Bead Weaving Patterns

Ever wonder where all the bead weaving patterns come from? Do you ever see one in a magazine and think – I could do that? Well you can! When I first started bead weaving I used a piece of graph paper and some colored pencils and started drawing. It was a very time consuming process and I kept thinking, “there must be a better way”. 

Then I thought of the computer and set up a graph using my graphics program and again painted in the colors. This worked better but didn’t allow me to keep track of the beads I used, sizes, etc. 

I went to an online site for beaders and asked if there was a program that would help me design patterns. Someone recommended The Bead Cellar’s Pattern Designer so I purchased it. It runs on your PC and is very easy to use. Now all my patterns are organized and I can see which beads and how many I need to make the pattern again.

These are some of the patterns I’ve made using the Pattern Designer. If you are looking for good bead designing software I would highly recommend this product.

Bead Weaving

One of my favorite techniques is bead weaving. I love to design patterns and weave the tiny little seed beads into a “fabric”. Here is one of my woven amulet bags with chain accents and Swarovksi crystals for bling.