Recreating an antique seed pearl piece

[dmj]

haha great to see this post i was bidding on the original on ebay only i stopped at 600 nice your making something like this it should be quite some work , good luck !

 

[Joyful Grow]

1100USD. I think the labor cost is more than pearl beads value. Design is wonderful, it is not hard to finish, but it will spend much time.

 

[Joyful Grow]

Wait!! why not try some colorful pearls? maybe more beautiful.

 

[lisa c]

I love the way that idea popped into your head, Joyful! I love color too. This design could be done many beautiful ways.

 

[Kithplana]

Well, it's been a while, but I haven't given up on the project -- I've been busy with numerous other projects, as usual. But I always swing back around, and knowing that I have enough of the tiniest pearls to finish the project (or I should!) helps...



I've made good progress here. The midsized pearls at the tip of the stem were kind of a pain, but I ran the doubled carrier thread back through the second to last pearl and wrapped everything up tight with the attachment thread.



And all the pearls are on! The loose threads will all be glued down to the back. Silk is, for lack of a better word, boingy at this scale, and knots can't be trusted to stay knotted for very long.



A shot of the messy back before gluing. A toothpick, some small scissors, and a bottle of PVA later, and...



...the first piece is complete!

I haven't made any progress with modeling the other pieces yet. I know that I'll need to scale up this piece, which is easy, but I've been putting off the circular pieces. They're not flat, so I have to work out how to warp the meshes and join them together at the right place. Meanwhile, I still have the mirror image of this piece to start.

 

[Marianne]

Awesome, so very lovely! Have you considered using Nymo? It is nylon and comes in some very fine diameters and can be easily knotted... just an idea.

 

[Kithplana]

I've just begun to consider silk's favorite long-term activity -- disintegration. I may investigate Nymo Even though it won't be subject to the stresses of a strand of pearls, I'd still rather prolong the life of the work.

 

[Katbran]

Wow I'm really impressed ! What a lot of work! That looks lovely, well done! So glad you posted, I wondered about this the other day

 

[Ash]

Coming along Quite Nicely!! Keep up the Fantastic work!

 

[Amrita]

Looking lovely! Keep going!

 

[pattye]

A gorgeous piece! We're cheering you on, and looking forward to more elements~

 

[bluidragon]

The pictures, the graphs, and the pearls are amazing. Watching this Thread is a real treat. What you are doing is a technically difficult craft. My admiration goes out to you Kithplana. You are tempting the ages of their marvels. congrats.

 

[amti]

I'm just bumping this thread up because it is pretty awesome what the OP created!