Weddings often result from these "Proposal Purses."

From Design to Evening on the Town
Such retro creations begin in virtual space. Dedra may take an order by phone or e-mail. Customers can buy a purse pictured on her Web site or describe what they want. Dedra will create designs on graph paper and e-mail them for approval.

Once Dedra has the design in mind, she begins work with all of her tools--needle, beads, thread, and loom--plus her long fingers and endless patience. "Just to thread the loom takes a good hour and a half," she remarks. Next, with the point of her needle, she picks up one, two, or a dozen beads and guides them through the loom's strings, trailing a thread five arm-lengths long. Slowly, from the chrysalis of a design captured on graph paper, her beadwork opens into a butterfly, a flower, or another creation.

All the while, Dedra is relaxing. "Beading is very therapeutic for me," she says. "I love seeing how each row progresses into an image or pattern that I am making. It is a slow excitement, but I just find it so fascinating that I can turn a pile of beads into something that's beautiful. It's quiet and relaxing. The cat is right beside me, and I have Cord's music.

"This doesn't feel like work to me," she continues. "I get such a wonderful sense of accomplishment when I finish one. It takes so long to make, and I've touched every single one of these beads." Gary D. Ford

Flower and butterfly designs adorn Dedra purses.

"Weaving The Perfect Purse" is from the December 2006 issue of Southern Living.