Seed Bead Fusion

Seed Bead Fusion: 18 Projects to Stitch, Wire and String by Rachel Nelson-Smith ($24.95 Interweave) brings together wire techniques and seed bead stitches to create some truly unique jewelry designs. I know the word "unique" gets used probably way too much when it comes to jewelry designing, but Nelson-Smith has managed to come up with a style and methodology, especially when it comes to mixing wire and seed beads, that I can confidently say I haven't really seen before.

The techniques in this text are divided into three types: bead weaving with wire, wire work that incorporates seed beads, and combining bead weaving stitches together.

Because I am more of a wire person than a seed bead person, the wire and bead combinations appealed much more to me. You will find some of the usual wire techniques in here like making ear hooks and wrapping briolettes, but the author goes way beyond these basic methods when it comes to mixing wire with seed beads. There are primarily two ways she goes about doing this.

One method she uses to mix the two is to first bead weave a piece of jewelry and then insert wire into before it's finished. For example, in the "Ootheca Cuff" (pictured on the bottom corner of the book cover), she first uses right angle weave and tubular peyote stitches to form two sections of beads that mirror each other. She then stitches these two together, and finally, comes in the wire work were she forms small head pins and passes them through both of these sections that are now connected. The result is a substantial cuff bracelet where wire helps to reinforce it throughout.

The other primary method she uses to combine seed beads and wire is to form skeletal sections of wire, such as a large coil in the "Wire Chrysalis Bead Necklace," and then use thinner gauge wire to wrap seed beads around the wire skeleton. Admittedly, I have seen this idea of basically weaving wire and beads together, but her use of seed beads makes it stand out from what I have seen done before.

As the subtitle indicates, this book includes 18 projects. The instructions have both illustrations and step-by-step photographs. I found the photo pages to be particularly helpful because they showed the processes from beginning to end with very little text, so for visual learners, those pages can really be useful. A number of projects are also photographed in multiple color pallets, which is helpful for those with varying color tastes.

All of the jewelry pieces are really beautiful. Many have some great depth and texture going on. Most, which can be unusual for a seed bead book, are very wearable as well. However, just about all of them are pretty involved, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I feel that this book was meant to focus on the intermediate to advanced jewelry maker, preferably those with at least some basic understanding of bead weaving and wire work, though not at an expert level.

If you are ready to take your beading and wire work skills to another level, then Rachel Nelson-Smith's book Seed Bead Fusion is a wonderful addition to your library. I hesitate to suggest this text to novice jewelry designers or those without at least some foundational skills in primarily bead weaving, though wire work wouldn't hurt either. There are so many books out these days that are written for beginners, that I do think we need more books like this that take those with some experience to another level when it comes to building skills and experimenting with design elements.

Disclosure: A review copy was provided by the publisher. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.