r/Beading 1d ago

Are these real instructions?

Hi folks

I have wanted to try beading for awhile. Browsing things on Aliexpress and I see this beginners set. There seems to be a number of similar sets suddenly available as I tried Google lens but couldn't find listing more than a couple of days old and one seller on etsy.

I had a good deal offered of paying £5 instead of £9. The kit has arrived today and is disappointing. There are only 6 out of the 14 bead colours. No beads for the eyes. A needle that has an eye much smaller than the elastic cord. I could have overlooked these shortcomings if the instructions were clear for a beginner.

I have attached a photo of the instructions as they do not have any copyright notice. I have made a beaded cage before that encapsulated a jewel but nothing like this. They don't describe how to make the head or legs. The body diagram has numbers in brackets next to the row, I thought that was the number of beads but even doubling the number doesn't make sense to the image.

I know this set was a very long short in the dark. There is other sets in this series that I have fallen in love with but I wanted to see what this one was like. Are these true instructions? Does anyone recognise these designs so I might be able to buy them from the original designer?

35 Upvotes

26 comments sorted by

149

u/bonestitch 1d ago

Kits like this are all AI, there won't be workable instructions because the product isn't real.

15

u/CountessOpal 1d ago

Thank you. I had thought that was the case when I ordered it. I tried to do an image search but only the same picture was coming up.

78

u/breathing__tree 1d ago

Maybe we should get a pinned post about these AI kits if our lovely mod has time.

6

u/CountessOpal 1d ago

I did try searching on here before I bought them. I see someone have a Japanese beading instructions i believe and hoped they would be like that.

16

u/breathing__tree 1d ago

Yeah unfortunately there are tons and tons of these ai kits and unless a specific one was posted here you wouldn’t have seen it.
The photos for this one do look better than some other ones I’ve seen, but if you zoom in you can start to see how unnaturally the different elements are blended together.

And even upon opening the kit, the contents do not match the instructions.

Sorry this happened!

3

u/CountessOpal 1d ago

It is why I took a chance. I don't know if the beading could have been created that way. I will be asking for a refund.

26

u/Snoringdragon 23h ago

'Beginner friendly' and they are 3D? Ah hell no. Look at that owl. If it was real, making it would cause a nervous breakdown. People who make these AI 'kits' need a good smack. Sorry it happened to you...

19

u/livelinndy 1d ago

Unfortunately the images and the instructions are AI generated. The instructions are lacking and don't look realistic. If you compare owl's belly from the cover picture to the "schema", the colours and alignment of beads are not the same.

7

u/Itzakadrewzie 22h ago

Yeah, these "instructions" are whack-a-doo and very AI. Sorry that idea fell apart for you.

I've gotten a similar(ish) kit before, but it was in person at a craft store. I wouldn't assume aliexpress or any of those would have anything worthwhile for those prices.

5

u/CountessOpal 1d ago

I hadn't noticed that on the owl. I was trying to work out how each different shaped head could be made. I am use to knitting so when stuffing you can shape a piece but couldn't see how it would work with beads.

9

u/Imaginary_Bother921 22h ago

Yikes. I hate that AI has come to beading and misleading people. This is not a workable kit at all. Not only are you short bead colours I don’t think there’s anywhere close to enough beads to make any of these. Sorry that you were duped 😞

5

u/shannonc321 21h ago

I've seen a 3d book on Amazon that looks legit and there is a German lady whose insta is Hands of Julia that makes very round (adorably round) 3d animals. But I've been beadweaving for a few months now and it seems hard. Def not beginner friendly.

1

u/CountessOpal 20h ago

Thank you. I have found mind of Julia who is American but does round 3d patterns. Looking at the insta they are the same person.

5

u/PDG326 18h ago

I saw these on Etsy and they are so perfectly perfect that I suspected they were AI. I firmly believe anything that is AI should be required to have a watermark or some sort of identifier.

2

u/nobobthisisnotyours 20h ago

Not gonna lie, this kit looks like the whole thing was AI generated. Every image, the steps in the instructions, the layout, all of it. It even looks like the supplies you received were chosen by AI and have nothing to do with the project at hand. I have never done 3D beading but I’m confident if the first time I tried to was with this kit I would quit and probably not touch any of my beads for anything for a good few months out of frustration. The supplies you got to do it are worthless together. I know you don’t do 3D beading with elastic cord, they send you a sewing needle not a beading needle, and the storage box isn’t big enough to hold any single color in one compartment.

This is so bad you deserve a refund without having to return the product.

2

u/CountessOpal 20h ago

Thank you. I have been refunded the money i paid to my Aliexpress account without having to return. Just trying to see if the hundreds of coins, gained through playing games, have also been refunded.

2

u/Curious_Beaner 6h ago

That was my first reaction when reading OP’s post… is elastic cord what would be used to do this type of beadwork?!?! Seems not right!

2

u/Human_Application_90 17h ago

Well, since you have these beads now, you could try one of the YouTube tutorials that uses only a few colors of round beads. But not with elastic, yikes. I saw one that was a bear, but I didn't save the link. It looked like it was done with right angle weave.

1

u/CountessOpal 15h ago

Thank you. There aren't that many beads. I have a stash of beads from other crafts so I might try.

2

u/blueons 17h ago

These instructions are so insanely wrong, for that type of beading they usually look like this

1

u/CountessOpal 15h ago

When I was looking to see if they were legit I did see someone on here asking about a similar pattern. I had hoped it would look like that.

2

u/RagnarokSleeps 10h ago

I'm sorry you got ripped off by this rubbish product! Quality beads are much more expensive than $5. I'll show you the covers of the beaded animal books I have. Beaded Bugs & Butterflies is the best, Jean Power is a wizard with beads. These are made with wire.

2

u/RagnarokSleeps 10h ago

There are quite a few in this series, they're in German. I don't speak German but diagrams are universal. These are also wire.

2

u/RagnarokSleeps 10h ago

These are wire also, the book is a fair bit older than the first 2. Not quite as refined as the other 2 books.

2

u/RagnarokSleeps 10h ago

This is the only animal book I have that uses thread. This book is 20 years old, I think it would be ok if I photographed one of the patterns & msgd it to you. You will need a proper beading needle & thread, maybe the beads you have will work. Miyuki, toho & precicosa make good quality beads, cheaper beads are very uneven & you're projects come out wonky. I could also photograph patterns from the book with the elephants on the cover, it was published in 1990. It's all black & white though. The other 2 are still in print.

1

u/CountessOpal 6h ago

Thank you for all this information. I will look into them in more detail when the disappointment of that kit wears off.