When I was a novice beader there were two times during the year that were just perfect for me to learn new stitches or techniques – the dog days of summer when heat, humidity, and ozone levels were unbearable, and the month of January when exposing your body to sub-zero temperatures and wind chills was inadvisable. During these times I would gladly stay inside and immerse myself in a new project – usually taken from the latest issue of Bead&Button.

I didn’t always complete the project and often tore apart whole sections of stitching. But that didn’t bother me because I was practicing and perfecting a technique that was not in my beading repertoire. Over time I gained a working knowledge of the basic stitches and could modify them as needed.

I now use these skills every day in my job as Bead&Button associate editor. But every now and then I find I’ve forgotten one little part of a technique because I haven’t worked in that stitch for awhile. Editing the projects for Bead&Button provides me with many opportunities to practice a wide variety of stitches in both their original and/or modified versions. No two issues ever feature the same mix of projects so you can have the same opportunity as myself and the rest of the editors to perfect your stitching techniques.

Taking time to learn new stitches and technique keeps the challenge in making bead jewelry. Have you learned a new stitch this summer? If you haven’t, take a little time and improve your beading repertoire. You’ll be rewarded with the ability to tackle that project you always thought was beyond your skill level. Have fun with your summer challenge.