Kathleen Barry - Author of the book Bead Projects (Metz Press)

My intention is to create an informal forum for fellow beaders & future beaders alike to share work & ideas on beading, specifically stringing & wire work from beginner to advanced, I am here to assist with queries & advice to beaders.

Monday, March 29, 2010






For new class timetable please link to http://www.beadstudio.co.za/classes

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Basic beading questions

By Kathleen Barry - Author of the book Bead Projects (Metz Press)

My intention is to create an informal forum for fellow beaders and future beaders alike to share work and ideas on beading, specifically stringing and wire work from beginner to advanced, I am here to assist with queries and advice to all beaders as best I can.

So lets kick off with a basic introduction for those of you that don’t know me my name is Kathleen and I have written a pretty helpful book on beading the kind using tigertail (flexible beading wire) and wirework. Please feel free to ask any questions and I will do my best to help.

Some FAQ that I receive from clients in the studio about crimping are;

Q : Why do my crimps not hold on my tigertail, they seem to slip out?

A: The most common explanation for this problem is the crimping tool, if the pliers have grooves on the inside jaws, they will not squash the crimp evenly and in most cases damage the crimp which causes it to break up. So be sure to use pliers that are flat on the inside, I always give two good, firm squeezes to be sure the crimp is in place.

Q: What type of crimps should I be using and should I use two?

A: I mostly use base metal crimps the barrel kind not the tubular shape, if crimped properly it should not be necessary to use more than one on a regular length necklace.