This page is for experienced beaders interested in learning more about the Women in Revolt kit, sold only in my Etsy shop.
Inspiration
About the kit
Supplies included
Additional supplies
The process
For me, the impulse to transfer rage and heartbreak to art was fostered in the late Sixties when I was lucky enough to be an English student of Fred Chappell’s at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in the middle of the Vietnam War. (I took as many of his classes as I possibly could. This man, a homely son of our mountains who carries their distinctive Southern twang, could bring me to tears with his recitation of William Blake’s “The Tyger.”) Chappell, a future poet laureate of North Carolina, periodically posted hastily penned essays and poems on his office door, decrying the war’s atrocities and its enablers. We gathered ‘round, awestruck by the fury and emotion of his words and how they inspired us to read more, learn more, and ultimately to put that knowledge into action.
Take your broken heart,
– Carrie Fisher
make it into art.
When I became a working artist in the Eighties with a studio of my own in stained glass and mixed media, Fred’s example was my touchstone. I knew my reach was small, but my emotions and craft had the power to carry at least a little farther than my immediate sphere of acquaintances.
And this is why I’m sharing this tiny kit with you, hoping that you, too, will feel the power of creating an heirloom of our time – when democracy is tilting, women have lost autonomy, the environment is on its way out of control and the battle for racial equality is still being fought – that some of us saw, and cared, and made our voices known. Those in the future will know that some of us took our broken hearts and made them into art.
About the kit:
This kit provides almost everything a beader who has any experience and supplies needs to make a simple pendant. Its design includes a self-bail that will hold a chain, beaded, or leather necklace that you will supply; and supplies for a simple fringe with nine strands.
The kit does NOT include instructions for basic beading and edging. It is intended only for craftsmen who have some beading experience.
Supplies included:
- Women in Revolt cab on porcelain, by Lindsay Drake
- Eye cab on porcelain, by Lindsay Drake
- Porcelain animal charm, by Virginia Miska
- Bead backing
- Ultrasuede
- Off-white (beige) beads (#329 Charlene’s Beads): 15/0, 11/0
- Matte black beads: (#F401 Charlene’s Beads): 15/0, 11/0
- Twisted black bugle beads
- Faceted black drops
- 11/0 beads that coordinate with each cab
- Faceted beads that coordinate with each cab
Additional supplies you will need:
- E-6000
- Aleen’s Tacky Glue
- Thread
- Needle
- Scissors
- Sharpie pen
- White Gelly pen
- Cardboard or stiff plastic for internal backing
Process
Left (photo 1), the cabs are unglazed on the back, making them easy to secure to backing, but you will want to first glue them to a scrap you probably have of backing material or Ultrasuede because they are thin. If they’re a little taller, they will pop better against the design.
Right (photo 2), cut them out and glue them to your scored (1/2”) bead backing, leaving space enough between for a row of beads around each component.
Left (photo 3), bead around each piece with matte black 11/0 beads, ending with several rows of 15/0 beads, alternating black and off-white beads as you choose. Outline the eye at the base alternating 11/0 black matte beads with the colored 11/0s that coordinate with your cab. Outline the Women in Revolt cab with black and off-white 11/0s.
Right (photo 4), cut closely around your completed beading.
Add internal backing
Below (photo 5), trace around your pendant onto your preferred internal backing material. (For many years I used nothing but Cheez-It boxes, finally quit using my excuses for buying Cheez-Its “for my art” and switched to plastic and will shamefully admit that with all the plastic that surrounds me, I still buy stiff plastic photo sleeves because their weight is just right for me.) After tracing (photo 6), sketch about 1/8” away and use that as your cutting line. I always write down “front” on the plastic so I’ll know which side to apply the E-6000 to; this comes in especially handy on such a symmetrical piece.
Make sure your backing leaves enough room around for your edging.
Glue E-6000 to the front side of your backing material (photo 7).
Press to the back of your beading (photo 8). Admire it (photo 9). 😊
Making the bail
Below, (photo 10) mark the wrong side of your Ultrasuede, using a white Gelly pen. This is the side you’ll be marking your lines on for your bail, as well as the pendant backing itself. Draw a line the length of your Ultrasuede that will mark the center of your pendant. At the top, go out 3/8” from this line on each side to draw what will be a ¾” bail. You will eyeball how long you eventually want the bail to be, but mine is a shade under ½”. So draw the parallel lines to be at least 1 ½”. This will allow for you to fold the fabric over and tuck ½” of it inside your backing, leaving you with a ½” loop.
Cut along your parallel lines for 1 ½” (photo 11).
Place your pendant against the Ultrasuede (photo 12), centering it, marking around it with your Gelly pen. Pay attention to where the cuts for your bail end and where the bail’s tab will be tucked inside.
Cut out your backing (photo 13).
Yes, it does look like a guitar (photo 14).
Fold the tab of your bail over and get a sense for how long you want your bail to be and how much you have left to tuck underneath the pendant. I needed to cut some off and left about ½”. Mark around where your bail will tuck. Then use a dab of E-6000 to glue it down (photo 15).
This photo below (photo 16) shows the bail tucked and glued.
(Yay for Aleene’s and how well it works without fumes.)
Apply a thinnish layer of Aleene’s to your plastic backing and smooth your Ultrasuede on, being sure the side with the folding bail is against the plastic (photo 17).
Side view of the pendant with bail (photo 18).
Left (photo 19), the bail, ready for its edging.
Finish according to the photo below with fringe and Virginia Miska porcelain charm. Or as an experienced beader, I count on you to add your own embellishments to this very simple design. I can’t wait to see how you make it your own!
Questions?
Send me a convo through my Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/TimeTravelersTokens
