I’ve been thinking a lot about jewelry design lately. Working with so many great designs here, I can’t help but be inspired to try making a project my way. Or I’ll get an idea from a technique that one designer uses, and I’ll start thinking about the creative possibilities of that stitch or technique. Right now, Hatsumi Oshitani’s “Swirling sun” necklace (our August 2008 cover story) has me inspired. Not only does she do something new and different with St. Petersburg chain, but her project taught me a new type of herringbone. I love the way these two stitches work together, and I’d like to come up with something new of my own.
My design process usually starts with me making tons of sketches on scrap paper. I’m not very good at drawing, but my little circles and lines help me figure out if my ideas will work. I can start thinking about lines and proportion, and decide which sizes and types of beads I’ll use when I start to experiment. When I do stringing projects, I’ll grab my beads and get right to it, but stitching projects often require a little mathematical thinking, and I like to work out some potential problems before the thread and needle come out. Right now I’m inspired by the stitches, and I’ll choose colors and materials that will work well with the pattern –– but if I start with the beads, my process would only be a little different. Instead of asking, “What beads would show off this stitch?” I’d ask, “What stitch would show off these beads?”
What about you? Do you start with sketches or do you jump right in with your beads and thread? How long do you experiment before you settle on a design?