EBW Team Members Recommend Books

This information is the result of a survey of Etsy BeadWeavers which asked the question: "Is there a single # 1 beading book that you think every beadweaver should own?"

1. Creative Bead Weaving by Carol Wilcox Wells

2. The Art & Elegance of Beadweaving by Carol Wilcox Wells

The author says in the introduction to the book: "This book is full of variations. They can be learned in the basic sections of each chapter. They're offered up in the project instructions and can be seen in the gallery photos. Each picture shows another way -- we just have to be open to the view. If an idea comes to you, don't let it pass because there's no precedent. Try it; try another way of doing a stitch; try using different beads." The book will teach you new ways to look at the stitches we use. Good illustrations and suitable for anyone from beginner to more advanced beader.

3. 500 Beaded Objects by Lark Books

4. The Art of Bead Embroidery by Heidi Kummli and Sherry Serafini

5. The Beaders Guide to Colour by Margie Deeb

6. Mastering Beadwork by Carol Huber Cypher

This is a good basic book for a beader who has a bit of experience with off loom bead weaving. Coming to it with no knowledge would make the illustrations confusing. Included are instructions and illustrations for Peyote Stitch, Dutch Spiral, Netting, Spiral Rope, Right Angle Weave, Triangle Weave, Square Stitch, Daisy Chain, Ladder Stitch, Herringbone Stitch, Brick Stitch, African Polygon, African Helix, South African Scallop and Bead Crochet. In a ring binding so it will lay flat when you are following a pattern.

7. Beading in the Native American Tradition by David Dean

8. Beadwork: A World Guide by Caroline Crabtree and Pam Stallebrass

9. Getting Started with Seed Beads by Dustin Wedekind

Beadwork Patterns at Kalmbach Publishing

For those of you who are new to the art of beadweaving, or who might not have a large library of books and patterns to use, I thought I'd pass along this link to an offer from Kalmbach Publishing. They're offering their online patterns at half off the regular price, at only $1.95 per pattern. They have a pretty wide variety of patterns available, and they're all downloadable as PDFs, so all you need to read/print them is Acrobat Reader.

Check them out here: http://www.beadandcraftbooks.com/beading-pdf.html

Note that the Etsy BeadWeavers Street Team has no affiliation with Kalmbach. This post is for information only.

Happy beadweaving, all!