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Bead embroidery pendant with blue pearls tutorial - part two

Gimme the Blues
Cyndi Lavin, 2017
Named by my friend Kate :-)



I left you last week with a half-finished pendant project!  No fair, right??  Well, here you go...the second half of the bead embroidery tutorial featuring gnarly dyed freshwater pearls and a glorious piece of blue magnesite!

We left off with the second row of African helix completed.  Here's what's next:


6. In the outer loop of African helix stitches, insert a size 8/0 seed bead, stitching it down, and also stitch down one of the central beads in the size 11/0 bead loop, just to keep the work flat.

7. Choose a set of dyed freshwater pearls and arrange them in a fan as shown.  Anchor your thread on one end and stitch up through the foundation fabric.  Pick up a couple of size 15/0 seed beads, and then alternate a pearl and a size 11/0 seed bead across.  Pick up two more size 15/0s and stitch back through the fabric.  Stitch through the whole row again, and tack down at least the middle pearl by stitching it down to the fabric as well.



8. Cut out the foundation fabric, leaving a small margin around the edge.  Cut a mirror piece for the backing and attach them with a piece or two of double-stick tape.



9. Use size 11/0 seed beads to stitch the two pieces of fabric together, using edging brick stitch.  You'll find detailed instructions for this in the free chapter of my e-book listed below.



10. Use size 15/0 seed beads to decorate each edging bead with a short stack stitch.  You can do picot stitches instead if you'd like, or some other edge treatment.


11. Stitch a square stitch bail on the back with size 11/0 seed beads.  I took advantage of the placement of this bail to stitch through to the front and add a decorative bead in the hole in the stone (see below).



12. I'm planning on wearing this on a simple black rubber or leather cord necklace.


Step-by-step instructions for 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.  Chapter two has instructions for stitching a peyote stitch bezel, and Chapter three teaches the square stitch bail.  If you need more help with African helix or other stitches, my e-book Bored By Back Stitch has instructions for twelve different motifs that you can stitch around your bezeled stones. 



Copyright 2017 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

Mia said…
Just beautiful! Thank you for sharing the instructions. Kisses, my friend.