WHAT A CHILD CAN DO WITH BEADS
Long, long ago when the world was young, the child who wished for a gay
and pretty necklace for her little brown throat strung berries and seeds
or pieces of shell and bone that her father ground smooth by hand and
pierced for stringing. For thread there were grasses and fibres of
plants or sinews of deer.
Indian children sometimes used beads of clay, and so did the little
Egyptians, for the fine clay by the river Nile made beautiful beads, as
well as pottery. The children of the North--the little Esquimaux--had
beads of amber, and the Indian tribes farther south strung shells that
look so much like the teeth of animals one can hardly believe they are
anything else. Look for them at the Natural History Museum and you will
see that this is so.
Nowadays there are of course many more kinds of beads--beads of glass,
china, gold and silver, and even of semi-precious stones. After all,
though, the child who lives in the country or by the sea can gather the
most interesting kind of all--such as were strung by those children who
lived so long ago--seeds, berries, shells and seaweed. Gather them on a
sunshiny day and store them away for use in the dull hours when you are
obliged to be indoors.
The seeds of muskmelons are soft enough to pierce; watermelon seeds will
take more effort and a stronger needle. Then there are the orange
berries of bittersweet and the red ones of holly. Haws or hawthorn
berries are a beautiful red, too, and perhaps you will find in a
neighbour's garden a bush of Job's tears--gray, white or brown. The
grape-like seaweed which bursts with a pop when you step on it makes
very pretty beads. Cut each one close to the bulb, yet far enough to
leave a short piece of the stem on each side of the bead. Pierce the
bulbs while they are still wet, and after they have dried for a few days
they will be ready to string. Apple and flax seeds, beans and peas
before they have dried, make excellent beads. A few of the small glass
beads which come in bunches may be used with these natural beads, and
will set them off wonderfully. Although they are usually sold in
bunches, eight skeins to a bunch, the skeins can sometimes be bought
separately. Olive-green crystal beads of the size that dealers call No.
3-0 are beautiful with red berries, and what could be prettier to string
with brown seeds or Job's tears than gold-lined crystal beads? Let us
use them in making a chain for a muff or fan.
_Muff Chain in Brown and Gold_
=Materials Required:= 12 brown seeds or Job's tears,
A bunch of gold-lined crystal beads, No. 3-0,
A spool of No. 60 white linen thread,
A No. 5 needle.
Have you ever seen any Job's tears--the interesting tear-shaped seeds of
an East Indian grass? It grows very well in this climate, and you may
like to raise it yourself. Think of being able to pick beads from a
plant of your own!
Be careful to boil these beads before stringing, for a little grub
sometimes lives in them, and he may appear when you least expect him or
may even make a meal of the thread on which the beads are strung. If you
have not the Job's tears, apple seeds will look almost as well, or you
can buy at the grocer's whole allspice. Use a No. 5 needle and a piece
of No. 60 white linen thread four inches longer than you wish the chain
to be when it is finished; two yards and a quarter is a good length.
String a seed and draw it down to the middle of the thread, then string
some of the gold-lined crystal beads for about three-quarters of an
inch. A seed is next threaded on, and then quarter of an inch of
gold-lined beads. Keep on in this way, first threading a seed and then
quarter of an inch of gold-lined beads, until there are only two inches
of the thread left. Tie this end through a bead to keep the others from
slipping off. Thread your needle with the other end of the strand and
start by stringing three-quarters of an inch of the gold-lined beads,
then a seed and quarter of an inch of gold-lined beads. When this end of
the strand has been strung--just as the other was--to within two inches
of the tip, tie the two ends together and the chain is finished.
_Raffia and Bead Chain_
=Materials Required:= 2 strands of rose-pink raffia,
A bunch of large rose-pink crystal beads,
2 fine darning needles.
[Illustration: FIG. 38A]
Another pretty and simple chain is made of large rose-pink crystal beads
strung on pink raffia; or you can use seeds or berries instead of the
crystal beads, in which case the raffia will have to be split. Tie the
strands of raffia together at one end, and on each of the other ends
thread a fine darning needle. String one bead, then pass both needles
through a single bead and through another and another (see Fig. 38a).
Two beads are then slipped on each strand (see Fig. 38a). Next both
needles pass through three beads, and so on to the end of the chain. Tie
the ends securely.
_Double Chain of Seeds and Beads_
=Materials Required:= A bunch of crystal beads, letter E,
25 large beads of a deeper shade or the same
number of seeds or berries,
A spool of No. 60 white linen thread,
A No. 5 needle.
[Illustration: FIG. 39]
A double chain like the one shown in Fig 39 may be made of crystal E
beads strung with seeds or larger beads of a deeper shade. Measure off a
piece of white linen thread, No. 60, double the length you wish the
chain to be. Three yards twenty-two inches will make a chain sixty-five
inches long, which is a good size. In one end of it thread a No. 5
needle and string one large bead, or seed, which should be pushed down
to the middle of the strand. Here it may be tied, to hold it in place.
Next string two inches and a half of E beads, then another large bead,
or seed, and so on to the end of the strand, where the tip is tied
through the last bead. The other end of the strand is then threaded and
two inches and a half of the E beads are strung, the needle passes
through the next large bead on the end first strung (see Fig 39), and
two and a half inches more of the E beads are threaded. So it goes on to
the end of the chain--the needle always passing through the next large
bead on the strand already strung, after two inches and a half of E
beads have been threaded.
_Braided Raffia Chain_
=Materials Required:= 3 strands of pale green raffia,
66 darker green crystal beads, No. 0.
[Illustration: FIG 40.]
A braided raffia chain with a cluster of three crystal beads every few
inches is so simple that any little girl can make it. Choose pale green
raffia and beads of a deeper shade, and it will look like clover leaves
on their stems. String twenty-two of the green crystal beads, No. 0
size, on a strand of split raffia. On two other strands thread the same
number of beads. Tie the thin end of each piece around the last bead, so
that it cannot slip off. The other ends are all tied together. Now pin
the knot securely to a cushion, or tie it to a hook at a convenient
height and braid the three strands together closely and evenly for about
two inches. Then slip a bead from each piece up close to the work and
braid it in as shown in Fig. 40. This will make a clover leaf. After
braiding two inches more slip another bead on each strand up close to
the work and make another leaf. When it is finished tie the ends
together securely.
_A Daisy Chain_
=Materials Required:= Half a bunch of olive green opaque beads,
No. 3-0,
Half a bunch of milk white beads, No. 0,
1 skein yellow crystal E beads,
A spool of No. 60 white linen thread,
A No. 5 needle.
[Illustration: FIG. 41]
Next best to making a daisy chain out-of-doors is to string one of
beads. And this rainy-day chain will last as many months as the real
chain would hours. First string sixteen green beads, then eight white
ones. Run the needle down through the first white bead and string a
yellow one. Next pass the needle through the fifth white bead (see Fig.
41) and draw the thread up tightly. This makes a daisy. String another
stem of sixteen green beads and make a daisy as you did the first one.
The whole chain is strung in this way.
_Chain of Watermelon Seeds Strung With Beads_
=Materials Required:= 120 fresh watermelon seeds,
A bunch of pink crystal E beads,
A spool of No. 60 white linen thread,
A No. 5 needle.
A chain that is very pretty and effective may be made with watermelon
seeds and pink crystal E beads, the colour of the inside of a
watermelon. The seeds can be pierced quite easily with a No. 5 needle.
Take two pieces of white linen thread, well waxed, the length you wish
the chain to be, and two needles. Tie an E bead on the end of each piece
of thread. Lay them side by side and string four more E beads on the
strand at the right. Pass the needle on the left up through the three
middle beads of the five on the right strand (see Fig. 42), and string
one more E bead. Next thread a seed on each strand and string the E
beads in the same way. So it goes on for the whole length of the chain.
[Illustration: FIG. 42]
If you are fond of playing Indian and have no Indian costume, you ought
to be happy. That seems a strange thing to say, but the reason is this:
You can have all the fun of making a costume yourself, you can learn how
to do it in the Indian way, and after it is finished it will be far more
like the dress worn by Western Indians than those that are sold ready
made.
Suppose we begin with the belt.
It is woven on a loom--not an Indian loom, which, as perhaps you know,
was a bow strung with several strings which served as the warp threads
for the belt or chain. Possibly you have a loom of your own and know
how to use it; but if not you can either buy one for twenty-five or
fifty cents, or, what is still better, make one yourself. A simple, good
loom may be made from a cigar box.
_A Home Made Bead Loom_
=Materials Required:= An oblong cigar box, about 2 1/2 inches
deep,
4 small sticks of wood 2 1/2 inches long and
1/2-inch square,
16 1/2-inch screws,
6 small screw eyes,
6 tacks,
A sharp knife,
A screw driver,
A hammer,
Sand paper.
Choose a good strong cigar box, one that is quite shallow, and remove
the cover. Rule a line one inch from the bottom of the box on each long
side and draw a sharp knife across the line several times until the
upper part separates easily from the lower without injuring it. Smooth
the tops of the sides with sandpaper. Fasten each of the small sticks of
wood inside a corner of the box, to strengthen it. This is how it is
done. Drive one of the half-inch screws up from the bottom into the end
of the stick, another into it through the side, and two, one near the
top and one lower down through the end of the box, into the stick. On
the outside of the box at one end six round-headed tacks are driven in a
row an inch and a half from the top and about three-quarters of an inch
apart. Drive six screw eyes in the same position on the opposite side.
Cut a row of notches on the top of each end of the loom, about
one-sixteenth of an inch apart, and deep enough to hold a thread. The
loom is then ready for weaving. Chalk-white beads are much used by the
bead-weaving Indians like the Sioux and Winnebagos, especially for the
ground-work of their belts. Let us choose them for the background of the
belt and weave the design in Indian red and blue.
_Indian Bead Belt_
=Materials Required:= 1 bunch chalk white beads, No. 3-0,
4 skeins each Indian red and dark blue beads,
No. 3-0,
1 spool No. 60 white linen thread,
1 spool No. 90 white linen thread,
A No. 12 needle,
A piece of wax.
[Illustration: FIG. 43]
Cut twenty-two pieces of No. 60 linen thread about six inches longer
than you wish your belt to be. Tie a loop at one end of each piece and
slip it over the round-headed tacks at one end of the loom. Bring the
long ends one at a time through twenty-two of the notches at the top of
the loom and stretch them across to the notches in the opposite end.
Draw them taut and tie them through the screw eyes. These make the warp
threads for the belt. As you will see by the pattern, the belt is
twenty-one beads wide and you have twenty-two threads. This is so that
there will be a thread on each side of every bead. Thread the needle
with No. 90 white linen thread. Tie one end of it to the warp thread on
the left (as you hold the loom with the end on which are the screw eyes
toward you). Bring the needle out to the right below the warp strands,
string twenty-one white beads and press them up between the warp
strands, so that one bead will come between every two threads. Run the
needle back from right to left through the beads, making sure that it
goes _above_ the warp threads. This makes one row. The whole belt is
woven in the same way, except that when the figure begins the beads
should be strung according to the pattern. For example, in making the
first row of the pattern shown in Fig. 43, you will string nine white
beads, three Indian-red ones and nine more of the white. The next two
rows will be the same, and then you will string six white beads, three
Indian-red, three blue, three Indian-red, and six white. Wax the thread
you weave with, so that the sharp-edged beads will not cut it. In
joining new needlefuls use the weaver's knot shown on p. 66. Armlets are
woven in the same way, but much wider--about forty beads wide and long
enough to go around the upper part of the arm. Tie them together with
strips of chamois, knotted in with the ends of the warp strands. Head
bands, bracelets and chains are also woven in this way.
_Bead Wrought Indian Shirt_
=Materials Required:= 1 large chamois skin,
2 smaller chamois skins,
1 spool white linen thread, No. 90,
A No. 11 needle,
1/2 bunch dark blue beads, No. 4-0,
1/2 bunch Indian red beads, No. 4-0,
1/2 bunch white opaque beads, No. 4-0,
28 large Indian red opaque beads.
[Illustration: FIG. 44]
Although this shirt and the moccasins and leggings that go with it are
so simple to make, you are almost sure to need the help of your mother
or governess in planning and cutting them. The shirt is the size for a
child of seven or eight, but it can easily be enlarged so as to fit a
boy of twelve or fourteen. It is made by the pattern shown in Fig. 44,
which is drawn on the scale of one inch to a foot. One large chamois
skin and two of medium size will be needed. Double the large skin
lengthwise to cut the upper part of the shirt. This should be ten inches
deep and a yard wide. Cut at the centre a slit about nine inches long
for the neck. The ends form the sleeves. Lay the two smaller skins
together and cut from them the lower portion of the shirt. The back and
front are alike, each measuring nineteen inches wide at the top,
twenty-two inches at the bottom, and fifteen inches deep. Make a pencil
mark at the centre of each lower edge of the upper part and one at the
middle of the top of both of the lower pieces. Turn up an inch at each
lower edge of the upper part of the shirt and baste the doubled edge of
one side against the top of one of the lower parts, keeping the pencil
marks at the middle of each together. Sew the edges together over and
over with No. 90 white linen thread. Join the other side in the same
way. The overlapping edges of the upper part of the shirt should be
kept on the right side. Sew the sides of the shirt together with a row
of backstitching, four inches from the edge. The edges are cut into a
fringe four and a half inches deep at the ends of the sleeves and three
inches on the sides and bottom of the shirt. The edges of the upper part
which hangs over the lower are also cut into a short fringe. Work two
narrow bands of bead embroidery round the neck, and if you like you can
also work a band half way down the lower part of the shirt and one near
the lower edge just above the fringe. They are made in this way: Thread
a No. 11 needle with white linen thread and make a knot at the other
end. Start at the right of the neck close to the edge. Bring the needle
through to the outside of the shirt. String four beads, press them down
close to the shirt and bring the needle through to the inside. This
makes a stitch which runs up and down at right angles with the neck
opening. Bring the needle out again on a line with the place where it
went in and close beside it, string four more beads, bring it up and run
it in again just at the left of where the work began (see Fig. 45). This
simple stitch is the one that is most used by the Indians in
embroidering their buckskin shirts, leggings and moccasins. String
different colours, according to the pattern. Several designs for this
work are shown in Figs. 46, 47 and 48. If you wish to decorate the shirt
still more, cut strips of chamois about a quarter of an inch wide and
five inches long, pierce a row of holes, two together, at intervals of
an inch and three-quarters across the shirt (see Fig. 44), bring the
strips of chamois through them and tie them once. String a large
Indian-red bead on each end and tie a knot to keep it from falling off.
[Illustration: FIG. 45]
[Illustration: FIG. 46]
[Illustration: FIG. 47]
[Illustration: FIG. 48]
_Indian Leggings_
=Materials Required:= 2 small chamois skins,
1/2 bunch dark blue beads, No. 4-0,
1/2 bunch Indian red beads, No. 4-0,
1/2 bunch white opaque beads, No. 4-0,
A spool of No. 90 white linen thread,
A No. 11 needle.
[Illustration: FIG. 49]
[Illustration: FIG. 50]
Nothing could be easier to make than Indian leggings, and you can put as
much work or as little as you choose into the embroidery. Cut from two
small chamois skins two pieces in the shape shown in Fig. 49. They
should each be eight and three-quarters inches at the lower edge, twelve
inches at the top and twelve high. The design shown in Fig. 50 will be
simple and effective, and narrow bands like those in Fig. 51 may be
worked along the edge that laps over and across the bottom. Six strands
of chamois about eight inches long are brought through the leggings on
each side at an inch from the edge. These form the fastenings.
[Illustration: FIG. 51]
_Beaded Moccasins_
=Materials Required:= 1 medium-sized chamois skin,
1/2 bunch dark blue beads, No. 4-0,
1/2 bunch Indian red beads, No. 4-0,
1/2 bunch white opaque beads, No. 4-0,
1 spool No. 25 white linen thread,
A No. 3 needle,
1 spool No. 90 white linen thread,
A No. 11 needle.
To make the pattern for these moccasins you need only stand on a sheet
of brown paper and draw with a pencil around your bare foot so as to get
its exact size and natural form. Cut the pattern out and take it to a
shoemaker, who will cut from it a pair of leather soles. The uppers you
can cut from a paper pattern copied from the shape shown in Fig. 52. It
will not be difficult to plan them to fit the soles, for you have only
to measure the distance around the outer edge of the soles and make the
uppers measure about an inch more along the outer edge, to allow for the
seam at the back and for a little fulness across the toe. Work them in
some simple design, like the one shown in Fig. 53. A pretty beaded edge
is made with a stitch which is very like the one used in working the
bands. Thread a needle with No. 90 white linen thread and bring it
through the top of the moccasin close to the edge. Fasten the end by
taking two or three small stitches. String six beads of a colour used in
working the bands and bring the needle through the edge from the inside
of the moccasin out, about a quarter of an inch from the beginning,
making the stitch shown in Fig. 54. Before starting the next stitch
pass the needle under the first one. Work the whole upper edge of the
moccasin in this way, then stitch it together up the back, making a seam
a quarter of an inch wide. It should be stitched on the inside and then
turned right side out. The uppers are stitched on to the soles with a
No. 3 needle and a well-waxed piece of white linen thread, No. 25.
Should this prove too hard work for small fingers the moccasins may be
taken to a shoemaker to finish.
[Illustration: FIG. 52]
[Illustration: FIG. 53]
[Illustration: FIG. 54]
_Bead Wrought Silk Bag_
=Materials Required:= A piece of silk or ribbon, 5 inches wide by
7 3/4 inches long,
1 bunch of crystal beads, No. 4-0, the same colour
as the silk,
1 skein of No. 4-0 beads of a contrasting colour,
A spool of letter A sewing silk of the same colour
as the silk,
A No. 11 needle,
A yard of inch-wide ribbon the colour of the silk.
[Illustration: FIG. 55]
The daintiest little silk bag may be made by any small daughter for
mamma or a dearly-loved aunt to carry a bit of lace work or some other
treasure. A piece of soft ribbon five inches wide and seven and
three-quarters inches long in a pale shade of lavender makes a charming
bag. A network of lavender crystal beads of the same shade, with a pearl
or gold-lined crystal bead at the point of each diamond-shaped mesh,
gives the finishing touch of daintiness (see Fig. 55). Start by
threading a fine needle with a piece of sewing silk the colour of the
bag. Fasten the end by taking one or two small stitches near the left
side of the strip of silk at about two inches from the lower edge.
String six lavender beads, one pearl and seven lavender beads, and take
a stitch a quarter of an inch from the beginning and on a line with it.
Now run the needle down through the last bead strung (see Fig. 56), and
string six more lavender beads, one pearl and seven lavender. Another
stitch is made a quarter of an inch from the last one, the needle is run
down through the last bead, and it goes on in this way until a row has
been made across the piece of silk. The bag is then stitched up the
sides and around the bottom on the wrong side and turned right side out.
Bring the needle attached to the beadwork down through the six lavender
beads and one pearl one, at the left side of the first half diamond
made, and string six lavender, one pearl and six lavender beads. Pass
the needle through the next pearl bead on the right in the row above and
string another six lavender, one pearl and six lavender beads to make
another half diamond. So it goes on around the bag. This row and all the
other ones are only attached to the row above, not to the silk. The last
row of netting should reach a little below the bottom of the bag. A
twisted fringe is then made as follows: Run the needle down through the
beads on the left side of the first mesh in the row just finished,
through the pearl bead at the point, and also pass it through the pearl
bead on the back of the bag which lies just beneath it. String thirty
lavender beads and pass the needle up through the beads on the right
side of the first mesh and down again through those on the left side of
the second mesh. It runs through the pearl bead at the point of the mesh
and the one under it at the back of the bag. String thirty more beads
and twist the thread on which they are strung once around the right side
of the loop just made. The next loop is made in the same way--passing
the needle up through the beads in the right side of the second mesh,
down through those in the left side of the third one, and through the
pearl bead at the point of the mesh at the front and the one below it at
the back. Thirty more beads are then strung. When you have made this
fringe all across the bottom of the bag, fasten the end of the silk by
sewing it two or three times through the bottom of the bag. Finish the
top of the bag with drawing strings as follows: Turn in a hem
three-quarters of an inch wide at the top of the bag and baste it. Hem
it around neatly with the lavender sewing silk and make a casing for the
drawing strings to run through, by putting a row of backstitching a
little over a quarter of an inch above the bottom of the hem. There
should be two little holes made on each side of the bag on the outside
of the hem between the stitched seam and the bottom of the hem. They are
put there so that the ribbon drawing strings can run into the casing.
You can make them with an ivory or metal piercer called a stiletto, or
any other tool that has a sharp round point. The neatest way to finish
these holes is to sew the edges over and over with a needleful of sewing
silk. Half a yard of narrow ribbon should be allowed for each drawing
string. Thread it in a bodkin, or ribbon needle, which is run into one
of the holes at the side of the bag, through the casing at the lower
part of the hem, all around the bag and out of the hole beside the one
where it went in. Now tie the ends of this drawing string together,
thread the other one through the bodkin and run it into a hole on the
opposite side of the bag, through the casing all around the bag and out
of the little hole beside the one where it went in. The ends of this
piece are also tied, and then the bag is done.
[Illustration: FIG. 56]
Clay Working