Skip to content
Q is For Quilter
Menu
  • Quilts
  • Quilt Patterns
  • Embroidery
  • Embroidery Patterns
  • WIPs
  • Children’s Books
  • Aprons
  • Other Needlework
  • Crafts
  • Vintage Finds
Menu

Make It Yourself – Beaded Alphabet

Posted on November 4, 2009January 29, 2019 by Martha

Recently I purchased an entire set of “Make It Yourself” books — 20 volumes of neat 70s projects, including knitting, crochet, sewing, embroidery, rugs, crafts, and of course…..macrame. These were published by Columbia House in 1973 and each volume came with it’s own folder of full-sized patterns — all the other patterns are in the books. My set has all of the patterns and an index — it’s so great. This cute beaded alphabet is from volume 14.

My sister and I each made a beaded hippie purse out of a car shammy and tons of seed beads. I thought it was difficult because the shammy kept stretching so the rows were hard to keep even. She and I made so many projects out of Woman’s Day and Family Circle magazines when I first moved to Seattle in 1970. My favorites were these styrofoam heads we covered in paper mache, molded to create facial features and painted — I think they were supposed to be wig holders, but I used mine to hold my giant headphones. Although it was not planned, my head ended up looking a lot like Bette Davis. Here’s a photo of Bette on top of my first television — a black and white tube “portable”  from the Goodwill that I painted and wallpapered.

BetteDavisHead

BeadAlphabet-photo

BeadAlphabet-howto-1

BeadAlphabet-howto

BeadedAlphabet-Pattern-1

BeadedAlphabet-Pattern-2

BeadedAlphabet-Pattern-3

5 thoughts on “Make It Yourself – Beaded Alphabet”

  1. jan says:
    November 4, 2009 at 11:29 pm

    Martha, I love that alphabet! I have always admired Native beadwork and this is kind of a mod twist on traditional! I think I may have to ‘monogram’ something!

    Your TV is really cute. I can just picture your Bette with giant headphones!

    Reply
  2. Ann says:
    November 5, 2009 at 6:26 am

    That’s a COOL TV! And Bette is neat too! What kind of music did she prefer?

    I like this alphabet and the instructions they give are make it look easy. They would make a GREAT monogram for a book bag! If I got pink, orange, and purple beads, my third grader is THERE!

    Reply
  3. Becky says:
    November 5, 2009 at 10:28 am

    I saw this and thought of Jan’s campfire girl dress. She had to sew all the beads she earned on in some sort of decorative pattern.

    Love the ‘bette davis’ head. That would come in handy for modeling knitted hats!

    Reply
  4. Bunny says:
    November 5, 2009 at 11:39 am

    sweet!

    Reply
  5. Cheryl says:
    December 4, 2009 at 4:45 pm

    Thank you for sharing this! I want to give it a try right now…to bad there are presents to be made and this will need to wait 🙁

    Reply

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

A small blog about Martha's quilting hobby.

More About Me

Popular Posts

Categories

  • Quilts
  • Quilt Patterns
  • Embroidery
  • Embroidery Patterns
  • WIPs
  • Children’s Books
  • Aprons
  • Other Needlework
  • Crafts
  • Vintage Finds

Archives

  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • December 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008

Search

© 2025 Q is For Quilter | Powered by Minimalist Blog WordPress Theme