My Favorite Bead Weaving Book

Okay, you might not fully understand the weight of the statement when I say that Teach Yourself Visually: Beadwork is my favorite resource for bead weaving techniques.  Bead weaving is one of my favorite crafty activities...EVER.  And it can be tricky, but I keep this book on hand for when I forget how to decrease square stitch or make round netting and it's always easy to find what I'm looking for in a moment.  The photos and illustrations are clear and the instruction makes sense.  Plus, the way it's organized is really user friendly and makes finding what you're looking for a breeze.  If you're learning how to bead weave, or like me, you just like to keep a reference guide, I highly recommend this book.  Amazon's got it for a pretty good price.

Bead Stoppers - Don't Bead Weave Without Them

Bead weaving is one of my favorite things.  And it became much easier when I discovered Bead Stoppers!  They're a lifesaver for bead weaving or stringing - They just clamp right onto the end of your thread or wire where you would usually put an anchor bead (or hold on for dear life) and keep your beads from sliding off the strand.  Then, when you're done, they just open right up and they're off in a jiff!  They're one of my favorite, favorite tools!  I found mine at Beadaholique.

Needle Grabbers - Seriously.

If you sew or do bead weaving or millinery, or, I imagine any other number of crafts, then you need these things.

I hate thimbles.  When I was taking a millinery class in college, my costume shop manager suggested these little gems - and changed my sewing life forever!

Anytime you are using a needle to go through tight spaces (like bead weaving) or tough materials (like millinery) you end up wrestling with your needle trying to pull it through.  Many folks use a thimble to push from the back of the needle.  But with the needle grabbers, you just wrap it around the needle and suddenly it pulls through like a breeze!  In fact, be careful bead weaving, it makes it so easy to pull through that it can be easy to break a bead!

Needle grabbers are cheap and come 2 to a pack, so I usually have them floating around all over the place in my craft supplies.  I usually mine from CreateForLess.

Wire Looping Pliers

If you make jewelry, you know that wire loops (simple or wrapped) can be a bit annoying.  For me, they were downright troublesome - until I found these pliers!

I make a LOT of jewelry, in my personal time, and at my full-time job.  So listen when I tell you that this is one of my all time favorite tools!  I got my pair from Beadaholique, and there's even a video on the page that shows how to use them.  You just place the pliers next to where you want the loop and close them.  Bend the wire around, rotate the pliers, and bend the wire the rest of the way around. 

The loops are neat and round every time, and you can change the size simply by moving up or down the nose of the pliers.  Oh, and let me tell you, they transformed my wire wrapped loops - into something that actually looked nice!