Beading Treasures – Looming Large Tapestries and Digital Planning for Beaders

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‘ve been getting questions like, “What is Beading Treasures?” to which I typically reply:
“It is about all things looming with beads and digital bead planning”.
However, Beading Treasures is much more than that. Therefore, I would like to tell you a little bit about Beading Treasures, what it entails, and where I see it heading in the future. There are so many facets to Beading Treasures, yet they all work together perfectly. Read on to find out more.

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How Beading Treasures Started

In the beginning…

I had such a hard time finding adequate information online when I was first starting to weave large tapestries more than a decade ago, and still today there is not much available to bead tapestry weavers. There is a lot of information about weaving bracelets. The queen of bracelet weaving in my opinion is Erin Simonetti, and I am enormously grateful that she has a blog that has taught me so much.

Another source was a Youtube video Weaving Bead Tapestries on a Loom by Linda Horton Dodson that I watched a few times and also an Instructional video on beadweaving – How To: by Peggy Decimber which is a talented artist with a background in fiber tapestry weaving helps her to work straight from an image and choose the bead colors as the work progresses, instead of having a generated pattern denoting the color and placement of the beads beforehand.
And so I largely learned by experimenting with what works with different looms and what is the most suitable one for beading large tapestries for me.

I’ve learned so much in my bead weaving journey and it was such a steep learning curve, being completely self-taught, because of the lack of information available, that I felt that I should share that information with others who are struggling as I once did.
And so Beading Treasures by Nedal Douaihy was born…

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How Beading Treasures Evolved

Creating Patterns

One issue bead tapestry loom weavers face is that they struggle to find patterns. There are more of those for the Peyote stitch, but not so much for the loom stitch (although most bead designing software allows for the conversion of peyote to loom stitch). Using software that converts images into bead loom patterns is great, but some editing and color selection needs to be done, otherwise, the end result is very disappointing. Especially after spending hours upon hours bead weaving on the loom. This is also the case when using a cross-stitch pattern and substituting the color of the threads with similar-colored beads. Beads translate differently as they come in different types and finishes.

• You can commission a pattern and we will design it for you with personal consultations made available to help you during the weaving process.
• You can purchase readymade patterns available from the online shop.
• You can check out our Free Pattern Repository.

Access to a large bead loom

This is an issue as large bead loom sellers are very hard to find. 

Mirrix sells amazing looms that can be used for both bead weaving and fiber weaving. Most bead loom weavers today have Mirrix looms.

However, the looms have a steep price range that sometimes prohibits bead loom weavers from weaving larger pieces. This is because weaving larger pieces means larger looms, and larger looms mean that the loom will be more expensive.

And so I designed my own looms and each time made modifications to better weave bead tapestries.

The latest one that I have designed is a DIY Pipe loom specifically for bead looming based on Fiber tapestry pipe loom plans from Archie Brennan (with full permission from Susan Martin Maffei of course!). 

I share these DIY Bead Pipe Loom Plans for free. You can find them here in the VAULT with other bead-looming gems.

Here is why I love this loom:

• Plenty of space to pass my hands and arms behind and in between the warps.
• Extremely sturdy.
• Amazing tension.
• Can be warped in many different ways.
• Can be modified to weave at an angle so that the warps are slanted away from you.
• All parts are available from a hardware store and can easily be put together
• Can be made in any size.
• Can shorten the legs of the stand section and have it sit on a tabletop.

You will see me using this loom quite often as it is a favorite of mine and knowing me, I will be making modifications as I move forward. I promise to share these modifications with you, so sign up if you haven’t already and stay in the loop.

Weaving Bead Loom Tapestries

So along with the DIY Bead Loom Plans, bead loomers need to know how to warp this loom. I have talked about this briefly on the Bead Tapestry Pipe Loom Blog. In this blog post, I show the different methods you can warp the loom, for example, traditional or with a warping bar.

I will be writing articles and creating videos that show exactly that, along with some bead tapestry weaving techniques that will help you along in your bead weaving journey.

Reading Patterns

How to read bead looming patterns

There are many types of patterns, and the types depend on the software used to generate them. They come in two general types, grid patterns, and wordchart patterns. The main difference is that grid patterns are a visual representation of a tapestry. Wordcharts are not, but they denote the number of beads of a certain color that are needed. Instead of you having to count them on a grid. The choice of working from a grid or a wordchart is a personal one.

At Beading Treasures, we offer both the grid and the wordchart format with every pattern.
As for how to read the patterns, there is an article in the works that explains exactly that.

Using a printed pattern or weaving straight from a digital pattern PDF

At Beading Treasures we help you to successfully use both kinds of patterns, whether they are printed or digital. After all, patterns are at the very heart of bead tapestry weaving and the choice of which to choose is a personal one. Not everyone likes using patterns on digital devices. I thought I would be forever and steadfastly a part of that group. However, having tried the digital version with the digital line guides that I created, I’m fully converted.

Line Guides

What are Line Guides?

Line guides are similar to rulers but with a small window, allowing only the line you are working on in your pattern to show. This helps you to keep your place and stay on track as we load beads onto the weft thread.

There are 2 types of line guides that Beading Treasures makes available to you.
Printed line guide
Which is a template for you to print and make your own line guide that fits the printed pattern that you intend to use.
Digital line guide
Which you use with a digital PDF file and an annotation app. These come in a range of colors and in opaque or transparent formats.

Pattern Organisation

If you have loads of patterns as I do, or you are a designer as I am, you know that they can be difficult to keep track of.
No matter how careful you are about placing them in the right folder, whether digital or printed. And meticulous naming conventions help but even that does not eliminate the chance of duplicate patterns, which can be seriously annoying if you are purchasing them.
Therefore, I have designed a Digital Pattern Planner that is available in portrait and landscape orientations in one package for download.
Using the Pattern Planner, your patterns will be easily accessible, and searchable and eliminate the purchase of duplicates.

Beading Info Organization

Beading Planner

The Beading Planner was born of the need to keep all my beading things organized.
This planner is extensive. It has everything that any beader would need to stay organized and keep track of things.
This planner caters to beaders who use all kinds of beads. You will be able to track them all.
Here is the table of contents, which I have called Quick Links. It gives you an idea of all the categories in the planner as well as the different planner pages that you can use. You can also duplicate it as many times as you need.

Delica Beading Planner

Is just like the Beading Planner but specifically for beaders who mostly only Delica Beads. There are sections for:

• Delica Bead Color Samples
• Delica Bead Stash (inventory)
• Delica 11/0 Color Modification Journal layouts.

For more info visit these pages:

Beading Blog & Digital Planning Blog

At Beading Treasures you will find that we have 2 blogs, one specifically for bead looming tapestries and the other for things digital planning related to bead weaving.

I promise to tear myself away from designing patterns and bead looming to write new posts on a regular basis.
If there is anything in particular that you would like me to write about, send me an email at [email protected]

Resources

I like to support beaders in any way I can, and so on Beading Treasures, I offer three sections where I can do exactly that by offering freebies.

The Vault
For things related to bead weaving on a loom

The Treasury
For things digital planning related.

Free Pattern Repository
For free bead loom patterns.

You will need to register to download any of the items in all three of these categories. The password will be revealed on the page after you have logged in to the Vault and the Free Pattern Repository.
A link to the Treasury password is provided within any digital product you buy.

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Where is Beading Treasures Heading?

More Patterns

Patterns will be added to the shop as I design and test them. As they are for large tapestries they can take a while to weave up!

More Digital Products

Digital products will be developed and made available as needs and inspiration arise.
The digital products at Beading Treasures were developed firstly for my personal use, then I decided to make them available for everyone.

Online Learning

A comprehensive website is being developed completely dedicated to all things bead tapestry weaving.
This is an online learning environment where you can choose what you want to learn and progress at your own pace. Some courses will be free and some are paid. They will be mostly in the form of videos as beaders are predominantly visual learners and you will have perpetual access to those videos once purchased.

Facebook Group

As Beading Treasures grows there will be a dedicated Facebook group where everyone can come together and share and inspire.

In the meantime, you can follow us on:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• YouTube
• Pinterest
• TikTok

As you Can See

As Beading Treasures grows there will be a dedicated Facebook group where everyone can come together and share and inspire. Beading Treasures is off to an excellent start. It can only get better and better from here, providing you with all that you need so that you can make your very own treasures.
However, to know when there are new additions such as new patterns to the online store, new items in the vault, in the Treasury or the Pattern Repository, and new blog posts or any new developments you will need to sign up for our newsletter.

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If you enjoyed this post…

You might also like to read these posts too:

• Digital Planning at Beading Treasures
• Looming Large Tapestries – In One Piece or Several?
• Looming Large Tapestries – What to Consider?

lATEST POSTS

Hi there! I’m Nedal.

I created Beading Treasures to make information about beading large tapestries more accessible, and in doing so encouraging creating of this amazing art form.  

Weaving big can seem intimidating but by using some techniques it is totally doable, no more than that it is really enjoyable!  

If you’ve found this blog helpful, please support me by choosing the affiliate products on my blog and following me on my social platforms. 

Don’t forget to check out the shop. 

Thank you!

Nedal Douaihy,  Artist & Founder

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