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Bead embroidery pendant with a multi-ribbon background



I am still inspired by the beautiful springtime colors of the ribbons that I received from Offray Ribbons, which included wild berry, violet, and a textured gold ribbon.  For this project, I wanted to use some polymer clay cabochons that I made quite a while ago, featuring the very same colors!

Materials & Tools

Arabesque wire edged ribbon, Wild Berry, 1 1/2 inch wide
Arabesque wire edged ribbon, Violet, 5/8 inch wide
Galena wire edged ribbon, Gold, 1 1/2 inch wide
Foundation fabric (non-woven fabric like ultra suede)
Focal cabochons of your choice
Double stick tape or glue
Size 11/0 and size 15/0 seed beads
Pearls, 6 - 8 mm
Beading thread (I used black Nymo O)

Tools:
Silk pins
Beading needles
Scissors

1. Play with your ribbons on a background of foundation fabric until you like the arrangment.  Use silk pins or double stick tape to hold down the ends for the next few steps.




2. Choose the placement for your focal pieces and adhere them lightly with a drop of glue or double stick tape.






3. Using peyote stitch, create a bezel for your focals.  I back stitched a row of beads around the focals with size 11/0 seed beads, added two or three rows of peyote stitch with the same size 11/0s, and finished with a row of size 15/0 seed beads to cinch the bezel in at the top.




4. Add some accent pearls and stitch another row of back stitch around each shape.




5. I didn't have a stencil or form that was exactly the right size for my pendant, so I printed out a pattern of nested concentric ovals, and cut them out one at a time until I reached the size I thought looked best.




6. Pin the paper pattern down and cut out your pendant.




7. Using the pendant itself as a pattern, cut a piece of backing foundation fabric to match.




8. Stick them together with double stick tape or a few drops of glue, and stitch around the outside with size 11/0 seed beads in edging brick stitch (see note below).


9. Add some size 15/0 seed beads to each edging bead using stack stitch.




10. Add a square stitch bail to the back of your pendant, and slide it onto a chain or cord with a clasp.

Note:
If you are a bead embroidery beginner, step-by-step instructions for the stitches used in putting together a bead embroidered piece, including back stitch, edging brick stitch, and stack stitch can be found in the free first chapter of Every Bead Has a Story.

This post is sponsored by Offray, from whom I have received some of the products in order to create this project for you.  There are also some affiliate links: Beadaholique
Copyright 2015 Cyndi Lavin. All rights reserved. Not to be reprinted, resold, or redistributed for profit. May be printed out for personal use or distributed electronically provided that entire file, including this notice, remains intact.


Comments

Robbie said…
Lovely!!!! And you share with us another great project!
Cyndi L said…
Thank you, Robbie :-)
Beautiful! I love your cabochons. Do you share a tutorial on those.
Cyndi L said…
Well, sort of! It's at the link in the post at the top. But it's not a really complete tutorial, because the instructions came from a book that I reviewed.
Thanks, Cyndi. I'll check it out.