I am working on a peyote/brick stitch butterfly i found on a Russian site. I have been able to work the wings pattern from the pictures without any problems, But I have not been able to figure out what the numbers on the body pattern mean (not the 19 which i understand means 19 beads make the antennas). I have seen this on several patterns of butterflies. I have tried several different ways to figure out what the numbers indicate, but nothing i tried worked out to look like the picture of completed butterfly.
The numbers do not seem to correspond with any notes as they are on many different patterns and there is no indication of any notes on any of these patterns. If you have any idea what the numbers mean i would love to hear it. thanks
Wow - my only guess would be bead colour/type. Like our reg patterns say you need so much of seed 11#(A) then x amt of Seeds 11 diff color (B) then maybe delicas color 1 (c) and so forth. know what I mean? Apparently they aren't referring to a quantity, and as you said, no noted anywhere.
Sorry I did not think to add that to the question, This is a regular (although in Russian) pattern. I has a bead legend and a description. All the beads in the pattern are rectangles so i am assuming delicas. The antenna are drawn rounded, i take this to mean regular seed beads, (15° or 11°). This makes me believe that these numbers do not correspond to the bead legend. I have tried to make the body as tubular with the number of beads as the number (see drawing - a 4 is beside a row of 3 beads), and with adding that number of beads in tubular form (7 beads around when the 4 and 3 are added together), The picture of the butterfly's body looks very dimensional. Total number of beads (4) is way too small and looks distorted, and if i add the beads (7) the body is way too big.
I was hoping someone knew the trick to the numbers. I am still hopeful. Thank you for your reply.
StephB@8: Is there someone to contact at the site (origin of pattern)? They would be the best source of information. Hope you get your answers.
05-15-13 (1914 PDT)
Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken. ~ Oscar Wilde
The pattern looks like a picture out of a book, but since i don't read Russian and google.translate.com is only so good, I could not find any original source or email address to ask.
PS how are you coming with the directions for the stitch????
Thanks for the answer.
The number 19 does not mean 19 beads for the antennas. Follow the bead count shown. The body is done in tubular peyote. Don't pay attention to the numbers on the side of the body. The pink and yellow dots indicate wing placement.
It is hard for me to zoom in on the pic. But I am getting 14 beads for the body at the widest part (number 8) is. Work so many rows, then start decreasing. The body is done in size 11 rounds, wings done in Delicas and antennas 15's. you can do the wings and body in 11 rounds. If you use Japanese round 11's the piece will be bigger verses using Czech 11's.
Thank you for your input, but i do disagree about the antenna, in the picture the antenna has a double wavy line with the number 19. This does mean 19 size 15s for the antenna.
I have tried the body in tubular peyote with delicas, (because the picture of the completed butterfly has a dimensional body) but it does not work well the increases and decreases.
I do think the numbers mean something, i just want to know what. These same types of numbers appear in all the butterfly patterns I can find.
With the aid of bing translator, are you able to leave a message/question on the website asking about the numbers?
Number 8 ( row 1 and 2 ) 16 beads, for that row if the graph shows 4 beads (1 light, 2 dark, 1 light , string on 6 light, 2 dark, 6 light, 2 dark. Can't remember the body color on your graph. Row 3 will have 8 beads. The number 6 means, there are 6 beads in that row 2 decreases.The numbers on the side mean how many beads for that row. Decreases are made on the sides of the tube. Even count tubular peyote.
6= 6 beads ( 2 decrease from previous row) so forth
Works up great in Delicas. No increases in the body. Start at widest part.
Now you know what the numbers mean on the graph . Done a lot of Russian patterns.
You can't translate. They scan the pics from Russian mags.
Thanks, I did the body in peyote flat from the pattern and there was no dimension. I did it in tubular peyote with the the side numbers as the total beads in the row and the bug was too small for the wings; I did them as additional number of beads and the bug was too big for wings. Finally i did the bug from my own pattern in herringbone and brick. Looks great.
This pattern did look like a scan from a beading book or magazine. The rest of the pattern is perfectly clear as to what is what, they did a great job on wing placement and the wing pattern. This is the only thing that does not make any sense. And the numbers are on all the butterfly patterns so they must mean something to the Russian beaders that we don't know. Must mean something, was just trying to figure it out.f
Thanks for all your help.
Trust me, the bead count for your body pattern is 16 and even count tubular. The pattern is shown flat like all peyote patterns are.
Since I've read your question, I lost sleep and I digged the net until I found a Russian forum and there is detailed information. So this is not my opinion, but those girls' sayings: the body is weaved with tubular peyote. The numbers definitely indicate the total number of beads per row (front and back, since it's dimensional).
I've noticed something peculiar: almost all the diagrams are shown with rectangles, so we assume they refer to Japanese cylinder beads. But there are photos of their finished butterflies and I see round seed beads. Maybe that's why your body does not fit your wings.
Here's a detailed collage that I hope will be useful for you.
I own some Russian Beaded Butterfly Books. The body is done in a circular peyote stitch. You actually need the steps, to follow the diagrams from the books to be able to follow the diagram you have here.
You could always just bead a thin circular peyote tube and then increase the tube, where it shows the upper body, where the wings are attached. The yellow dots are where the lower wings go and the upper wings are where the pink dots are shown.
All the Russian 3D Beaded Butterfly patterns only use round Seed Beads, for the body and the wings. Delica and Toho Beads do not work properly when beading them. I use Matsuno seed beads, they work beautifully for the butterflies. These beads are also made in Japan.