Soutache: How to Make Beautiful Braid-and-Bead Embroidered Jewellery and Accessories

Description

Discover Soutache, the art of creating modern and unique jewellery from looped braids. Donatella Ciotti shows you how to create stunning, expensive-looking costume jewellery, from earrings and bracelets to brooches for hats, with full-colour, detailed photography to guide you through each process. There is even a gallery of images at the end of the book to inspire you to create your own, bespoke soutache masterpieces. Learn about the history of jewellery crafting and the ever-growing trend for affordable yet stylish costume jewellery, before trying your hand at your own soutache pieces. Begin with the basic techniques of finishing and sewing the cords and inserting pearls and cabochons or cameos, discover the secrets behind coiling your soutache braids to make buttons, then begin to make bracelets, rings, headbands and much more. Your soutache creations will be eye-catching and entirely unique to you!

Donatella Ciotti lives in Pavia, Italy, where she owns a crafts store. She teaches courses on Styrofoam, beadwork, silk ribbon, and flower compositions made with Venetian beads.

Lovely book for both absolute beginners & those who want to improve their skills. Beautiful, large pictures alongside clear instructions on how to do each part. Lots of lovely step-by-step instructions on different projects to try. Highly recommended, whatever your ability. -- Fiona Ashton * Customer Review * had never heard of soutache before I came across this book, but was somewhat fascinated by the intricate design on the front cover. Indeed, there are many more within! I have not yet attempted any of the pieces presented, but the instructions seem clear, with useful photographs for guidance. Lots of projects to craft and a pretty 'gallery of inspiration' to flick through too. -- Myra Armson * Customer Review * I had not tried this before but I enjoy all crafts and this was a very well written book. The instructions are very clear and easy to follow and the photos are very beautiful. -- Elaine Brown * Customer Review * I had not heard of this craft prior to reading through the book, however, it seems it is an old craft; reinvented. I have not tried out the projects yet, however, the book is beautifully presented with precise step by step instruction. At first may feel a little daunted at starting but having read over the instruction again, will not hesitate. Good description of materials and tools needed and the projects give a wide and varied use of the craft. Lovely book. -- Eithne Curbishley * Customer Review * The stunning piece on the front attracted me to the book. I was delighted to see that the projects were broken down into step by step tutorials with pictures which makes it so much easier to try things. Even the more complicated projects look possible to a beginner with the way they are set out. I can't wait to get started and try some out. -- Amanda Mckinlay * Customer Review * Having never heard of this type of craft until I found this book.This Late 19th century seems to be making a comeback on the catwalks in 2012. This craft has huge potential for embellishing garments and accessories. This book shows you all the basic tools, accessories and materials that you need to make these interesting items. The book also shows you all the different techniques that you need to carry out this craft. This wouldn't be my first choice of a craft book but I really enjoyed looking through and learning about a different type of craft that I had never heard off. -- Sian Lawton * Customer Review * The subtitle says it all - use a particular type of braid to make some stunning jewelry and accessories. This is a surprisingly easy to master craft that yields some very professional and high-end appearing results while not costing much money. A winning combination! It is fun to do as well; the ideal thing to do while relaxing in front of the TV once you have the basics right. I learned from another book as this one was not available but out of the books around this is the best one for beginners. All the basic skills are in here with some clear photographic steps and plenty of captions. As with many crafts some of the techniques would not be easy to understand if there were not enough steps but in here no vital stages are omitted. Learn how to prepare the cord, use glue, add beads, sew around a cabochon, make different shapes like leaves and spirals and even use ribbon. There are plenty of projects to tackle from simple buttons through to bracelets, rings and earrings. I was pleased to see my own favorite projects to make are well represented; hair decorations such as headbands and combs. There is even a hat brooch and lampshade decoration showing how versatile soutache can be. As well as beads and stones the author also uses some more unusual materials such as brightly colored rubber tubing and the amazing jewelry made with this are my favorite items in the book. Some projects are shown in more than one colorway, and at the back is a gallery of more advanced work to whet the appetite and show what soutache is capable of once you get more proficient. My only complaint is that in a book squarely aimed at the beginner there is a very complex and advanced piece of work on the cover which is not featured as a project. I would dearly love to see instructions for this but they are not there; a beginner would just be overwhelmed. But maybe it is there to showcase the immense possibilities that this inexpensive and enjoyable craft has for anybody who masters it. * myshelf.com * Many ideas for eye-catching projects, where Soutache braids are combined with beads in high-quality fashion jewelry. In addition to designs for necklaces, bracelets and earrings, the artist shows creative decorations for shoes, bags, hats, hair accessories and more. Both basic knowledge and assembly techniques are taught in the book. 18 projects with step-bystep instructions. * Perlen Poesie *