I beaded this White Tiger for my husband's son Wesh.The pattern was for an amulet,which is available in Jill Oxton's Cross Stitch and Beading Weaving issue no.66.
Being that I wanted to frame it,I added a black beaded background.
The work is beaded with Delica size 11 beads and Nymo thread size D.
I used the Bead Tool program to add a small amount to the bottom of the tiger pattern,to give him a little more roundness,as the pattern had a straight edge,given that it was supposed to be an amulet.
The pattern called for white cotton to be used,but showed between the dark beads,on the shadow side of the image,to overcome this I used Beige.
The black border was done with the black nymo thread,using two threads,one for each side of the tiger.
When reaching the part in the pattern for the tiger,I then swapped to the beige nymo,picking up the second black thread when I reached the other side of the tiger and using it for the black beads.
The threads were interlinked between the border and tiger,by running the white thread of the tiger through a couple of black border beads,always making sure that this was done on the back side of the work.
Where the white nymo thread showed through the black beads,when turning for the next row,I then coloured the white cotton that showed between the black beads with a black coloured felt pen.By slightly parting the beads and colouring the thread.
Took a little bit of time,but I think it was worth it.
The beige worked well,but it did turn the white beads slightly dull,to overcome this problem,when finished,I ran a double white nymo thread size D,through the beads,making sure that it ran in front of the beige thread,this lightened the beads,and it worked a treat.
When doing this part make sure that you use the thinnest beading needle possible,as not to break the beads.
Links
Jill Oxton books are no longer in print,
but you can still find on Ebay.
