gingerbreadsnowflakes.com/node/73

I've been playing around with this idea of adding beads to a God's eye for a while now.  I used the the reversed weaving technique described in my previous post and then added strings of beads to the "wells".  If you are new to God's eyes or need a refresher, refer to my basic tutorial for weaving God's eyes.

Create the bead 'wells" by weaving 4 or 5 rows of yarn over the top of the sticks counter clockwise, then 4 or 5 rows of yarn under the sticks clockwise. Repeat as many times as desired.

I think these are gorgeous just as they are, but I also like how they look with beads strung in the "wells".

Just for reference, a back view.  It's not often I am willing to show the backside of anything I make!!

Weaving a  "well".

God's eye completed and ready for beading!

Beads may be strung on heavy duty cotton thread, a double strand of standard sewing thread, 6 lb. clear plastic fishing line or even very fine wire.  Beads were added to this God's eye using thread that matched the yarn.  6 lb. fishing line was used on the God's eye at the bottom of the post.

I found that using a needle threaded with the cotton thread or plastic made it very easy to secure the strings of beads to the yarn used to weave the God's eye.

String your beads as shown. Secure the thread to the yarns that are covering the sticks or dowels by sewing a few small stitches into the yarns just as you would tie off a thread when you are finished with a row of stitching. Try to pull your thread as tight as possible so your beads don't sag into the well.

Here is a "3-D" side view of the completed God's eye showing beads in the "wells" and the three dimensional appearance of these God's eyes.

When I weave right up to the end of the dowel, as I have in this piece, I like to secure the yarns with Aileen's tacky glue to prevent them from slipping off the ends.