How to Make Bead Patterns
Making your own bead patterns saves you the trouble of finding free patterns online and buying costly beading books and magazines. When you make your own bead patterns you can also guarantee that your designs are one of a kind. Making bead patterns is simple and fun. With a little beading skill and some imagination, the design possibilities are endless.
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Instructions
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1
Purchase or download and print beading graph paper. (Firemountaingems.com has different types of beading graph paper available for download.) Print your graph paper on tracing paper if you want to copy a specific image.
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2
Find jewelry that you like and want to model your pattern after, or pictures and images that you want to copy.
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3
Lightly draw or trace the design you want to copy onto the graph paper in pencil as best as you can. Use colored pencils to fill in the squares of the graph paper within the lines that you drew. Adjust the pattern as necessary until you have a design that you are happy with.
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Use your beads and wire to try out your design and make sure it works. Modify your design on paper accordingly until you are happy with the final product.
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5
Graph your final design in a program such as Inkscape (downloadable for free) or Adobe Illustrator.
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Tips & Warnings
There are different types of bead pattern creating software that help you map your pattern and the stitch you want to use with it. These are useful tools in creating your own bead patterns.
