What do you think? Will I succeed with the bead DIY?
- Sure, with the left!23%
- Don't take it personally, but I doubt it ...77%
The competition has ended.
Knots, tangles and multiple crises: how a craft project drove me to the brink of insanity
1.12.2022
Translation: Katherine Martin
I’d always thought handicrafts were my thing. That is, until making a handbag out of beads threatened to fray not just my ball of nylon thread, but my patience.
Remember summer? When the days were long, sunny and warm, and crochet bags were all the rage. Spurred on by the boundless inspiration I was getting from outdoor pools and cafes, I too picked up the needle, actually managing to make a quite pretty little bag.
Summer might’ve been and gone, but arts and crafts season is far from over. Rather than chunky knit bags transporting books, sun cream and Uno cards to the lake or pool, it’s now shiny, bright or transparent pearls spilling onto our craft tables. With a month full of Christmas lunches and parties ahead of us, our accessories do need a makeover. And I want to get back into do-it-yourself mode. I picture the results of my artistic efforts will turn out a little something like this:
Source: Instagram @studiosevenzurich
A handy, eye-catching accessory that rocks your smartphone, keys and lip balm through the night in style. How hard can it be to string a few beads onto a nylon thread? After my success with crocheting, I should be able to do this with one hand tied behind my back. Such hubris proves to be my undoing.
I’ve got 99 problems and the nylon thread is one
Right from the beginning, there are bumps in the road. None of the YouTube tutorials I can find give me any specifics on the number of beads I need. 300? 500? 1,000? Hmm. I place the order without a clear idea. Unfortunately, the selection of suitable beads is limited, so it’ll have to be a 600 pack in a mix of colours. I take two to be on the safe side, as well as 100 metres of nylon thread in total.
After that, I’m ready to rock. Theoretically. Because despite being bombarded with inspiration on platforms such as Instagram and Pinterest, I struggle to find a beginner-friendly tutorial on Youtube. In the end, Made by Nolo is the one to make it all possible.
Once again, it all sounds really easy in theory. You thread the beads into small, round «buds», starting by manoeuvering them into a straight row. You then move them around the curve and back along the same row until you’ve threaded a kind of mat of buds. Right, then.
From impatience to rage to nervous breakdown
From the third row onwards, I just can’t thread the beads around the curve. And I’m puzzled as to why. I’m still following the same steps, right? Instead of a symmetrical edge, the seams of my mat form a bulging mess. Not only that, but the confounded nylon thread drives me nuts. It gets tangled and knotted, occasionally coiling away from a newly strung bead like a spring. I. am. losing it.
My lower lip is worn out. All tensed up, I bite down to quell my frustration and stop myself from throwing in the towel. If one end of the thread isn’t leaping out of my hand, I’m struggling to arrange the beads, which all of a sudden have a life of their own. What initially started as quite a respectable row of buds, now bulges up, down, left and right. A symmetrical mat definitely isn’t going to come out of this.
I’ll have you know, crochet bags are timeless
Who says my crochet bag is just for summer anyway?! The more the beads roll uncontrollably across my dining table, the closer I get to declaring crochet a winter trend. My crochet hooks are still in the cupboard. I’ve got plenty of colourful yarn. Which is more than I can say for the plastic beads. My two 600 packs (with both the red and black beads removed) are slowly but surely running out. Not a chance will there be enough for a full mat and two handles. I push the tangle of nylon to one side. Time to take a breather and spend some time apart.
My break from beading lasts several hours and days. The nylon bundle of beads and I give it a few more goes, but the stalemate remains. My brand new handbag and me are going nowhere. Not for now anyway. Perhaps we need more time. Perhaps I need more patience. Or this particular craft project is simply beyond my capabilities. What do you think?
To give up or to stick with it, that is the question.
- Grit your teeth and get through it.64%
- You tried, let it go.36%
The competition has ended.
Laura Scholz
Senior Editor
Laura.Scholz@digitecgalaxus.chAlways in the mood for good hits, great trips and clinking drinks.
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