Technique Experience Laboratory #1 FALBE: Bead Crochet That Sparkles in the Light

The process by which things are made is a sight we rarely get to see in our everyday lives. When we hear about the difficult techniques of skilled artisans, or the time-consuming steps involved, it's easy for our understanding to stop at mere imagination. This is something we, the staff who regularly hear detailed stories from makers and the people actually crafting these items, feel just as strongly. So we thought, "Why don't we have staff actually try it themselves?" This time, we were fortunate enough to visit a shop and take part in an actual hands-on production experience. For the first installment of our Technique Experience Laboratory, we headed to FALBE, the bead brand from MIYUKI, a Japanese company dealing in glass beads, to try our hand at bead crochet.

Heading to BEADS FACTORY in Asakusabashi, Tokyo

The shop is located a three-minute walk from the west exit of Asakusabashi Station, in Tokyo's old downtown district. Asakusabashi has long thrived as a wholesalers' district, and the area around it is home to many shops selling clothing accessories and notions, including beads. Amid all this, a brick-toned building standing along the main street was the setting for today's visit.

We were greeted by K-san and S-san, both deeply knowledgeable about beads. Just looking at the items they carry, you can sense their passion for beads.

K-san's card case is made of bead weaving.

S-san wears earrings she made herself, using beads.

Both of them readily agreed to our request for this bead-making experience, saying, "That sounds fun, let's definitely do it!" Since we would be learning an extremely difficult knitting technique, they even lent our staff crochet hooks and practice beads ahead of time so we could prepare. First, let us explain what bead crochet is.

What Is Bead Crochet?

What we were taught this time was the knitting method used for FALBE's crochet bracelets, a product ZUTTO has carried for a long time. "Crochet" comes from the French word for hook-knitting, and the technique involves threading beads onto a cord beforehand and then knitting them together.

Six beads are arranged around each round, tightly knitted together so that they interlock in a zigzag pattern. The beads themselves measure just 1.5mm—so small that hardly any place even manufactures beads of this size, let alone knits with them.

These bracelets are made by artisans in Bali, Indonesia. Most of them are farming mothers who live in a rural area about a two-hour drive from Denpasar Airport in Bali. Since farm work can't be done when it rains, some twenty to thirty women gather at the village meeting hall on those days to work part-time. There have even been cases where delivery deadlines were delayed because a typhoon blew the roof off a building, but it's easy to imagine these Balinese artisans carefully and joyfully crafting the bracelets in between their farm work.

The Balinese artisans, once experienced, can knit the beads without even looking at their hands. Even so, it's said that it takes a skilled artisan three hours to complete one bracelet. What's more, since production takes place in just a single village, there's a fixed limit to how many bracelets can be made in a month—making this a truly luxurious bracelet.

The Crochet Bead-Knitting Experience—Preparation and Steps

With that, we got straight into the experience. Our teacher for the day was S-san, who also works as an instructor at MIYUKI's bead craft classes. She encouraged us, saying, "This is a difficult bead-knitting technique that we don't even usually teach in our regular classes, but let's do our best together."

First, let's introduce the tools used and the steps involved.

Tools used:

【Beads】This time we used beads with a diameter of 3mm. The crochet bracelet products sold at ZUTTO use beadsthat are half this size, at 1.5mm.

【Crochet hook】Used to knit the cord once the beads have been threaded onto it. In practice, rather than a typical crochet hook, what's actually used is a lace crochet hook as thin as a needle.

【Knitting thread】A strong nylon thread. The color changes the impression of the finished piece, but this time we chose a deep brown shade.

Left: the 3mm beads used this time. Right: the 1.5mm beads used in the crochet bracelets. The difference in size is immediately obvious.

The process seems simple at first glance—【thread the beads onto the cord】→【knit the beaded cord into a spiral】—but how would it actually go?

1. Threading the Beads onto the Cord

We began with the task of threading beads onto the cord.The beads needed for a crochet bracelet add up to 2 meters' worth, but this time we threaded 60 centimeters' worth. Watching the staff thread the beads one by one by hand, with a huge pile of beads spread out on the table in front of them, S-san offered some advice: "When threading beads onto the cord, try plunging the needle into the pile of beads, almost stabbing at it."

Staff: "The beads are threading onto the cord much more easily now! Even just threading 60 centimeters' worth turned out to be quite a task."

2. Knitting the First Six Stitches

"Until you get used to it, the beginning is the hardest part. Let me show you an example first, so please watch closely."

First, you make a loop in the knitting thread and pass the crochet hook through it. Bringing the beads in one at a time, you hook the thread with the crochet hook and knit, forming a ring of six beads.

① Bring one bead close to the loop.

② Hook the crochet hook onto the thread.

③④ Pull the thread through the loop as it is, forming one stitch.

S-san knitted slowly while explaining each step. That completed one stitch. Watching S-san continue knitting with impressive speed, the staff couldn't help but exclaim, "That's fast!"—and then took on the challenge of the first row (six stitches) themselves.

Even staff members with knitting experience struggled with this meticulous work. Needles kept slipping out, or they hooked in the wrong direction, and they had to redo it many times.

3. Knitting beads on top of beads

The crochet technique being attempted this time forms a tube shape. To make a tube, the beads need to be knitted in a spiral. "To create the spiral, you need to knit so that the beads sit on top of the six beads you just knitted. The method is almost the same, but if you don't knit correctly, it can cause the shape to collapse or stitches to be skipped."

The process of "gathering a single bead, pulling through, and knitting" is repeated in the same way.

The staff member also struggled, saying "This is really difficult..." Stitch by stitch, they knitted carefully, checking each one.

The staff became absorbed in both the loveliness of the beads and the difficulty of bead crochet. Meanwhile, the editorial team went to learn more about the crochet bracelet that had inspired this whole experience.

Learning how to style a crochet bracelet

While the difficulty proved greater than expected and the staff continued knitting beads, we had the chance to hear in detail about the crochet bracelet from Ms. K of MIYUKI, who knows FALBE well.

The loop is indeed made slim, but in fact men can wear it too. I myself can easily slip my arm through it. (You put it on by rolling it on starting from your fingertips.)

No, actually it doesn't break easily. This bracelet uses high-strength nylon knitting thread, and that thread is knitted firmly with a crochet hook, so it has some stretch while remaining sturdy. For example, when you pull on a knit sweater, the stitches stretch a bit, but the yarn itself doesn't snap—it's the same principle. Of course, if it's pulled forcefully or used in an unintended way, there's some possibility of damage, but with normal use, there's no need to worry.

Thank you. When people try one on, they can feel firsthand the quality of each individual bead and the fineness of the knitting, which often leads them to come back for more. Since the material is glass, it rarely causes allergic reactions, so it also makes a perfect gift.

Tokusho beads, whose round shape is so charming

Delica beads give a sharp, refreshing impression.

The Crochet Knitting Experience 〜Completion〜

About two hours have passed since the crochet knitting experience began. Here is what was completed.

The knitted beads. This time it's a single color, but apparently, mixing multiple colors or creating patterns requires an even more intricate process.

With Ms. S's help, the staff member managed to knit about 4cm. "I've gotten a sense of the steps, but the more I learn, the more respect I have for the artisans in Bali who make these. It's hard to believe—this is so difficult even with beads twice the size," the staff member said. The experience ended here, and later Ms. S turned the finished piece into a brooch for us.

Once 60cm of bead thread is fully knitted, it becomes a donut shape about 4cm in diameter. After that, she attached the fittings.

The finished piece

Here is the completed piece (below). When placed next to the Crochet Bracelet Solid (Gold Iris) (above) in the same color, which ZUTTO also carries, its fine detail is truly striking once again.

It became a lovely brooch.

Even for someone experienced in crochet, bead crochet proved to be quite a struggle. Ms. S, who taught us the technique this time, also said, "The genuine crochet bracelet requires even more skill than what we made today, so I don't think I could knit it at the same speed either." Going through this experience firsthand became an opportunity to rediscover the appeal of the luxurious crochet bracelet, born from a combination of high skill and quality beads.

FALBE's bead accessories, where you can feel the delicate handwork

For instance, the thrill of putting on bead accessories is similar to that of applying makeup or nail art. The first time I secretly took a lipstick from my mother's vanity and tried it on, or when I painted my pinky nail with polish bought with my own allowance, I somehow felt like I'd become a different person. Surely that same feeling arises when wearing sparkling bead accessories—that uplifting sensation unique to women, distinct even from wearing clothes, is a truly small thing, but it can sometimes become like a talisman that gives you confidence. This may be related to the fact that the word "beads" has its etymological roots in "prayer." In ancient times, people offered prayers to nature—the sun, the moon, and beyond—to protect themselves from disaster and to pray for happiness. Hidden behind this etymology is the fact that beads existed not merely as decoration, but alongside people's prayers and wishes.

If choosing your first crochet bracelet, which one should you pick?

There are so many designs and colors of crochet bracelets that it's hard to know which to choose. When we asked K-san, "Which color would you recommend for a first bracelet?", she recommended the two below.

Crochet Bracelet DELICA (Light Tea Rose)

Crochet Bracelet Solid (Sparkle Beige)

"For those picking up this bracelet for the first time, I think a color that blends well with the skin and makes it look bright and beautiful is best. I'd also recommend pairing it with a silver bangle." That's what she told us. The Crochet Bracelet DELICA (Light Tea Rose), with its refreshing delica beads catching the light, and the Crochet Bracelet Solid (Sparkle Beige), which sparkles and shimmers, are both perfect for the coming season. Clear blues and whites are also fun to coordinate with your outfits.

Top: Aqua Blue, Bottom: Crystal Silver

This bracelet has many repeat customers, and surprisingly, those who come back tend to choose patterned designs or brighter colors.

Crochet Bracelet Spiral

Crochet Bracelet Diamond

Crochet Bracelet Random

A piece whose delicate design catches the eye. Perhaps it's chosen precisely because customers have come to know the quality of the beads and the wonderful design.

From top: Chitose Green, Pale Green, Opera Mauve. A collection of delicate, refined colors creates a noble atmosphere.

From top: Matte Gray, Matte Sea Green. A calm, settled impression

Round and cute, like a little marble. Beaded ball earrings with a girlish charm

Earrings with a simple, adorable round motif, like tiny nuts or berries. The swaying ball of each earring is made entirely of beads. The sparkling beads catch the light, while the matte beads sometimes add a touch of color like a blush, making the skin look bright and radiant.

From top: Silver, Matte Red, Matte Turquoise

The beaded balls catch the light beautifully, yet the size is perfectly balanced for easy everyday wear by adult women.

Even a striking long necklace takes on a delicate impression when made with beads

Bunch Necklace 2 has a soft, gentle color palette. A necklace with so many strands might seem too flashy for everyday wear, but with beads, that's not a problem. The name "Bunch Necklace" comes from "Bunch = to gather into a bundle”. It's a necklace made by bundling together many strands of beads threaded on string. By combining beads with different qualities of light reflection—round beads, bugle beads, three-cut beads, delica beads, and more—a variety of sparkle is created. This is a necklace we'd love for you to add to outfits that feel "a little plain"—from thin knits and cut-and-sew tops to blouses and T-shirts.

Pearl Gray combines gray beads with beads that shimmer like pearls.

Camel Gold is both gorgeous and gentle in impression.

>> Other FALBE products can be found here

The beautiful yet fleeting world of beads proved deeper the more we learned about it. BEADS FACTORY, who kindly let us experience this today, regularly holds bead craft classes. Please do stop by and visit.

▽BEADS FACTORY

▽The FALBE brand page can be found here