Long dreamed of such beauty, but do not know how to embroider with beads? In fact, this lesson is simple, nevertheless it requires special attention, perseverance and knowledge of several simple rules. Today we will tell our readers how to embroider with beads, conduct a small master class for them and show different techniques of this type of needlework. After reading this article, each novice master will be able to believe in themselves and with renewed energy will get down to business!
Material selection
Newly made needlewomen do not have to first seek information on how to embroider with beads. For beginners, it is much more important to understand the theoretical basics of this skill. First of all, it is worthwhile to understand that beads are different. Miniature beads differ among themselves not only in color, but also in shape and size.
There are standards by which manufacturers must produce raw materials for beadwork and other types of needlework, but, alas, not all of them adhere to them. This is especially true for Chinese beads. It costs many times cheaper than the more expensive Czech or Japanese, but its low cost hides disgusting quality. Beginners who do not take this nuance into account later repeatedly ask questions about how to embroider beads with paintings if the beads are of different sizes, and most of them differ in shape.
Tip: do not save on beads! Material for embroidery needs to be bought in good quality, from one manufacturer. The most popular brands are Japanese Matsuno and TOHO and Czech Ornela and Preciosa.
Fabric, threads and needles for embroidery with beads
Initially, pearls and beads were embroidered on fabrics exclusively for the purpose of decorating clothes. This was an occupation for especially talented needlewomen who knew how to create real masterpieces. Now many people have taken possession of it and each of the masters embroiders in his own way, doing it the way he likes. Someone uses dense fabric as a basis, someone canvas, and someone a factory basis, with a pattern applied to it. In this matter, even experienced craftsmen sometimes disagree on how to embroider with beads. For beginners, it will be better to practice on ready-made sets. They are equipped with a canvas on which a schematic image of the picture is printed, a needle and the right amount of beads. Also, manufacturers put instructions in each set, which tells and shows how to properly embroider with beads.
Needles for this type of needlework need to buy special. They should be very thin, with a sharp tip and a narrow ear. An ordinary sewing needle may not crawl through a narrow hole in a miniature bead.
Tip: it is better to buy bead needles in packages, and not individually, as they quickly fail, often bend and break.
In the same way it is necessary to pay attention to the quality of thread for embroidery. There are several parameters from which you need to build on, making a choice of threads:
- fortress;
- elongation;
- curl.
The most durable are polyester or nylon threads. In order to prevent twisting of the thread, it is waxed with a candle. The color is selected not under the beads, but under the fabric - for light they take white or beige, for dark - black. Also, many beginning needlewomen often wonder how to embroider with beads, if the thread constantly slips from the eye of the needle, and to re-insert it is a whole problem. It's simple: the free tip of the thread needs to be treated with nail polish or slightly melted, then flattened with your fingers. So it will become solid and flat, so that it easily passes through the hole in the needle.
Additional tools and workplace organization
The complexity of bead embroidery is that the beads very often twist and slide out of their row. Because of this, the appearance of the picture is greatly affected. You can prevent image skew using special hoops. These are rectangular frames that can be supplemented with clips, they are also equipped with a movable frame that allows you to adjust the size of the hoop to a specific embroidery. The sizes of such devices differ from one manufacturer to another, but in principle they can be averaged to these three options:
- 30x30 cm;
- 30x60 cm;
- 50x60 cm.
Of course, it is quite possible to do without such a device, but so that the fabric does not interfere with the work, it must be rolled up and fixed with paper clips or clips.
You can sort the beads into small saucers, lids or jars, but it is best to do this using a special organizer. It is also convenient because it closes and is easily transported. This is especially important for beginners. How to embroider with beads if it constantly falls and gets lost is another common question from beginners.
Tip: the working surface should be covered with a light cloth. Beads will not roll on it in different directions; in case of slipping off the needle, the bead will not jump to the floor, but will remain where it fell.
Types of seams
So, when everything is ready for work, you can move from theory to practice. The next photo shows that the seams for embroidery with beads are of several types. Most often, masters use the “Forward needle” seam in their works, but others can also be useful sometimes.
The final appearance of the embroidery depends on which seam the master chooses. How to embroider with beads so that there are no gaps or empty spaces in the picture? In such cases, you should use seams with an attachment, but you need to consider that then the canvas will turn out to be quite rigid and dense.
Embroidery direction
Novice masters also often ask themselves in which direction to sew stitches, or rather, how to embroider with beads - from left to right or from right to left? Top to bottom or bottom to top? Experienced embroiderers argue that, in principle, there is no difference, the main thing is not to jump from one row to another, stitching the image, maintain a strict parallel, and also make the same size stitches. It is also important to fix the beads on a woven basis, but do not pull the thread excessively.
Bead embroidery has its own subtleties and nuances, but this type of needlework is no more complicated than ordinary cross-stitch. Anyone who knows how to create paintings from threads, easily master the art of bead embroidery. The master will not need to make complex transitions, constantly change the thread in the needle and count the stitches. The canvas is gradually filled with beads row after row, but you need to carefully monitor the colors of the beads and not confuse their shades. Special keys on the schemes, which indicate the numbers and shades of the beads used to create the image, help in this.
Art embroidery
Separately, it is worth mentioning that the pictures from beads can be embroidered not only in parallel horizontal or vertical rows, but also in a spiral or in a free contour. The first option is also called circular. I must say that this technique is one of the most time-consuming. How to learn to embroider beads in a circle? Firstly, for a start you need to get your hand on ordinary equipment. Secondly, it will be better to use special patterns on the fabric as the basis. On such a basis, manufacturers imprint not only places for beads, but also dots for piercing the fabric with a needle. Following them, even an inexperienced master will be able to easily realize his idea. Thirdly, it is important to closely monitor the embroidery pattern, because on one image there may be not one center with a circle, but several at once.
Free-loop embroidery, or as it is also called embroidery, is a special kind of needlework. It includes several techniques at once. In one picture, embroidery with threads and beads is usually combined. Beads are not sewn in a strictly specified order, but in the form of smooth lines or separate dotted inclusions.
"Monastic seam." Instruction manual
The fastest and easiest type of beadwork to use is the so-called “Monastic seam”. It is ideal for creating dimensional paintings. The work embroidered using this technique looks equally neat on the front and back side. Due to the widespread use of this technique, we will provide a small master class on it. It will be difficult for a beginner to embroider a large picture with beads, so it is better to start with small images. The technology of work consists of the following steps:
- The thread must be fixed on the wrong side in the lower left corner and put it on the face also on the left side, but at the top.
- Passing one bead through the needle, make a diagonal stitch in the lower right corner.
- Next, the needle is again displayed in the upper left corner and picks up new beads, after which it diagonally goes to the lower right corner.
Thus, the row is sewn to the very end. To start the next one, you need to shift down and go in the opposite direction. As a result, straight vertical stitches are obtained from the inside, and diagonal ones from the face (through the beads).
Can I embroider beads icons?
Beadwork of icons has recently become a real trend among needlewomen. However, in this matter it is necessary to observe several church rules. Priests approve the creation of faces by parishioners, but at the same time do not allow ordinary people to embroider the faces of saints. This is the prerogative of specially chosen monks who work at monasteries. Before undertaking such a responsible work, one should turn to the Holy Father for a blessing, and at the end of the icon, she can and should be consecrated in the church.