FASHION

At left: Some of the ornate detail from a completed, handmade beaded bag.

Opposite page: Just some of the raw materials needed for a purse project.

Below: Laurie Winston shows off some of the creations at Bead Works.

MODERN BEADS

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ooking for a more contemporary beaded bag? Franklin-native Julie Binder creates beau-

' tifully-beaded designs she manufactures in China and sells around the United States.

During a year off to travel, Binder fell in love with some pretty beaded bags in Hanoi,

Vietnam, and brought a few back as gifts. Initially interested in importing them, she later

decided to set up her own label and create her own designs. Jules Handbags is the result.

They are available in nine different designs, all sleek and beaded, with a signature baby

blue satin lining, removable pocket mirror and black dustbag.

Currently a third-grade teacher in Brooklyn, N.Y., Binder finds inspiration for her patterns

everywhere, from a flower to a favorite bathing suit pattern. "I'll go to the bead store and

find colors I like, and then send them to the factory. They send me back similar colors they

are able to find," she says. All nine styles are special-occasion purses, although Binder is

hoping to expand into everyday bags.

Jules Handbags are available at lmelda's Closet, Roz & Sherm, and Baggit. For information,
go to www.julesstyle.com

KNIT 1,
BEAD 2

That snappy little masterpiece
is a work of art.

BY LISA BRODY

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANGIE BAAN

eautifully beaded antique
purses have been an ultra-
desirable fashion col-
lectible the last decade or so, often
with redone beaded straps. The
demand for straps were the first
entrée into the creation of bags for
Bead Works, a store in Franklin
Village. Soon, adventurous beaders
wanted something more: to create
their own masterpieces by knitting
one-of-a-kind, antique-looking
beaded purses.
"We had a lot of seed beads, and we
figured ladies could make their own,"
says Bead Works designer Laurie
Winston of West Bloomfield. "But the

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books we found had instructions writ-
ten in 1887, and were impossible to
understand.
"We looked for newer patterns that
are easier to understand, and they were
full of mistakes. That's when I decided
to take a few books home and try to
rewrite the instructions into patterns
that our customers could knit and
understand."
An experienced knitter as well as
beader, Winston in four years has creat-
ed 12 patterns (that have been test-knit-
ted, and then knitted again, for accura-
cy's sake). She and her colleagues help
knitters choose from a variety of #8
perle cotton thread colors, seed beads in

different colors and cuts, and help them
knit on 0000-size needles, which 100
years ago were called "knitting pins."
Bead Works also sells antique and
reproduction frames, and can help an
experienced knitter from first cast on
to final bind off. Beaded bags are not
recommended projects for new knitters
The purses have been extremely
popular. "We've sold about 2,000 pat-
terns," says Winston.
An early devotee was Cindy
Babcock of Royal Oak, who wanted a
small project, and discovered a second
career. "I always loved to knit, but I

never liked how things fit," she says.
"My first purse took me 2 1 /, days to
make, and I loved it. And I didn't have
to worry about it not fitting!"
Hooked on knitting beaded purses,
and looking for more complicated pat-
terns, Babcock began creating her own
intricate designs and searching for
antique frames. "I started making
purses as gifts for people. Around the
time I started, a lot of friends were
turning 50. I would make one for a
friend, and they would love it, and ask
me if I could make one for them to
give to a friend," she recalls.