Beading / Storing Buttons
With the ferocity of winter behind us and the promise of a sunny spring ahead, many of us turn our thoughts to sprucing up our summer wardrobes or adding a bit of glimmer to our Easter outfit.
Beads add a third dimension and a hint of glamour to any outfit. Some patterns lend themselves more easily to beading than others: see Jacket 8031U0 on page 134 of the Unique Patterns catalog for an example. The description of this pattern points out that it offers optional front bands and sleeve bands. These are perfect for embellishing, whether for beading or embroidery.
To make your beading easier, we have some suggestions. To pick a few beads up at a time, make a thimble out of the hook side of fastener tape, keeping the hooks to the outside. When you put your thimbled finger in your bead tray, a few beads will stick between the hooks. These beads will be easy to pick off with your beading needle.
The same idea can be made by using masking tape as the thimble and rolling a loop with the sticky side outwards. Again, place the loop on your finger and when you put that finger into your bead tray, beads will stick to the masking tape for easy removal. If you keep your beads in their original vials, put your finger with the tape on it over the opening of the vial and tip the vial upside down – about a dozen beads will stick to the tape. This method is especially useful for traveling … if you are going to leave your car, put the loop with the remaining beads on the dashboard and it will be there when you return!
To store your beads, use an old spice rack and fill spice jars with beads. For a more compact storage system, Lee Valley sells watchmakers’ cases in various sizes. With the see-through tops, these are perfect for storing all your beads and rhinestones. The 53mm size holds about a vial of beads.
A method for storing buttons was contributed by Member Bonnie Readie of Pittsburgh, PA:
We all love to collect those wonderful buttons we see in our travels or buy the ones in the bulk bag for savings. To keep the buttons handy so that I can find what I need at a glance I purchased a rotating storage rack from the local hardware store. The rack is designed to hold screws, nuts and bolts. I mounted it under a shelf in my sewing room. The jars are screwed into the rotating rack and I separate the buttons by color and size. My unit has twelve jars. This works much better than the small bin drawers I was using because I can see all of the buttons at a glance.
I purchased more of the bins with the clear drawer fronts (also from the hardware department) and now I store my needles by size and type as well as my spare sewing machine feet for easy access. Since the bin fronts are clear, I can identify what is in the bin and they also have separations so that if I am storing two different sizes in one drawer I can separate them to avoid confusion.
I use the extra bins for small snaps and hooks and eyes.
Since I quilt and garment sew, I have a wide variety of specialty threads and complimentary needles, both hand and machine. I buy the needles when they are on sale; often at 50% off or in bulk from catalogs. There is nothing worse than being in the middle of a project and needing a new needle!
Send Us Your Tips
If you have any sewing tips or suggestions that you'd like to share with other members, please e-mail them to us at tips@uniquepatterns.com. We look forward to hearing from you!