Etsy Beadweavers Team March Challenge Fashion Throughout Time

I've created this wonderful piece of wearable art for the Etsy Beadweaver's March Challenge "Fashion through the Ages". Having been born in the 60's, I remember the Flower Power Generation and the bright groovy colors and designs that were so popular in the 60's-70's so I used one of the most iconic fashion designers of the time as my inspiration.

This bib style collar necklace is fully encrusted in seed bead embroidery in array of cool colors. While Pucci's designs were bold and the patterns were bright, the color palette tended to be on the cooler side. I've used a soft cheyenne pink, turquoise, lime green, deep purple, medium and dark blue, accented by lustrous white in a loopy, swirly design. The scalloped necklace is edged in luster rainbow white beads with borders of matte brown beads throughout to accentuate the colors.

The beads were embroidered onto a stiff felt backing and backed with another piece of blue/purple tie-dyed felt. I've finished off the necklace with a "chain" of beads ending in a little medallion with a hook that can fasten at the back into any of the loops making it fully adjustable from about 15" to about 19". It is designed to be worn closely against the neck to create a bib that can sit atop a dress or just underneath an open collar.

This bib style neckpiece collar is 9.5" across the widest part and about 6" long from the middle. Truly a showstopper for your next big occassion!

History of Pucci
Emilio Pucci, Marchese di Barsento (20 November 1914 – 29 November 1992) was a Florentine Italian fashion designer and politician. He and his eponymous company are synonymous with geometric prints in a kaleidoscope of colours. Initially he used his knowledge of stretch fabrics to produce a swimwear line in 1949, but soon moved onto other items such as brightly-coloured, boldly-patterned silk scarves. Stanley Marcus of Neiman Marcus encouraged him to use the designs in blouses and then a popular line of wrinkle-free printed silk dresses. Marilyn Monroe was buried in one of his dresses, and his designs were worn by everyone from Sophia Loren to Jackie Kennedy and latter day pop icons such as Madonna in the early 1990s. His clothes were known for their brilliant colours and well-defined prints. He led the way for the colourful revolution of the 60's. The house of Pucci still goes on reviving the fashion house's glory days to make it relevant for a new generation. Capitalizing on Pucci's bold, instantly recognizable prints, The Pucci revival has been gathering momentum for several years.

Here's a sample of a Pucci Blouse.

I am a proud member of the Etsy Beadweavers Street team. Voting for the March challenge starts on March 9 and is open until the 15th on the bead weavers website (http://www.etsy-beadweavers.blogspot.com). Stop by and vote for your favorite!

Bead Show Bonanza: and how to choose the right bead.

This weekend, the Bead Mercantile Show came to Raleigh and so did I!  Raleigh is about 90 miles away, so it's close enough for a quick day trip.  And it's as close to a bead show as I'll get, I suppose.  I went to the Gem and Bead show there last month and picked up some pretty "rocks", but this one was geared to seed beads, crystals and czech glass primarily.  I brought a couple of my "rocks" to try and match, and I hoped to find some czech glass flowers and leaves.  My dear friend Linda came with me in search of some seed beads for some Native American beadwork her husband is working on.  It was a pretty modest show, but I was a kid in a candy shop!

It's really tough sometimes to find the right colors of seed beads to accent the gemstone cabochons I work with, and there are a few colors that seem to me much more difficult to find just the right shade: Cream (most have too much yellow), Turquoise (ya got your greenier tints, ya got your bluesier tints), Green (olive, emerald, teal, kelly, forest...too much!), and Brown (dark topaz, especially transparent, just doesn't get it - and don't get me started on rust/russett).  And once you have the color and hue figured out, well now you have to work through the finishes and types.

First, I should say that I work primarily with size 11o seed beads (with a little help from the 8, 6 and 15's here and there).  Since I'm apparently something of a magpie, the shiny, bright and colorful beads always capture my eye (silver-lined, rainbow and AB), but they are not always appropriate to what I'm trying to acheive.  My favorite finish right now is a simple opaque luster (also can be called a "Ceylon" finish).  Not so much sparkle, but still catches the light.  I don't have much use for simply transparent beads; it seems like instead of adding light and luster, they suck the light out of a piece.  But transparent rainbow or AB (aurora borealis) give enough reflection to make a good blend.  Color lined beads (generally transparent colored glass with either a white, silver, gold or copper lining) can be a little iffy to work with, though I do like the silver/gold/copper lined beads to add just the right touch of sparkle.  I've begun to really appreciate the matte rainbow/AB finish as well for it's elegance and blending ability. 

As far as type of beads, it kinda depends on what you're doing.  If you're working an intricate peyote or loomed pattern, you really need to use the Japanese cylinder or Delica beads.  Their total uniformity and huge array of color choices helps create a nearly perfect final product.  My "go to" bead choice has been Fire Mountain's "Dyna-Mites" Japanese beads by Matsuno.  The have a pretty good uniformity at half the price of the Delicas.  I also prefer their rounded (donut-like) appearance and texture in a finished piece as opposed to the very flat cylinders.  The color selection with the Dyna-Mites is somewhat limited, so that's when I turn to the Czech seed beads (Jablonex is one of the primary manufacturers).  Czech beads have that nice donut shaped texture and come in a vast assortment of colors and finishes.  While not completely uniform in size, I still find them very nice to work with, and in bead embroidery, uniformity is not terribly important.

So, back to the bead show...I went a little (OK a LOT) crazy at the first table I came to.  Bead Biz had a huge selection of Jablonex Czech seed beads as well as other Czech glass items.  They also had wholesale prices after a certain amount.  Yep, I went for it and I'm not gonna tell you the amount.  But I was able to find all the colors I was looking for and added a few 13o charlottes to the mix.  I've always wanted to do something with those little 1-cut faceted beauties.  I came away from the show with a great selection of Czech leaves and flowers as well.  I'm not a big crystal fan, so I left most of those behind.  I thoroughly enjoyed rearranging all my bead boxes and cabinet to fit all the new treasures in.  Now I'm anxious to get started on the next project!