Start to Bead

03 June 2007

I like making things so when my Mum gave me this book and asked me to look at it I was really pleased. I've never done beading before. I think it is a good book as it has lots of clear instructions and nice photographs. I don't have any bead shops near me, but we found a place on the internet so I had to wait until I got the beads before I could start a project. When I got started, my Mum soon joined in and she's made some of the harder things, like a bag! I think anyone who likes making things would enjoy this book, especially if you are creative and like colours and jewellery.

Lauren Bishop (age 12)

Aug/Sep 07

This book is intended for beginners, so all the projects are quite simple (as you would expect). Because it's for beginners, the instructions are very clear and easy to follow. The best thing about this book is the variety of different projects there are. Apart from a few mistakes, this book is well set out and clear. The photos are very useful if you don't understand the text. When I tried out one of the projects, I found the pictures very useful when I did not read the text properly. The instructions that I tried out were for a safety-pin bracelet, one of the eight projects in the book. At the end it said to tie a knot in the string, but unfortunately the string at the end was too short! In this short book there are instructions for: simple stringing necklaces, beaded daisy chains, bags to hold treasures and loom work. What a book! I would recommend this book to anyone starting out because of the simplicity of the projects and clear instructions.

Arthur Newton

Issue 5, 2007

This is my favourite of the series because I love beads; I went to a Quilters' Guild Regional Day and the speaker told us all about beads and she was really funny. My mum says I have to save my pocket money and buy some beads of my own and stop pinching hers! There is a bracelet made of safety pins with beads threaded on: in the book the safety pins are pink but we only have quilters silver ones so my bracelet doesn't look as nice. The projects in this book can be as simple as threading some beads onto the thread but others are more complicated and need more expensive stuff to get started. It is not like the embroidery book where you can buy a square of felt and one colour thread and that is all you need. This would be best for teenagers though as the beads are really trendy.

Rosie Hodgson, age 10

April 2007

This is one of four books in Search Press' brand new Start To series, aimed at getting tweenagers and teenagers interested in crafts. You can learn to bead, knit, quilt and embroider, all in 48 pages!

Start To Bead is a bright, durable book full of fun, funky projects aimed at the younger set. All the photos - lots of these - show people of the target age group wearing the pieces and having fun. The projects have, in grand Search Press tradition, plenty of easy-to-follow stages illustrated with photographed steps for a foolproof result. Find out about the history of beading, what you have to buy in order to get started and off you go. Make a safety pin, charm or loom woven bracelet, simple ring, bag for a party or disco and beaded trinket pot. At the back is a glossary of terms and other words which are shown highlighted throughout, useful websites and a short list of a few other beadwork books. It is a fun, user friendly primer and at under GBP7 would make a great gift for a fashion conscious girl. All that is missing are a project or two showing how to make something out of nothing, the way this beader started as a child. Ways of making dried melon seeds or beans look interesting, or ideas for using broken jewellery or found objects like shells. The other three books make slightly more use of money-saving ideas (for example, a fun book cover in Start To Embroider using bits of fabric and old chocolate wrappers). Perhaps if you are buying it for a child, you had better include something to make something with! This aside, this is a good introduction to what fun beading and other crafts can be, if shorn of its granny image. I hope to see this range get larger.