Little Red Beaded Bag
This is an item I made as a Yule gift for my Tribemate; my first beaded crochet project. A small vial of lavender oil fit perfectly in the little bag.
The pattern is from the book “Crocheted Beaded Bags” by Margaret Snouffer. I found that the way this book was organized and written was a bit confusing, but once I figured out what I was supposed to do, it was actually very easy to bead crochet. I played with the beading pattern a bit to make it more interesting, instead of just working solid rows of beads for the majority of the pattern and ending with a fancy border, as the book instructed.
The most difficult part was finding the right sized beads for the right weight of thread. For this project, the thread size is Omega brand size 10 (cotton), and I believe the beads were also a size 10, in red lustre.
Another difficulty I encountered was that I could not find a beading needle that had an eye big enough that I could fit the thread though it and then still fit that eye through the beads. So, it took me at least an hour and a half to string enough beads for the bag without using a needle, just scooping up 2-3 beads at a time on the thread after twisting the end tightly. I have since learned a trick to try next time: stiffen the thread with a thin coat of wax to help poke it through the beads without using a needle. Definately will be trying that trick next time.
