Basics of Bead Stringing

Rating:
Summary: Good information, but not enough of it
Review: I am brand new to beading, so I found the information in this book extremely helpful: starting and finishing a necklace, the importance of gluing your knots, knotting in between beads, the usefulness of wire-wrapped loops. All of this (an a lot more) was new to me, and I found it quite valuable as I did my first two beading projects.

Now, the reasons why I only gave it 3 stars. I took away one star because the production and editing aspects of the book are quite poor, making it difficult to read at times. For example, the color photos (samples of completed jewelry) are not sharp, making it very difficult and sometimes impossible to decipher what kinds of techniques and beads were used. There was also poor page formatting and layout. The editing is just as bad, with poor sentence construction, incorrect punctuation usage, and poor grammar and word usage throughout.

I took away another star because there was just not enough information. The authors were very selective about what they included as "basic information" for the beginner. As a beginner, I would have liked to have seen several more topics: the names and descriptions of the basic kinds of beads, more information about bead sizes.

Overall, a good source for the beginner, but needing better editing and production, and more content.

Rating:
Summary: A great beginners' resource.
Review: I'm very new to jewelrymaking and recently picked this up as a first guide. I'm very happy to say that it has fulfilled my expectations. Extensive greyscale illustrations show step-by-step how to perform the steps described in the text. Basic concepts are discussed with an eye toward explaining them in detail for the total beginner.

This is very much a homemade sort of book -- saddle-stapled and not very long, about 60 pages. If there's ever a second edition, I'd like to see better editing to get the grammar errors out, and I'd love to see some useful color photos -- the ones included are there more for showing possibilities than for illustrating concepts. It is also true that some of the things discussed don't fall under my personal definition of "basics", like making daisy chains (f.e., I'd never even *seen* a daisy chain before seeing them here). But as my first guidebook, it's worth the extremely low cost. The style of writing is accessible and friendly and the step-by-step illustrations are invaluable to understanding.

Rating:
Summary: Good information, but not enough of it
Review: This book is not necessarily the best beading book for a novice but for anyone who has done any kind of beading or jewelery making at all, it is an valuable resource. It provides quick access to what really are the fundamentals of beading, it's a good reminder for the person who hasn't made anything with, for example, the brick stitch in a couple of years and just needs a brief guide to get her started again or for the person who needs to remember how to attach a beadtip and clasp.

The first section explains how to begin and finish a necklace (or bracelet) including information on beadtips, jump rings and clasps; using crimp beads and clam shells; knotting beads; and the double needle method. This is followed by a section on using wire and pins for earrings and pendants and includes instructions on how to make wrapped wire loops, how to attach cones, how to use memory wire and how to wrap cabs and beads. Next is a brief section on knotting and finishing leather and satin cords. This is followed by instructions on weaving, stitching and finishing designs that incorporate the daisy chain, brick and peyote stitches. The remainder of the book includes descriptions of available jewelery-making materials including types of bead cord, wire, findings, clasps and chains with examples of each as well as a section on tools including descriptions of the various kinds of pliers, cutters, glues, bead boards, vises and reamers.

The only problems I had with the book were minor: the author clearly favors one type of beading wire over the others, there is no mention of the usefulness of split rings plus the section on how to attach a crimp bead doesn't explain that this is a two-step process (hence the two separate sections of a crimping plier). It also would have been a better book had the author included a list of major suppliers. Still, as a quick reference, it's a solid, dependable book.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent beginners book!
Review: This is a really great book for a beginner. The illustrations are really clear and easy to follow. There are lessons on basic stringing, knotting, wire wrapping, and finishing. A very handy book, well worth the money. Following the directions I was able to string a necklace in no time flat! I highly recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent beginners book!
Review: This is a really great book for a beginner. The illustrations are really clear and easy to follow. There are lessons on basic stringing, knotting, wire wrapping, and finishing. A very handy book, well worth the money. Following the directions I was able to string a necklace in no time flat! I highly recommend this book.