KUMIHIMO WITH BEADS FOR THE WIN

The winner of the Facet Jewelry Making Madness Tournament is KUMIHIMO WITH BEADS!

All the way back on March 12, we started this wild ride and put forth to you, our readers, 64 different jewelry-making techniques. We broke the techniques down into four different divisions, and pitted them against each other in polls on Facebook. 

Thousands of you voted in dozens of different Facebook polls, and we had so much fun seeing the results come in! 

But the fun couldn't last forever (even if it sometimes felt like it!) Over five weeks, you eliminated 63 different techniques in brutal head-to-head competitions that have provided so many surprising upsets!
We want to celebrate your love of Kumihimo, so we'll be posting extra projects and articles on Kumi here on Facet over the next few weeks. Here's a few that have gone up so far this week:

5 questions with kumihimo artist Sally Battis, two-time winner of the Facet Design Challenge

Over the Rainbow kumihimo bracelet, a project by Adrienne Gaskell, our own Facet Advisory Board kumihimo specialist

Kumihimo dragonfly necklace, a project by Sally Battis

A focal bead kumihimo bracelet designed by Shirley Moore, perfect for beginners

A two-part guide to the terminology and supplies that you'll need to become a kumihimo expert, from Adrienne Gaskell

and more to come!

Want to look back on the entire bracket? Download the PDF (that won't quite fit on our page!). It's a fascinating look at all of the techniques that our readers love. 

The following techniques won each of the four divisions:

The Bead Stitching Division: Hubble stitch

The Fiber and Cord Division: Kumihimo with beads 

Wire, Clays, and Mixed Media Division: Making your own chain

Metalwork Division: Roll Printing

In the final round, Making your own chain went head-to-head with Kumihimo with beads to determine the way our readers best love to make jewelry. A hearty final congratulations to our winner, Kumihimo with beads!

Bracket Number One is the STITCHING DIVISION!

FINAL FOUR! (4/10/18)

Drum roll please: the winner of the STITCHING DIVISION for 2018 is.....  HUBBLE STITCH!

It defeated Odd-count Peyote in our Tournament by a margin of 66% to 34%. We had no idea that Melanie de Miguel had so many fans out there! Stay tuned to Facet later this week where we'll touch base with Melanie herself to learn more about the technique that she invented. 

Hubble Stitch advances to the Final Four where it will take on KUMIHIMO WITH BEADS. 

SWEET SIXTEEN!! (4/2/18)

Wow, bead stitchers, you are full of surprises! Will anything be able to stop the mighty Hubble stitch? Albion stitch put up a valiant effort but alas was defeated , and then in the next round, Hubble took down Even-count peyote with ease. Will it be able to stave off Odd-count peyote in the Elite Eight to win the Stitching Division outright and move on to the Final Four??

We also said goodbye to Brick stitch, Spiral stitch and St. Petersburg chain in the Round of 32, and St. Pete was knocked out in the Sweet Sixteen. 

SECOND ROUND UPDATE (3/20/18)

There were some HUGE surprises in Round One of the Stitching Division! While we predicted that Odd-count peyote would prove more popular than Herringbone, not a single person on staff would have guessed that Hubble stitch would take down Bead Embroidery! And by a huge margin: 78% to 22% in our Facebook voting!

And another less-common technique, Albion stitch, certainly has some fans out there! It knocked Chevron chain out of the tournament by a comfortable margin. I'm sure that Heather Kingsley-Heath is pleased to know that!

There are some good showdowns in this next round of voting. Hubble and Albion go head-to-head, as do St. Petersburg chain and Daisy chain! It's gonna be interesting...

FIRST ROUND CHALLENGERS (3/13/18)

Are you a jewelry maker who only works in beads and thread? Whether it's seed beads or two-hole beads, we want to know your favorite stitch.

Will the dark horse #14 seed Hubbell Stitch be able to knock off the heavily-favored #3 Bead Embroidery? I know Julia's rooting for #4 Daisy Chain to advance, but does it stand a chance against the #13 seed Netting??

This next division is a bit of a catch-all as far as techniques go, but that's what makes it so exciting! What will rise triumphant in the WIRE, CLAYS, AND MIXED MEDIA DIVISION?

FINAL FOUR (4/10/18)

This was such a fun division to watch, as it featured so many diverse jewelry-making techniques. It was a very close match in the Elite Eight, the closest of all of the divisions, but the technique that advances to the Final Four is..... MAKING YOUR OWN CHAIN!

45% of you love to work in Silver Metal Clay, but apparently ten percent more of you like a unique way so set off your pendants. 

Chain making will now go head-to-head in the Final Four with another Cinderella surprise out of the Metalwork Division: ROLL PRINTING. 

SWEET SIXTEEN!! (4/2/18)

We saw some great matchups in the Round of 32 where Silver metal clay emerged victorious over Canework and millefiori, and then moved on to eliminate Resin in a bezel in the Sweet Sixteen! Ceramic and porcelain beads had some solid votes that kept them alive into the Sweet Sixteen, but Making your own chain seems to be the technique to beat in this quadrant of the bracket!

SECOND ROUND UPDATES (3/20/18)

We had an unexpected surprise in this round: a dead heat between Silver metal clay and Bronze and Copper clays.  The Facebook poll ended in a tie, so I eliminated my own vote and that means Silver advances. 

But the true shocker here is in the bottom bracket where Chain mail was knocked out in the First Round by Making Your Own Chain! Personally, I had Chain mail going to the Final Four in my bracket, so I'm a bit upset. Not that there's any gambling going on amongst the staff....

This next round sets up some interesting pairings: what do you prefer to put in a bezel: Polymer clay or Resin? I already have my vote ready to go. 

FIRST ROUND CHALLENGERS (3/13/18)

We're going to see a lot of favorite techniques get knocked out very early in this division, it's pretty competitive!  Who do we think will survive the first round?

I know I'm rooting for the #6 seed Using paper, fiber or fabric in jewelry to have a strong showing here, but do we think it will be able to beat an obvious favorite, #15 Chain mail if they were to meet in the Elite Eight??

OK, all you people out there working in leather, soutache, embroidery and macrame! Can you knock the mighty Kumihimo out of contention?

Take a look at the pairings in the first round of the FIBER & CORD DIVISION!

FINAL FOUR! (4/10/18)

KUMIHIMO WITH BEADS. The Fiber & Cord enthusiasts have spoken. 

No other technique really stood a chance in this bracket, although Making Tassels certainly held on longer than we thought it would. 

But can Kumi stand up against the runaway train that is HUBBLE STITCH in the Final Four? The voting will be amazing to watch!

SWEET SIXTEEN! (4/2/18)

We knew that some version of kumihimo was going to advance to the Final Four, but there is still one battle that remains: Kumihimo WITH beads, or without?? Kumihimo on the marudai was knocked out in the Round of 32, so we know our readers prefer to use a disk when they braid. But do they like to incorporate beads, or just go with cord? We'll find out on Facebook this week in this Elite Eight matchup!

We finally say goodbye to Making tassels this round, as well as Pearl knotting and Shibori and other ribbons. 

SECOND ROUND UPDATE (3/20/18)

Well, the only techniques standing between Kumihimo advancing all the way to the Elite Eight are Leatherwork, Shibori or Tassels. But what type of kumi will it be? On the marudai or on the disk? Kongoh GUmi or Kumi with beads? 

This voting bracket is going to be the one to watch!. 

FIRST ROUND CHALLENGERS (3/13/18)

Do we think that the time for #3 Making tassels has finally passed? Are we ready to see the breakthrough in the #11 seed, traditional Cross-stitch or thread embroidery, making its way into jewelry? I think yes!

THE METALWORK DIVISION match-ups are as hot as a torch! 

FINAL FOUR (4/10/18)

Well, it turns out that you metalsmiths out there really love your rolling mills! by a margin of 58% to 42%, ROLL PRINTING has defeated Soldering to advance to the Final Four!

It will be very interesting to see what hapens in the final showdown for this half of the bracket, as Roll Printing next goes head-to-head with the technique that closed out the Wire, Clays, and Mixed Media Division: MAKING YOUR OWN CHAIN.  Can't wait!

SWEET SIXTEEN!! (4/2/18)

Some interesting results over here in the metalsmithing studio! More enameling techniques drop out of the Tournament, as Torch enameling is defeated by Etching, and Cloisonne/basse taille/ champleve loses out in a tight poll to Roll printing. This set up the battle of the texturing techniques: do you etch or do you roll?? Apparently, you ROLL (print, that is). 

And in the bottom half of the bracket, Dapping defeated Bezel setting in a tight contest but then went on to lose in a major way to Soldering.  

Soldering (which, by the way, defeated Riveting by a margin of 72% to 28%!!) versus Roll printing in the Elite Eight. May the best tool win!!

SECOND ROUND UPDATES (3/20/18)

OK, Facet readers, you've devastated me. Kiln enameling is OUT in the First Round. And to lose to Torch enameling?? I'm shaking my head.

But I'm glad to see you enameling purists are still out there, as Cloisonné, Basse Taille or Champleve has advanced to the next round where it will go head-to-head with texturing metal with a rolling mill. I do love my rolling mill, not sure how I'll be able to choose on this one!

Soldering versus Riveting is going to be the match to keep your eye on this round!

FIRST ROUND CHALLENGERS (3/13/18)

You metalsmiths are tough to predict. For every jewelry maker who swears that sawing is relaxing, there are two more who swear that a metal shears is the only way to go. There's the soldering camp v. the cold connections camp. What technique will triumph? 

COME ON #9 KILN ENAMELING! Let's get to the Big Dance!

COME JOIN IN THE FUN! 

Don't forget: Polls will be running on all of our Facebook pages over the next few weeks. Be sure to like us on the pages that best suit your jewelry-making interests!

The Facet Facebook page covers every type of jewelry making. This is the home of our monthly Design Challenge, our occasional Facebook Live videos, and the very best place to learn more about the vast variety of content that the Facet website has to offer. 

The Bead & Button Facebook page, in addition to being the social media home for the print magazine, is where we promote the stitching projects on Facet! We post projects at every level, utilizing both two-hole and seed beads.

The Facet: Stringing Facebook page is where we promote beading projects with larger beads and components, and also many wire and mixed media projects. This is a great space for the beginner jewelry maker to learn some of the ins and outs of our craft!

The Facet: Metal & Wire Facebook page is for all you people out there working in copper, silver, brass, bronze and even gold and platinum! Projects, techniques, gallery exhibitions, and more all find a home on this page. 

Be sure to Follow us today!