings on a Zigged Band; peyote and herringbone stitches moderate to snug Intermediate to advanced Beads used in this piece: 11 Miyuki Delicas (30 g) 254 metallic bronze hex 23 metallic rainbow bronze 128 transp. lustre rainbow amethyst gold 306 matte lustre dark grey 372 matte lustre rainbow blue green 376 matte lustre rainbow Patriot blue 377 matte lustre dark violet k plated rainbow olive 763 opaque matte lime 795 matte coral 798 opaque matte royal blue 11 seed beads (2 g) Irregular bright blue rounds from India (for the swag finish) Toho 457 bronze metallic 15 seed beads: (1 g) Toho 457 bronze metallic Hot red Czech rounds Advance Sneak Peak: Contemporary Geometric Beadwork, Volume II, by Kate McKinnon 3

4 To begin, make an MRAW Zigged Band that forms either a five- or a six-pointed star when connected. Five points will tailor to fit small to medium sizes, and six points will work for larger sizes. Place 20 MRAW units in between each increase (top points) and decrease (bottom points/petals). When you start a Zigged Band that you know you plan to join into a bangle, it s a good idea to start in the middle of a side, to make the join easier. Joining a Zigged Band at a point or a crotch is not only more confusing visually, but it s harder to tailor. And to be smooth, as Bryan Ferry says, is still the main rule. So start this Band in the middle of one of the sides, so that you can join the Band in a straightaway and get a nice, snug, clean connection. After you join your Band, hop over to the side with no spacers, and fill in the first Toothrow, using peyote stitch. Be sure to make the same increases and decreases as on the other side- remember, in the finished piece, the Band will be the bottom architecture that the two layers will rise from, so the increases and decreases must match on each side. 4 Advance Sneak Peak: Contemporary Geometric Beadwork, Volume II, by Kate McKinnon

5 The Band may pretend to be a flat starflower for a while (and that s because it s happy to be one- just scale it down for an element or a brooch, or close it up like a Zigged Tulip) but in this instance, it s going to be the foundation of something that will stand en pointe. In the photo below, from a few rounds ahead, you can see it beginning to do just that. The petals will be formed by joining increases set into each of the sides. Advance Sneak Peak: Contemporary Geometric Beadwork, Volume II, by Kate McKinnon 5

6 Kate used a mix of blues & greens for the side beads, metallics for the Band and the increases, and she rotated the colours and counts through the piece. From your joined-star start, add a round of plain peyote to one side, and four rounds of increases to the other. The increases were placed in the side space that was 11 in from the point. As we are working with 20 side spaces, that left 10 beads on the point side of the increases, and 9 on the crotch end. In the photo below, there are two out of four rounds of increases completed. (The increase side is facing down.) 6 Advance Sneak Peak: Contemporary Geometric Beadwork, Volume II, by Kate McKinnon

7 Below, the piece viewed from the increase side after another round. Be sure to keep your tension snug if you want the form to be definite. It will also help to keep sorting out the increases as you add them. They love to twist, but you shouldn t let them, because if you do, you might end up with extra thread or, in the worst case, a crossed thread that is almost impossible to fix. We find that when we bead at night, or in low light, we get night-loops, those caught threads that show up so clearly in the morning light. How could we have done that, we ask? Night-loops. Advance Sneak Peak: Contemporary Geometric Beadwork, Volume II, by Kate McKinnon 7

8 Below, four rounds of increases have been added to the Petal side, and they are now ready to join. If you want your first set of petals to have their own colour definition, either plan it from the beginning, or do what Kate did and rim them in something really distinctive. She chose a 24k plated bead. To make the join, simply match up the increases as you come to them in the round, and then make a detour to add a round or two to each petal to set the shape and reinforce the join. Note that in the photo above, one set of increases has been joined, and two rounds of beads are on the first petal. More rounds could be added now or later to the petal- this is a design decision, and you can do it at any time you are in the area. (Please see the following page for a visual diagram of the increase bead joins.) 8 Advance Sneak Peak: Contemporary Geometric Beadwork, Volume II, by Kate McKinnon

9 Enlarge this image to see how the join works. The red and yellow dots show you where to join the increases. You can choose to connect one (red dots) or both of the beads (yellow + red dots) in the two-bead increases to their partners across the way- Kate usually chooses to use both of the increase beads in the join because it makes for better tailoring. In circumstances like this, just try to be smooth- that s the main job. Connect each petal, add however many rounds you want to each one, and add regular peyote between each connection, continuing the increases at the outer points. Advance Sneak Peak: Contemporary Geometric Beadwork, Volume II, by Kate McKinnon 9

10 On the next round, you will find the beads nicely set up to simply continue the peyote, with the petal increases tucked in behind the ongoing rounds. One size 11 cylinder bead fit neatly into the space in Kate s bangle (see above) but your tension, tailoring, and/or bead choices, you may find that another size or number of beads works better. Kate, if she ever decides between them, will finish the petals with 24k plated 15 Czech charlottes, fine gold wire, or hot capri blue 15 rounds, pulled snug. When the petals are set on one side, it s time to work on the other side. 10 Advance Sneak Peak: Contemporary Geometric Beadwork, Volume II, by Kate McKinnon

11 To this side, add new rounds of peyote for a total of nine. Continue to decrease at the centers and increase at the point ends. Your side bead count will remain 20 beads. Starting in the sixth round of these nine, Kate used 15 rounds for the 6 of those 20 beads closest to the center. This subtle decrease in size helps tailor the back side of the petals to be smaller, neater, and to curve in a bit. Each of these rounds will be very visible when the bangle is complete, so even subtle patterning in this section will have a big impact. It s a good place to play with small pops of colour, lines, or colour fades. Advance Sneak Peak: Contemporary Geometric Beadwork, Volume II, by Kate McKinnon 11

12 Kate mixed a few hot red-orange 15 rounds in with the metallic bronze. This gives a nice pop on the inner points. After the nine plain rounds are complete, it s time to add in another set of increases to the sides. You can see the first one placed (in bronze 11 rounds) in the bottom point in the photo above. Kate placed the starting increase beads in this round in the tenth space from the end points, meaning that the count from the tip is now: 9 peyote, increase, 6 peyote with 11 cylinders, 4 peyote using 15 rounds, decrease. 12 Advance Sneak Peak: Contemporary Geometric Beadwork, Volume II, by Kate McKinnon

13 Continue placing increases for four rounds, at which point they will finally be well-behaved (assuming you ve kept them sorted out and your tension snug). To complete this design, you ll join those increases as you did the petals. Bear in mind, however, that if you kept increasing, instead of joining the increases, you d have a beautiful set of rippling Wings, and a bangle of a much larger size. The reason our start was so big for this bangle was because the plan all along was to close the added increases into joins. Joins size the bangle down. If the increases were placed in a different space in the 20-bead side counts, the finished size of the bangle would be different. Every choice we make about increasing and decreasing will affect the size. You can see how a four-pointed version of this design would make a beautiful butterfly... Advance Sneak Peak: Contemporary Geometric Beadwork, Volume II, by Kate McKinnon 13

14 Kate closed her five-pointed bangle after four increases on this side. Adding more rounds either before the increases began, or adding more rounds with increases would result in a larger bangle, with a different look. As you can see, as soon as you make a connection, the corresponding petal leaps into the air. Use a strong tensions, because in one round, this piece will change from a flat Starflower to a bangle. Place at least two more rounds to set the form, and reinforce the joins. Tailor the bangle down if necessary; more joins and /or deeper decreases will make smaller sizes. Bring the inner points in into Horns, for a dramatic size-down. 14 Advance Sneak Peak: Contemporary Geometric Beadwork, Volume II, by Kate McKinnon

15 After you make this second set of connections, and add a couple or rounds to set the form, you can continue adding layers, Wings, points or ornament to this piece if you like. In the photo at right, you can see that in the round following the second set of connections, Kate placed bright red beads just above the joins, to help show the structure. Please make a ZigWing Flower Bangle of your own and send pix to kate@katemckinnon.com. We ll select a series of them to feature in Volume II, in a layout much like the Fortuneteller, a related piece from Volume I. Advance Sneak Peak: Contemporary Geometric Beadwork, Volume II, by Kate McKinnon 15

16 It s easy to see how this pattern, scaled up, could make an incredible crown, or a beaded headpiece. 16 Advance Sneak Peak: Contemporary Geometric Beadwork, Volume II, by Kate McKinnon

17 Or, given tentacles, a stupendous Cthulhu. Advance Sneak Peak: Contemporary Geometric Beadwork, Volume II, by Kate McKinnon 17

18 Kate decided to finish her outer layer s edges with round beads, in a swag style. If you look carefully at the points of the bangle, you can see that the small bit of decrease at each point, and the switch to 15 rounds at only the tips of the outer layer. This gives the bangle a nice finish; one edge curves down, and the other inward. Continuing these decreases further, and using 15 beads (especially the inner set) would tailor the bangle in a bit more, for a smaller fit. all rights reserved: Please do not distribute or duplicate this advance pattern. 18 Advance Sneak Peak: Contemporary Geometric Beadwork, Volume II, by Kate McKinnon

19 Advance Sneak Peak: Contemporary Geometric Beadwork, Volume II, by Kate McKinnon 19