Customer Reviews

Designer Beadwork: Beaded Crochet Designs

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is one of the loveliest books on bead crochet that I have encountered -- and I've gone through the gamut!

Ann Benson's "Bead Crochet Designs" offers crystal-clear photographs, graphs and charts for the beginner, intermediate and advanced bead crocheter, with some lessons in cabuchon framing and Chinese braid-making thrown in for good measure.

If you are a crafter who enjoys playing with a number of skills, this book is for you! Benson's main focus is on Bead Crochet, but she also provides instructions for peyote stitch; brick stitch; surrounding a cabuchon; and finishing your bead crochet work. A page of blank pattern graphs will help the avid crafter to design her/his own bead crochet patterns.

The patterns Benson offers are sophisticated, polished designs for a refined taste: nothing gaudy here!

I am rating this book as a 4-star opus, solely because I would have liked it had Benson added a page on supply sources.

If you are intrigued by the aesthetic possibilities of this craft, buy this book!

When I bought this book I thought I would be able to learn bead crochet from it without much difficulty. HA! The author uses bead slip-stitch and even though I had many years of crocheting experience........I just couldn't 'get-it'. Bead single crochet beginning with larger beads and thicker thread was a better technique for learning (for me anyway). Now that I learned (from another source)......I love this book and have used for several projects. It is a beautiful book, full of inspiration and I find it quite contemporary compared to vintage beaded ropes.

This book had lovely pictures of young girls wearing jewels but in my mind lacked the instruction/s I was looking for. When ordering a book to increase my bead crochet abilities that is exactly what I want - a how to book. This book did not fill that desire. This is not a book that I would necessarily keep in my library.

This is one of the loveliest books on bead crochet that I have encountered -- and I've gone through the gamut!

Ann Benson's "Bead Crochet Designs" offers crystal-clear photographs, graphs and charts for the beginner, intermediate and advanced bead crocheter, with some lessons in cabuchon framing and Chinese braid-making thrown in for good measure.

If you are a crafter who enjoys playing with a number of skills, this book is for you! Benson's main focus is on Bead Crochet, but she also provides instructions for peyote stitch; brick stitch; surrounding a cabuchon; and finishing your bead crochet work. A page of blank pattern graphs will help the avid crafter to design her/his own bead crochet patterns.

The patterns Benson offers are sophisticated, polished designs for a refined taste: nothing gaudy here!

I am rating this book as a 4-star opus, solely because I would have liked it had Benson added a page on supply sources.

If you are intrigued by the aesthetic possibilities of this craft, buy this book!

I love this book.
I've been teaching bead rope crochet for 3 years. This the best resource book I've seen. It has both simple and complex ideas but also some very advanced techniques that I've not seen elsewhere and believe me I have just about everything.

I have bought several books on bead crochet, and this one is far superior to the others I have. Not only are there excellent photographs, there are accompanying illustrations that really show the steps. There are dozens of beautiful designs - with instructions on HOW to design your own. For me, it was the big bead crochet mystery solved. Now I am making bead crochet jewelry like there is no tomorrow, all thanks to this book.

I recently took a class to learn bead crochet, and this book was one recommended by the instructor. It has beautiful pictures, and does a good job of describing how to string based on graphs and charts, and a very enlightening discussion of the different types of stringing materials and their pros and cons. I had hoped for instructions on how to modify some of the patterns, but it doesn't have that. I'll have to work that on my own. I would not attempt to teach myself bead crochet from a book - you're just asking for trouble, but this is a great book once you have mastered the technique.

I ordered this book for myself after seeing my friend's copy. It has a lot of different variations on the crochet rope, including multiple strand ropes. I knew how to crochet a rope, but this book gives me a lot of ideas on using different beads to vary the look of a rope.

This is the best crochet bead book I've come across. I used it as a beginner's book for self-teaching. I do have experience with crocheting, but it is minimal. The directions for making the corded bracelets are very easy to understand. I also purchased a DVD made by this author. It was also very helpful. The only thing wrong with the DVD was that the selections wouldn't highlight, so I had to guess which selection I was clicking on... but since I'm not reviewing the video, it won't change the five stars I've given to this book. Happy crochet beading!

This is a fabulous book with very clean and easy to understand directions.
There are many beautiful items to make. I'm very excited about starting a project!