SRAW Puffy Heart & LOVE Letters by Gwen Fisher

This tutorial was inspired by Chris Prussing’s Puffy Heart and Marcia De Coster’s Love Letters, stitched with right angle weave (RAW) and cubic RAW. I wrote this tutorial expressly to be given freely on this Bead Love blog, a blog of inspirations on love and beads. I have been so inspired by so many other wonderful designers in the bead weaving community, and this is a little way for me to say "thank you" to all of you who have inspired me. Here you can learn to bead hearts and the letters in LOVE with just one size of seed beads in two colors. Since you only need one bead size, you can use any size you want. The hearts above use 15° or 11°.  The heart below uses 8° on the back (shown) and 3 mm bicone crystals on the front.

This tutorial starts with step-by-step instructions for weaving hearts using a stitch that I call super right angle weave (SRAW) because of its relationship to RAW. Both SRAW and RAW are made with loops of four beads, but SRAW also has loops of eight. You can learn more about SRAW on my blog, gwenbeads. This tutorial ends with charts for the letters in LOVE to get you started using SRAW to weave an alphabet.  What better place to start, anything really, than with love?

Materials
One size of seed beads in two colors
Beading Thread
Beading Needle

SRAW Puffy Hearts in 3 Sizes
The smallest heart uses size 15° seed beads. The medium heart uses size 11° plus other beads  for the arrow and hanger. The largest heart I made uses metal size 8° seed beads on both sides and 3 mm Swarovski bicone beads on the front. This large heart has 2 mm holes, making them large enough for a thin cord or chain. Of course, you could use plastic pony beads or even larger bead to make beaded hearts as large as you want.

Seed Bead Size     Heart Size
                            Height x Width x Thickness
15°                       16 mm x 19 mm x 4 mm
11°                       22 mm x 25 mm x 6 mm
8° with 3mm         33 mm x 40 mm x 7 mm

1. Use moderately tight tension all the way through this project.  Don’t apply a death grip, but snug is good.   Figure 1 shows the chart for the heart up through loop 61.  This chart is explained in detail in steps 2 through 12. After you complete the 61 loops in Figures 1 and 12, you can skip to step 13.

2. Thread your needle. Loop 1: Pick up 4R.  Pass through the first two beads again in the same direction to make a loop. Slide the beads down the thread leaving a tail that is long enough to rethread and weave into the beadwork.
Loops 2-3: * Pick up
     • 5 beads: G, 4 R.
Pass through the first R you just picked up. Repeat from *.
Loop 4: Pick up
     • 3 beads: G R G.
Close the loop by passing through the 2nd R bead in the first loop.  Then pass through 3 beads: G RR to position yourself to start the next stitch.  You just stitched an irregular starting unit of SRAW.

3. Loops 5-6: * Pick up
     • G, 4 R.
Pass through the first R you just picked up. Repeat from *.
Loop 7: Pick up
     • G.
Pass through RG RG RR. You just stitched a regular unit of SRAW.

4. Repeat step 3, 6 more times.

5. End First Row of SRAW:
Loop 26: Pick up
     • G, 4 R.
Pass through the first R you just picked up. 
Loop 27: Pick up
     • G R G.
Pass though RG RR.

6. Start Second Row of SRAW:
Loop 28: Pick up
     • G, 4 R.
Pass through the first R you just picked up. 
Loop 29: Pick up
     • G R G.
Pass through RG RR GR.

 

7. New Repeat:
Loop 30: Pick up
     • G, 4 R.
Pass through the first R you just picked up.
Loop 31: Pick up
     • G.
Pass through RG RG RR GR.

 8. Repeat step 7, 6 times.
 
9. End Second Row of SRAW:
Loop 44: Pick up
     • G R G.
Pass through RG RG RG RG R.

10. Start Third Row of SRAW:
Loop 45-46: *Pick up
     • G, 4 R.
Pass through the first R you just picked up.  Repeat from *.
Loop 47: Pick up
     • G.
Pass through RG RR GR.

11. Repeat step 7, 4 times, ending loop 55 as shown in Figure 11.

12. Loop 56: Pick up
     • G, 4 R.
Pass through the first R you just picked up.
Loop 57: Pick up
     • G R G.
Pass through RG RR GR.
Loop 58: Pick up
     • G R G.
Pass through RG RG RRG RRG R.
Loop 59: Repeat Loop 60.
Loop 60: Repeat Loop 61.
Loop 61: Pick up
     • G R G.
Pass through RG RG RG RG
RRG RG RG RG.

13. The Zip!
Now fold the beadwork in half to make a heart.  You will now zip up the seam between the two layers. Starting on right: Pick up
     • R.
Pass through R on left.  Pick up
     • R.
Pass through GR on right.
Pick up
     • G.
Pass through RG on left.

14. Continue zipping...
Starting on bottom layer: Pick up
     • R.
Pass through R on top.  Pick up
     • R.
Pass through GR on bottom. Pick up
     • G.
Pass through RG R GR on top. Pick up
     • G.
Pass through R G on bottom.  Pick up
     • R.
Pass through R on top. Pick up
     • R.
Pass through GR on bottom.

15. Continue zipping...
Starting on right layer: Pick up
     • G.
Pass through RG on left.  Pick up
     • R.
Pass through R on right. Pick up
     • R.
Pass through GR on left.

16. You just added the first 3 beads in the figure below.  Continue zipping:
*Pick up
     • G.
Pass through R G R on other size.  Repeat from * 3 more times. 
All the beads are now added.  Follow the green line below to balance the weave and make it symmetric.

17. Stitch around the top of the heart, using the thread path shown in figure 14,  but do not add any beads this time. The extra thread will balance the weave and help the beads sit straight.

18. Weave the last little bit by stitching the thread path shown in figure 13, but going in the opposite direction, and do not add any beads. 
Note. Start from the red bead near the arrow.

19. Tie off by weaving both ends of thread through the loops of beadwork. You don’t generally need to tie knots in SRAW if you secure your ends by weaving through 5 or 6 loops.  

Variations and Inspirations...
Now bead yourself some love letters.

Below are the charts to get you started, but I'm not going to tell you how to do the zips. You will have to figure out how to do that part yourself. Think of them as little puzzles. One of the things I have always enjoyed about bead weaving different designs is that they are each their own little puzzle, and when you solve it, you win that thing.   

If you would like to download a printable PDF of this tutorial, click here.

See more of Gwen Fisher's work on her website Bead Infinitum, and in her Etsy shop gwenbeads.

You can also follow Gwen's beadwork on Facebook.

What will you do with your L.O.V.E. Letters? by Marcia DeCoster

Now that you've all four letters to spell LOVE and the addition of an  H and P to spell HOPE, what will  you do with your letters?

I've seen so many incredibly beautiful, colorful, creative, whimsical letters posted and so many good ideas for using them.

I've put together a few photos of ideas I've had.

Certainly a wall hanging comes to mind.

This one is a small 4 x 6 canvas from the local art store.  I painted it with some acrylics, drilled two holes and threaded through a ribbon.  My letters are stuck on with museum gel for a quick photo op, but terrifically tacky tape would work and is archival so will not damage your beadwork.

What you don't know is my second grand daughter's middle name is LOVE and her sisters middle name is JOY, so I have the perfect room decorations for them.

Another wall hanging, first I affixed the letters to hanging tags and strung a small ribbon through the hole.  The hanger is a chair finial from a woodworking store that I beaded around.  When I get around to finishing this I will likely bead some small loops on the underneath of the beaded finial for attachments points.

 Granted if you're going to use a letter for a pendant or a monogram you  might want one that has some relevance to you.  E could stand for lots of things besides the first letter of a name.  Make up something mysterious and wear it proudly!  I just added a small bail and a nice chunky chain.  You could of course bead a strap.

If you like to set a fancy table, napkin rings might be fun.  Dinner for 4, each could have one letter of LOVE, dinner for 8, LOVE and HOPE.

This next set of ideas are not with the beaded letters themselves but with graphics you create with those letters.  Lot's and Lot's of things you could do here.....Note cards, bookmarks, gift tags, business cards.

Here the lovebeadlove.blogspot.com business cards are doing double duty as a gift tag.  You might choose to photo your own wonderful letters and have some cards made to share the love.  I use overnight prints.com and have been happy with their quality and pricing but there are a lot of companies out there.

Another gift tag!  They're very fun!

Here are Wendy Heitzman's letters done up as a bookmark.  I used card stock, hole punched the top and threaded some ribbon through a fancy bead I had.  You might also laminate it to make it a bit more sturdy.

While we're on the subject of bookmarks, Cynthia Newcomer Daniel took a large rubber band and affixed her letter with a jump ring to create another kind of bookmark.

Cyn Bicker printed the LOVE image on fabric and created these adorable project bags!

And in what is possibly the ultimate purse fob, Helena Tang Lim strung her elegant gold and silver love letters on a purse!

I've seen many other wonderful ideas from those who have participated in making the love letters.  As time allows I'll share some more photos on the blog.

So I've presented a few ideas, but I know you'll come up with many more.  Join us next week when we'll be celebrating more love with some wonderful projects from our members.  

A sincere thank you for joining me in sharing the love of the love letters.  I've been asked several times if this may be taught in stores, on retreats, at bead societies or in your own bead circle.  My answer is YES please!  Spread the love.

Here is a delightful coloring book I found that inspired the shaping of the letters.  The pages are cardstock and perforated.  The letters are repeated so you can color them and remove them from the book to use as you like.  Personally I just like to look at the pretty shapes.

Blog content by Marcia DeCoster

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Now we spell LOVE- Letter E by Marcia DeCoster

The final in the four letters you'll need to bead love!

Quick note, many of you are posting your LOVE letters on Facebook and we've  been collecting them up and adding them to collages.  Please do us a favor and post a photo of your E and your LOVE separately.  This gives us less editing work to do so that we can share everyone's beautiful letters with you.  Please try not to include distracting backgrounds or text.  Thank you!

If you've already beaded L, O and V the E will be super easy.  Basically it is the same as L with both a bottom and a top.  The mid-point has 2 cubes, one cube wide.  The letter was purposely designed with an odd number of rows so there would be a mid-point.

Notes: If this is your first letter, you may want to check back on the L post here to see what I say about thread.  Basically I am a double waxed fireline girl because I think it gives the best results in this design.

Supplies:  You'll need small amounts of a main color in size 11º and an even smaller amount for the serif.  Some size 15ºs will come in handy for adding the embellishments.  Make a nice collection of some O beads, 3 and 4 mm crystals, pearls, or fire polish, a few crystal sequins if you have them and whatever else strikes your fancy.

If you're not familiar with CRAW this video from Heather Collin is a good one to watch.  To be successful with the letters you should have a pretty good grasp of cubic right angle weave.  In this project you will be weaving not only a cube on top of a cube but cubes next to cubes as well,  to make a column that is 2-cube wide.


CRAW: Pick up 4 size 11 beads and tie in a circle. These are the floor beads. Pick up 3 beads (side, ceiling and side beads) and pass through the floor bead you are exiting from the opposite side (this forms the first wall) and the next floor bead. Pick up 2 11’s and pass through the side bead from the first wall, the floor bead and the next floor bead (this forms the second wall). Repeat for the third wall, adding 2 beads. Pass through the last floor bead and the side bead from the first wall. Pick up 1 bead and pass through the side bead of the third wall, the floor bead, the side bead of the first wall and the ceiling bead of the first wall.

Make a second CRAW cube attached to the first one by repeating all of the steps above. The ceiling of the first cube will become the floor of the second cube. Turn the two cubes horizontal and weave to exit a ceiling bead on the left of the 2 cubes as shown. (This was previously a side bead, when the work is turned it becomes a ceiling bead of that cube and a floor bead of the cube about to be built.)

When weaving cubes side by side you will be weaving 7 walls. The interior wall between the two cubes is a shared wall. Begin by picking up 3 seed beads and passing through the ceiling you are exiting.

The illustrations below show how the face of the cube has side beads as well as a floor and ceiling. Use the arrows to see in what order to build the walls. See below for how many beads each wall should have.

Wall 1: 3 beads

Wall 2: 2 beads (side is shared with Wall 1)

Wall 3: 2 beads (side bead is shared with Wall 2)

Wall 4: 1 bead (Pass through the shared floor bead and up through the first bead of wall one. Pick up the one ceiling bead and pass through the side bead of wall 3, the shared floor bead again and then through the floor bead for wall 5)

Wall 5: 2 beads (side is shared with Wall 1)

Wall 6: 2 beads (side is shared with Wall 5)

Wall 7: 1 bead (Pass through the floor bead of 7 and the shared side bead from Wall 3. Pick up the one ceiling beading pass through the shared side bead from wall 6, the floor bead from wall 7 and up through shared side bead from Wall 3 and 7, shown as arrow 8 in the illustration)

.

With the work turned so that walls 3 and 7 are facing you, pass through the ceiling bead on the left. Repeat these steps an additional 11 times for a total of 13 rows of 2 cubes each.

Turn the work so the cubes you just finished are at the bottom and weave to exit an edge bead on the second row of cubes as shown. Build 4 rows, 2 cubes wide for the bottom of the E.

Weave up to the middle cube, 7th from the bottom.  Bead two cubes here. as shown  Weave up to the top of the E and weave 4 rows, 2 cubes wide the same as the bottom of the E.

Serifs: To add the serifs, in a contrasting size 11º weave to exit an edge bead. Pick up 3 size 11ºs and pass through the edge bead from the opposite side. Weave through a ceiling bead in that cube and pass through the corresponding edge bead on the back of the L. Repeat the 3 bead picot. Pass up through the first and second beads to exit the middle bead of the picot. Pass the thread through the middle picot bead on the front picot and back through the middle picot bead on the back. Weave to the edge bead for the next picot. If I have a lot of thread left I will pass the thread through the middle of the cubes up to the where the next picot needs to be placed.

If you need to stabilize the inside corners of the E you can run thread through the two edge beads on either side of the corners in both the front and the back.


Embellishments: Make yourself a pretty little pile of coordinated accent beads and choose a location on your letter to apply them. Use the working thread or weave in a new thread if necessary. Exiting a seed bead on the base of the letter, pick up an accent bead, a size 11º or 15º turning bead and pass back through the accent bead and an adjacent bead on the base. Repeat until you have a pleasing assortment of beads arranged on your letter.

And now for a a little surprise....I heard mentions more than once that perhaps HOPE would be a good word as well.  Well you have an O and an E and below I will give you some guidelines for creating an H and a P.

To create the H, use directions above to make two,   2 cube wide columns of 13 rows. Weave to exit and edge bead on the 7th row of one of the columns.  Bead 3 one cube wide rows and join to the 7th edge cube of the second column.  Add serifs and embellishments as you did for the LOVE letters.

For the P, use the directions above to make one, 2 cube wide column.  Weave to exit a floor bead on the top cube so that your first wall will be on the edge of the column. Make cubes as follows:  Note:  the first and all interior walls will be size 15's (aqua beads).  Make 4 cubes with 1 bead on each ceiling.  Make 3 cubes with 2 beads on the front and back face ceilings and 1 bead on the edge.  Make 3 cubes with 1 bead on each ceiling.  Join the last cube to the edge of the 5th cube from the top.  Add serifs and embellishments as you did for the love letters.

 

Struggling with the P?  Here is a little write up I did to help out. This is for the 3 cubes which have 2 ceiling beads on the front and back face.

Take it one cube and then one wall at a time. I try to think of picking up sides and ceilings where the front face and back face ceilings are the multiple beads. Start on the interior wall, which is the one with 15's. So Wall One, 3 size 15 beads = 1 side, 1 ceiling, 1 side. Wall Two (front face of the letter), 3 beads = 1 side and 2 ceilings. Wall Three (exterior edge of the letter), 2 beads = 1 side and 1 ceiling. Wall Four (back face of the letter) you only add the ceiling so only 2 beads. Just take it slow, one wall at a time starting with the interior wall of 3 size 15's and you should be able to see what is going on.

Stay tuned for next week where I'll have a few ideas of how to use your LOVE letters!

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Blogpost written by Marcia DeCoster

For a printable version click here.

Beautiful V's, third in the LOVE letters

Thanks to everyone who is following along and sharing their beautiful letters.  So much originality.

Tomorrow I'll publish E and a little surprise as well!  We look forward to seeing all the LOVE spelled out.

If you need to find the directions for any of the letters you can always click on the project tab at the top of the blog and you'll find a link to all the patterns.

Please forgive us if we missed your V, we do our very best.  Thanks this week to Wendy Heitzman for all the help collecting and cropping the V's for publication.