Tambour Projects

As I was first learning how to tambour with beads, I started several test patterns - doodles, really.  Some of them were just that doodles but some of them became things.  This is one of those projects.  I initially laid the large glass pearls.  Then I started thinking of sand swirling around the pearls so I started swirling the seed beads around.  I really liked the look of it so I decided to use the sample as a project and marked out the outside border and marked another piece of silk organza for the back and worked it in a circular pattern.  The handle was just a beaded tube.  It needed to be sturdy enough to handle the weight of the body of the purse and this worked a treat.  

About 2017, I took a trip to the Cleveland, OH, area.  It was only a long weekend but I specifically wanted to get away to work on designing some projects.  A visit to the art museum there was hugely inspiring.  By the end of the trip, I had 2 purse designs I was happy with.  One, an art deco-inspired design, is still waiting to come to life but this one, art nouveau-inspired came together just like I'd envisioned it.  The back is black velvet and it has a pretty turquoise-colored lining.  The part that took the longest, oddly, is the beaded fringe! It was completely hand-beaded by a beader that had no idea how long it would take.  But it was the only way to get the gradation I needed to look right with the curves of the design.  So worth the time and effort, I have to say (although I haven't jumped into doing another one since!!). 

See what I mean about purses being the perfect palette?  Here's another one that came together bit by bit.  This one has a bit of tambour on the top section but I was also able to incorporate some bobbin lace that I was working for another project.  The bottom section is laid embroidery thread held by little fresh-water pearls.  The tone on tone was so interesting.  This final project is actually my second effort.  The original effort worked fine for most of it but I had cut the bottom to have scallops but they didn't really work in practice.  So I redid the whole thing and used the lace to create the scallops.  Much better!

My BIG tambour project was a purse that I envisioned to have 8 narrow sides, each with a different pattern.  I put together 4 different patterns with the thought that I would repeat them in order.  Straight line, curly line, straight, curly, etc.  The initial inspiration for this project was some Victorian/Edwardian-era beads that I recovered from a disintegrating mourning vest.  I've had them for a couple of years but never found the right project for them.  Until now.  This was truly a process of discovery as I developed the pattern and it became my favorite thing I've ever made.  Ever.  Nothing compares to this little purse.  

This was a classic example of designing it then tweaking the design as I went, then filling in the missing pieces as I went along.  How to do the lining, how to finish the top and bottom edge (I ended up making some black bobbin lace edging for this purpose).  When I finished, it still didn't look quite finished.  I needed some sort of fringe at the bottom and it needed a way to hold the handle at the top.  I didn't really want to go full fringe at the bottom (reference the trauma of full fringe mentioned above :-)) but this toned down version worked very well and fitted the look. For the handle, I beaded 8 straps, one for each section of the purse, a did it that way.  I could have done a better job with them but it worked so I was basically happy. The purse became a gift for my lovely niece, which made me happy.  Every maker will tell you, there's no better feeling that something you've made going to someone who will appreciate and treasure it.

And finally, a project that didn't quite come off, despite all the effort.  I think I know where it fell down and I'll go into that later.  This project had its roots in the purchase of about 20 times more drop beads than I needed for my garden quilt project.  I ended up with all of these clear glass beads with a touch of color at the end.  What to do?  What to do?  The beads reminded me of droplets of water on a flower bud so I started thinking along those lines.  Tulips are my favorite flower so why not make a tulip purse?  

I designed the petals, made sure the inside and outside petals would fit together then started stitching.  I loved how they looked on the frame and how the beads were working.  I knew the purse was going to be heavy with all the drop beads I was using and, I have to say, I wasn't wrong!

Once I had all the petals done, I had to figure out how to get them all put together with the internal support that would help them keep their shape under the weight of the beads.  It took a while but with some medium-weight interfacing, I was finally happy(ish) with the shape.  It was at this point that I realized the circumference of the purse was larger than I'd expected, which makes it just a bit more chunky than I'm happy with.  If I were to make it again, and I suspect I will, I will cut down the width of the petals by about 30% and I will make the darts that shape the petals just a wee bit wider to give a little better shape.  I think those 2 things will make it work much better.

I knew from the beginning that I wanted a ruched lining and I was super happy with how it came out.  I was reading a book at the time called "The Art of Manipulating Fabric" by Colette Wolff (an excellent book that I highly recommend), so I used her instructions for it with great results.

The other part I had to figure out is the stem.  I'll be honest, I didn't completely finish the bottom.  The plan was to have the green beads at the bottom and the fringe as the stem, which all worked, but I was also going to do a beaded section that came up onto the petals, like flowers usually have.  I just didn't have the heart to do that final piece when I knew I wasn't happy with the piece.  Next time...

So there are other tambour projects in process that I'll show in their own posts but these are the big projects from the break time that I wanted to share.

I will also mention that I did a tambour class from the London School of Embroidery that I highly recommend. I knew how to tambour but was completely self taught and there were several things I'd never tried before.  I love the format of their classes.  You can purchase kits and then you have perpetual access to the teaching videos.  I could do them at my own pace and rewatch the videos as often as I needed to so them became a great resource.  I also did their goldwork pear, monogramming, whitework embroidery and silk shading classes.  Highly recommend.