Erika's tip

Use good quality beading thread. It takes long hours, sometimes full days to finish a jewel. It would be a shame if it would get easily damaged because of a low-quality solution, or if it would end up being floppy. My favorite beading thread is Fireline. It’s a braided, pre-waxed cord, and it’s known as the strongest fiber, per diameter, ever created. It’s thin but strong, so you can pass through even the smallest beads several times.

Erika's tip

Keep separate tools for cutting paper, Fireline and fabric. A thread burner makes it possible to remove the remaining thread by melting it exactly where you would like to, without the risk of damaging your work. Older beading tutorials sometimes recommend using a lighter – please don’t do that!

If you like bead embroidery, I recommend getting a pair of curved nail scissors, dedicated to cutting the Ultra Suede that you use as foundation or backing. The curved tip will allow you cut out small details, but only if you keep using the scissors exclusively for fabric – otherwise they will go blunt.

Erika's tip

Don’t use more than one wingspan of thread. It might seem that a longer thread will allow you to work faster, as you can avoid having to secure thread ends too often. Unfortunately, the opposite is true, for multiple reasons. Longer thread will easily get tangled, and you’ll spend lots of time trying to untangle it. Even pulling the thread through the beads will take a longer time, and in the meanwhile, it will get thinner and will break easier.

Erika's tip

Don’t be afraid of using glue in your beadwork. If you invest in a good quality glue that works on glass, metal and fabric, the bond will hold for a very long time. I recommend using E-6000. Since it’s of industrial strength, there are some guidelines that you need to keep on your mind: 1. Use a toothpick when applying glue, instead of touching it with your hands. A dental toothpick is perfect, since it has a flat side that can be used to spread out the glue evenly over a bigger surface. 2. Don’t glue above your beading mat. An accidental drop will damage the fabric of your mat. 3. Always open the window when working with E-6000

Erika's tip

Check all holes of the multi-hole beads! Since the arrival of the first multi-hole beads on the market (interesting info: the first multi-hole bead was the SuperDuo, designed by Sabine Lippert of Tru-to-bead) we all have the nightmare of discovering that the second (third, fourth) hole of the bead is clogged way later after incorporating it in the design. After numerous inextricable thread passes, several layers of other beads and maybe even finishing off the old thread and starting a new one… Especially if we like to make knots. An easy way to avoid a nasty surprise is to check all holes before using a bead and securing it to your work-in-progress project.

Erika's tip

Put aside the needle before ripping!

Have you ever sewn through the thread itself while undoing some stitches which didn’t turn out well? If not yet, then believe me that it is not something you want to happen! It creates a nasty knot hidden in a bead and damages the thread. It’s a lot safer to put aside the needle before you start the frog stitch (rip-it, rip-it) to avoid this kind of mishap. However, there’s the voice in the back of the head: “It’s only one stitch, why re-thread the needle? The hole of the bead looks big enough! I went only three times through this bead so far, there’s not a big danger!” What do you think, is it worth to risk it?

Erika's tip

Don’t force the needle to go through a small hole!

Sometimes pushing the needle a little bit more or pulling it gently with flat nose pliers make it to slide through the hole and you can continue beading. However, sometimes you end up with a broken bead and a ruined project. While working with Peyote stitch and in case of smaller beads it is usually fairly easy to replace the broken bead, sometimes it’s beyond hope to repair. Especially if it is a multi-hole bead with the other hole(s) still attached to the project.

I keep some super-thin needles on hand to solve a situation like this. It’s not comfortable to work with them all the time as they bend and break easily, however, they can save a tricky situation. It’s still a smaller trouble to switch to the thin one for the tricky bead and to switch back to the working needle again, then to start the whole project anew.

Erika's tip

If you’re a new beader, you’re probably flabbergasted by all the possibilities that the beading world offers these days. Shapes, sizes, colors – literally thousands of possibilities. When you are starting to build up your stash, it might sound reasonable to stick to neutral colors, as it seems easy to combine them. My advice is to choose 2-3 neutrals (for example matt silver, steel and shiny bronze), and for the rest, go for what you really like. “Happy beads” will make beading so much more fun, and without them, you’ll end up with beautiful, elegant jewels, that all look the same.