Stitchboard Admin message #2
Re: creating a beading pattern
March 30, 2015 at 12:22:31 AM  (in response to SusanO message #1)
 
Sue,

Welcome! 

Using a photograph for something as small as a cuff bracelet isn't impossible, but may prove to be very challenging.  If you take a large image and try to make it very small for something like a bracelet, you run the chance of losing all definition in your pattern, where your photo turns into blobs, rather than defined shapes.

Also, as you've noticed, the freePatternWizard only asks for the desired width.  Once it has the width, it will make the length according to the size of the image, so there will be no distortion.  If you were to set your own length according to what you want, you'd likely end up with a very elongated or very squashed image.  That's why the freePatternWizard does the calculations, so the aspect ratio of the image is always correct and there is no distortion.

As for the exact number of beads, that depends on which beads you're using.  For instance, 11/0 beads in Delica, Japanese seed beads and Czech seed beads will measure very differently from each other, despite the 11/0 designation.  (I hate to say it, but I've even had 11/0 Delicas measure differently from other 11/0 Delicas, where one color had thicker beads than another!)  The best thing to do is to work your stitch and see the count of your beads, similar to working what's called a swatch in knitting or crochet.  You can then decide what your measurements will be to fit the size of wrist for which you want to make your pattern...adult, child, etc. 

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