zimmermann beads UPDATE: i made them! so EASY! + mini tute (pic heavy)

[clarejosephine]

(THIS ORIGINALLY WAS IN DISCUSSIONS AND QUESTIONS)

hey anyone here seen the latest zimmermann collection at aussie fashion week?
they made them for the show only, but i saw like a kind of close up shot of them in STYD (shop till you drop) magazine like a few months ago and they look really simple...
i was just wondering if anyone has attempted this, it looks like they have covered the beads in the fabric of the outfit and like separated it with different beads... its actually sounding very confusing but if you check this site out, http://www.zimmermannwear.com/ and go to the 'clothing' section, you will be able to see the beads i'm talking about... i might draw a picture to get across my message....



cos see ive made myself an outfit for the melbourne cup (aussies will know what im on about) and i was thinking of making some crazy beads with this awesome fabric i have leftover... let me know if you guys understand what i mean and if you think it would be achievable...
do you think the inside beads should be wooden? im just not sure if it would be light enough... ill have to muck around and give it ago..
id love to hear back from you jewellery making professionals out there.. hahah i.e. myself not ever having made jewellery before... but this idea has really stuck with me...
id love to hear back!
 

UPDATE:
Ok so i never got around to scanning the images of them in the magazine, but its ok ive got something WAY better! i MADE them! and i think im in love, im planning to wear them to the melbourne cup, oh i love them so much, the funnest things ive ever done and SO SO SO EASY!

Ok heres some pictures of them:


^ thats a close up of the beads, i had about 60 wooden beads with some leftover when i made this


^ closeup of the bead i had that the fabric went through... if that makes sense...


^ theres a shot of them, i had to make it way smaller cos the file size was like still huge if i included all of them


^ another shot of them


^ thats a closeup of the fabric section i use to join the necklace together at the end.. that was like the hardest bit
very fiddly


^ hanging on the doorknob


Ok so going from the image that i did at the very beginning about these beads, what i ended up doing was sewing a thin tube of fabric (seam on the inside) that would fit the largest wooden beads - make sure its as long as you want the necklace to be.. maybe a bit longer. Then i threaded the fabric tube through the golden bead. That was the beginning, then you put the wooden bead INSIDE the tube and push it all the way down. Next you thread the tube through another golden bead, then you put another wooden one inside, etc. etc. etc. its VERY EASY!

When I came to joining it together i struggled a bit cos i didnt REALLY know what i was doing... what i ended up doing was getting another bit of fabric without a bead inside.. it was a bit tricky for me to get the machine around it with a bead in there.. but if you were not as lazy as me you'd be able to hand-stitch it no worries. so you put the tube inside this other tube of fabric with the cover up beads threaded on, then you sew it up and slide the cover up beads across over the sewed section.. and your done! coolest beads ever.. i really do love these things

ok, if that was a bit difficult to understand, let me know.. ive never really done tutes, and i dont know if that qualifies as one.. but yeh...

hope you like my beads as much as i do!! 

[Lothruin]

Which picture are you talking about?  Because what you are describing at the moment is a trend from the 80's that I wish had never happened to begin with, let alone come back.  That isn't to say it couldn't be cool, but it was completely uncool the first time around, and I've never seen a cool example, so knowing which picture you are talking about, or especially being able to see a closeup, would perhaps improve my outlook.

[clarejosephine]

ok well ill go find the magazine shortly and scan a pic in for you, i know the ones on the zimmermann site arent that good, but yeh, i think its cool anyway - you wouldn't happen to have any info or links or anything to the bad 80's version...?
ill post pics in a day or two!
thanks!

[clarejosephine]

im too lazy to scan the images, put ive posted an update cos i actually made them! wahoo...

does that mean i should move this post??? im not sure what the deal is...

[clarejosephine]

ok... i moved it, had some trouble but yeh... im talking to myself...
again.

[star_inmypocket]

  I think those look great! I love the pink fabric!

[mariska]

i like them!! and i don't care if they are originally from the eighties! (i usually hate most of the things coming from that style-disaster era)

[smokingmonkey]

The ones you made are nice, but I too remember them from the first time around, made with hideous fabrics (a lot of times in my least favorite color combo of navy, forest green and maroon - if that combo comes back I'm going to stab my eyes out) and gold pony beads worn by teachers and old ladies, and sold at country themed craft fairs. *shudder*

Your pinky red fabric is nice though, and the super long length updates it a lot.

[kapreasha]

I remember those!! My mom had some and I used to play with them when I was little. I agree with earlier posters that the ones from the '80s weren't all that cute, mainly because of the chosen fabrics. I don't remember seeing any with beads on the outside though, so you're being original on that part. I actually like them If you have a cool fabric and cool beads, it's awesome, at least in my opinion anyway! Great job and thanks for the tute! I think I'll make some for old time's sake. Hmmmm...

[surfergrl311]

very cool...i might try this out. These fabric wrapped beads are in bracelet form in the new Delias catalog