Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Turkish Flat Bead Crochet with C-Lon Tex 400 Bead Cord



A while ago, I was asked if C-Lon cord would work for Turkish Flat Bead Crochet. I had never heard of Turkish crochet, so I kept it in mind for future research. At the last Pacific International Quilt Festival - PIQF in Santa Clara a few weeks ago, I run into Eilene Cross, a teacher of this craft. She was wearing a neckpiece done with this technique with yarn and decided to try the same design with C-Lon Tex 400 Bead Cord, the heaviest C-Lon Bead Cord. She got a spool and returned to the show to show me her work in progress.



In this close up picture you can see the pattern created by the Turkish Flat Bead Crochet made with Green C-Lon Bead Cord. The background is made of spools of the standard C-Lon Bead Cord...


Eilene came back the next day with her neckpiece completed. She is a lovely person and I decided to take her class. She has a class this Saturday, October 27 at the Lacis Museum of Lace and Textile from 10:30 to 5:30.

Unfortunately I found out yesterday that I have a schedule conflict and will not be able to attend the class. So yesterday evening, slightly upset, I ended up researching Turkish crochet patterns on my own. Here are the first few bracelets I have done with this technique since.

C-Lon Tex 400 Bead Cord, Miyuki Seed Beads Size 5 and 6, a Kollage Square Crochet Hook Size B, some Vintage Italian buttons and voilĂ ...

- > Bracelet Tutorial

- > C-Lon Tex 400 Bead Cord - C-Lon Tex 400 Bead Cord is available in 56 colors now. 16 new colors are arriving soon, bringing the color choices up to 72!


To follow up - I would like to experiment with thinner sizes of C-Lon Bead Cord and gemstone beads... mix it up with other techniques, play around further... see what else I end up with. Also do more research on Oya - Turkish needle lace and crochet... In the meantime these bracelets are fun... and will make nice gifts.

As to the type of crochet being used on these bracelets, it is all standard stitches, slip, chain and single crochet stitches. It is known as Turkish Flat Bead Crochet because it is a traditional pattern used in Anatolia. This region in Turkey is renown for its Oya - needle lace and crochet with beads trims done around scarves. 


4 comments:

karen said...

very nice. so is it similiar to our style of crochet (US). I would like to try the bead and macrame style similiar to knowjustmacrame, Sherry. Is this the cord that would be used for it. I picked up some no 18 nylon (Hilos cord) but i think it might be to thick. again really nice. Karen

Marion Hunziker-Larsen said...

Omega La Espiga Hilos 18 Nylon is thicker and is an un-bonded nylon cord that comes from Mexico. It is used to make the beautiful colorful hammocks available in all the beach resort in Mexico. It is also great for crocheted purses. I have link to one of the US suppliers of these cords on the nylon page of my online store at http://www.store.jewelsinfiber.com/nylontc.html. Go to the very bottom of the page under TNC (Thread Naming Confusion).

Whereas the bracelets done here are made with bonded nylon Tex 400. The size that used to be called Nylon #18 in the bonded nylon is thinner yet it is the standard size of C-Lon Bead Cord and is Tex 210. C-Lon comes in 4 sizes of 3-ply bonded nylon and in 2 sizes of mono cord known as Thread Size D and AA. These last two are very thin Tex 45 and 35 respectively.

Reckless Beading said...

How interesting to see how this technique has spread since I brought it back from Turkey in 2007. I learned it from a Turkish shopkeeper in Ephesus who spoke very little English; I spoke no Turkish but we managed to communicate with our hands.
I named it Turkish Flat Crochet because I had to call it something when I taught the technique but I learned later that it is an oya (lace) technique called Snakes Bone. You can see my original free tutorial and photos of out trip to Turkey, where I spoke at a bead conference at www.beadcrochetsnakes.com.

Marion Hunziker-Larsen said...
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