Customer Reviews

Simple Glass Beading: Book and Craft Kit

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

 

 

I admit to knowing next to nothing about beading, but I have seen some exquisit bead work owned by a neighbor and some done by a friend at work. Willing to try anything new, I decided to learn what I could about the art, its techniques and its requirements to prepare myself for trying it.

Although I looked at a few magazines, I found that they didn't really help me as a beginner. Often the simple projects they offered for the beginner were nothing I really wanted to make. I also perused some of the books on the topic, but while I found they offered information about beginning technique, they then went on to show projects way too complex for me. They did make excellent art books, however, as many of the projects presented were truly impressive.

Simple Glass Beading by Dorothy Wood, offered more of what I had been looking to find. Just the introduction itself shows the variety of fabrics possible with beading, and makes it evident that the art is related to some extent to weaving in some of its techniques. The discussion of tools and materials in the first few pages also makes this point.

Even in this book some of the projects are complicated, not to mention requiring the patience of a saint! I can't imagine myself doing a beaded fabric cover for a book anytime soon. While I can see that a project of this sort might be very relaxing, I'm not sure I'd be willing to spend the time it would take. I have too many other things I like to do with my free time.

The book is a mine of techniques and uses to which one may put them. The methods for making woven beaded bands, for making jewelry, and for creating embroidered embellishments are well illustrated. Certainly anyone who enjoys craft work will find the book satisfying and a great addition to their library.

The basic needs of the craft are few--beads, beading wire, needles--and even some of the more advanced equipment--embroidery hoops, beading looms--are probably not difficult to find or expensive to purchase.

This is a great book to begin your knowledge of beadcraft.

Some really good projects in here. I've been interested in beading for a while, and I bought this book to aid me in my quest for beading knowledge. And I haven't been disappointed. Some of the projects are really wonderful. The instructions are fairly simple and easy to follow, and there's a bit of bead background in there.

This is my fifth Dorothy Wood book. It is a David & Charles book and written by Dorothy Wood. Both characteristics spell quality. Plenty of color photos, which because of their large size allow you to see a lot of detail. Materials, overview of stitch techniques, loom weaving, needle weaving, and off to the races with nearly 80 pages of projects.

Simple Glass Beading has some of the best photos I have ever seen in a beading book. You know you are getting a detailed picture when you can almost see her fingerprints while she is showing exactly where to place the needle in that step. I don't know that I would recommend this book for a beginner who has never put a bead on a needle. Honestly, peyote stitch and spiral bracelets can be just a bit tricky. With that said, intermediate beaders are bound to have a few moments of "I didn't know you did it that way."

I wrote a one star review which I am trying to correct to a FOUR. When I wrote the first review, I just wanted to know about straight beading. I was too much of a beginner to realize that I would quickly get interested in several of the other types of beadwork she describes. This is in fact a good overall intro, although if you really do serious work in an area, you'll still need another book dedicated to that topic. However, the materials in the "kit" were cheap and not as described. The needle was too big for half the beads, and she doesn't include the basic materials you would need to make any one of the projects. That's why it gets a FOUR, not a 5.

This book is not that good. The instructions are sometimes lacking... Nor is it a "very good" reference book to keep on hand. And decidely it is NOT for the anyone more than a raw beginner - the projects are mostly "simplistic," although they are supposed to be for all levels of beaders.
I was especially upset that the author lists an entire page of beading resources for those NOT living in the USA - those in the USA get a total of 3 (mediocre at best) resources!
Why bother to do even that? Keep your precious book and resources out of the USA - plainly the author wants the good-old USA $$, and that's it!!