Delicous Beaded Edgings and Fringe

Beaded Edgings and Fringe

Marty Swank

Our own guild member, Marty Swank, will lead us in learning how to make beaded edgings and fringe to add glitz and pizzazz to clothing, scarves, quilts and other fiber art.   Using seed beads on a sample surface, we’ll make picot edging, beaded ruffles, drop fringe, branched fringe and even kinky fringe!  This will be a hands-on program.  You don’t need any beading experience to enjoy playing with sparkly, shiny beads.

Everyone bring:

• Scissors for cutting thread
• A pencil or wash away fabric marker
• A ruler or tape measure
• Something to keep your beads from rolling off the table (a beading mat, a piece of felt, or a plastic lid from a cottage cheese or deli container)
• A portable craft light if you have one (with extension cord)
• A surface to bead on:

·         A mini-mini quilt made of muslin or a similar very light colored fabric with at least 12” of bound edge.  You can bind one 12” edge or make a smaller quilt with binding on two or more edges.  Stitch or baste any unbound edges together to keep them out of your way.

Or

·         A not-quite-quilt:  Cut a 12” square of muslin or similar very light colored fabric.  Press the square in half.  Cut a piece of quilt batting or felt 12” by 6”.  Sandwich the batting or felt inside the folded fabric, with the edge of the batting or felt right up against the fold.  Stitch by machine or hand 3/8” away from the fold parallel to the folded edge to give the appearance of a bound edge.  Stitch or

baste the remaining edges together to keep them out of your way.

• A hand sewing needle (a #10 short beading needle, a #10 quilting needle, or a #10 or #11 sharp or appliqué needle)
• Beading thread in a neutral color (Nymo or C-lon)
• A couple of tablespoons of mixed beads—seed beads, bugle beads, drop or fringe beads, two or three larger beads

For a materials fee of $2.00, you can purchase a kit with a #10 short beading needle, beading thread and a variety of beads. 

Please email Marty Swank (martyswank@yahoo.com) if you want to reserve a kit so she will be sure to bring enough supplies.

Message from Jennifer:

As spring approaches, we have a lot of very exciting fiber art opportunities on the horizon:  Marty Swank will show us how to do beaded edges and fringe on March 7, registration for the MLH Summer Workshops opens on March 1, Pris Lynch will demonstrate her needle-felting machine at our April 4 meeting, pieces for the MLH Biennial Fiber Show jurying are due on

April 1, and many many more.  I’m hoping that you will suggest program topics and speakers to me and Pris Lynch for our upcoming year(s) to keep our guild exciting and vital to all members. 

Take special note of the MLH events and look at their website at www.mlhguild.org for the list of summer workshops and the jury form for the Fiber Show.  I will also have extras at the meeting.

Also, please think carefully about how YOU can help the guild by taking on a job.  We need everyone to be a part of this group so that we ALL can have fun with the guild’s events.  Look forward to seein you at the next meeting on March 7!