How to Tat With Beads
Tatting with beads allows you to create beautiful edgings, designs or single motifs. Beads can be used to accent your tatting, or you can create pieces that are entirely beaded. Accent beads work well for pieces that need to retain the flexibility of cloth, while fully beaded tatting can make lovely jewelry. You can use a tatting shuttle or a needle to tat with beads; however, a needle may be an easier choice as it offers more room for the beads.
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Things You'll Need
- Tatting needle or shuttle
- #8 Crochet cotton
- Size 8 or 11 seed beads
- Beading needle
- Very small crochet hook
Instructions
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How to Tat with Beads
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1
Plan out your design. You will need to figure out the bead placement and how many beads you will need for each repeat of the tatting pattern. You may find it helpful to do a test run of a single design repeat to determine how many beads you will need per length of thread.
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2
Pre-string the seed beads onto the shuttle or ball thread. You will probably find it easiest to thread your crochet cotton through a beading needle, then slide the beads onto the needle. Be sure that the beads you choose will comfortably fit on the crochet cotton and on your beading needle. String as many beads as you will need to complete your design. If you are working a color pattern, string in reverse order from the last bead to the first.
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3
Wind your beaded thread slowly and carefully into a ball or onto your tatting shuttle, depending upon how you prefer to tat. Space the beads evenly and appropriately for your pattern.
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4
Move the necessary number of beads up the thread and rest them behind the middle finger of your working hand before starting a new tatted ring. As you work the picot, move the beads into position. If you want to place the beads on the ring, use the same holding position, sliding the beads up and into place as you work the double stitches.
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5
Add beads at the joins without threading them onto your shuttle or ball thread. Slide the bead onto a tiny crochet hook, then catch the picot with the hook. Slip the bead from the crochet hook to the tatting. Keep the hook in place until you have normally completed the picot join in your tatting.
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