Customer Reviews

Beading on a Loom (Beadwork How-To)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book has very good instructions for looming from the basics through the most advanced techniques. The instruction include clear and detailed drawings as well as color photos of the authors work that illustrate the techniques discribed. The gallery section of the book showcases the work of 20 other artists doing an amazing variety of work on the beadloom. There must be 80 or more color photos in total. This is a must have book for any beader whether they want to learn how to bead on the loom or not.

As someone who has been loom beading since the age of 5, I look at beading books very skeptically. I found NEW techniques in this book. This book is well written, well diagramed and useful to beginning and experienced loom beaders. It is well worth the purchase.

This is not a beginner's looming book, nor is it a pattern book. It is a book that will help you understand the history of loomed beading, how to do it, and how to design your own patterns.

I recommend this book for beaders who are experienced with looming and want to expand their horizons, because it will do that.

I will admit tho, I think this book is worth it for the eye candy alone!

`Beading on a Loom' by Don Pierce is sort of two books in one, and both suffers and gains from that fact. The book begins with something of an overview of basic seed beading techniques which, to someone like me, who did some pretty large self-designed American Indian style beading projects many years ago, is just right as a next step in teaching us how to, for example, do French woven chains, where the weave splits into two different runs of warp, to be joined at their ends with a clasp. This project also adds elements such as a medallion and fringes.

Looking through the `Tools and Techniques' chapter, one's initial reaction is that the book is a good elementary introduction to beading on a loom. However, while the instruction is very good, it really picks up at an intermediate level. I strongly believe that if I had no prior experience with seed beading, I would find myself doing a lot of fumbling around trying to make sense of some of the instructions. The three leading signs of the intermediate level of the book is that it does not bother explaining such elementary terms as warp and weft; it has too few photographs or illustrations of some of the most elementary techniques such as the look of a beading needle; and it cites no sources for beading supplies.

This is not to say that this is not a valuable book for a beginner. The second half of the book is a photographic gallery of beading pieces done by expert craftsmen. For someone brought up on American Indian beading techniques and designs, these pics are a revelation of what has been done by contemporary and historical artisans working in the European tradition of haute couture, elevating a simple craft to the level of high art.

The problem one faces with this book, just as I encountered when I read Colette Peters' `Cakes to Dream On' is that while I know all the basics of loom beading (and cake baking), the book really doesn't give me everything I need to make the leap from craft to art. Of course, it may simply not be possible to do this in one book, but the book clearly show one how high one can aspire in working in what seems to be a really simple technique. In that vein, the book scores points with me for giving a nice little bibliography on loom beading techniques. There is nothing more frustrating than wanting more from a book, without a clue as to where to go.

The fact is that the craft is a lot more complicated than what you will find in your Boy Scout merit badge pamphlet on Indian Lore! Also, one little thing which tips the scale for me between a four and five star rating is Mr. Pierce's very engaging writing style. In technical fields such as handicrafts and cooking for example, it is so nice to find someone who writes as entertainingly as he writes well about his subject.

This is a nice book with great pictures. However, I think it is important to note that if you are searching for a beginner's how to loom book, this might not be a good starting point. The author does include many patterns and some lovely photos of exquisite loomwork, but the patterns are for folks who have some loom experience behind them.

There are no simple projects here. From the outset, the book will discourage the beginner with the complexity of the 17th-20th century beaded items shown, although I enjoyed studying the photos of complicated beadwork on European purses, African Masai, Seneca, Winnebago, and other Native American pieces. Don's projects, in spite of detailed instructions, are going to require a lot of effort, even from an expert. There is plenty of inspiration from the 37-page gallery at the book's end. If you are intent on tackling loom weaving at its most complex, here is your book.

I ordered this book having no loom experience at all. I was not disappointed. I read it from cover to cover, went to the shop and built a simple loom and began. The illustrations and examples were great inspiration. I did not make the exact pieces from the book, but used them for the beginning of my own works.

Sometimes one can judge a book by its cover and get a good idea of the contents. Sometimes the cover is deceiving eye candy but there's precious little by way of content. That's what this book is: eye candy alone.

The how-to instructions inside are so basic that any brand new novice has mastered them in 10 minutes. These instructions can be found in any beading book or free doing a Google search.

This book is largely an exercise in ego: bragging rights by the author and, moreover, 90% of his designs are identical save for the color and type of bead used - identical pattern and execution of design.

There's a reason this title has so many 'used' books for sale, and that is due to the above mentioned areas.

So save your money and borrow it from a library, and use your money to buy some beading books that are going to give the bead artist something to go on. I am really disappointed.

Don Pierce has a great sense of humour which echoes my own, therefore I found his book both amusing and informative, while I sat and read through all of his anecdotes and simple intructions. He not only simplifies the set up of a loom but also provides instructions for making one. I also found his charts at the back of the book invaluable for the planning of my first real project. This book is a must for beginners and those more experienced.

I am so pleased with the projects in this book.
Most of them are for intermediate to advanced beaders, but with a little practice, all could be achieved by beginning loomers.
The gallery portion is incredible and gives your creative side a shot in the arm!
A "must have".