Beadwork is a painstaking but very interesting activity. At the same time, stress is relieved and a bad mood disappears, in addition, you can create beautiful products that delight the eye. Using this type of embroidery, you can decorate clothes, arrange small items, for example, a purse or bracelet, but for this you need to have a little skill in this matter, time and patience. And if you know how to embroider a picture with beads, you can create a more voluminous unique work that can be placed in the living room or presented as a gift.
A bit of history
The technology of beadwork was known in ancient centuries, this is evidenced by such valuable examples of historical significance as icons of saints, panels of the Celtic era. Already at that time, women knew how to embroider any product with beads . Not only interior items were embroidered, but also interesting patterns were created on ballroom dresses.
The beads themselves appeared, according to one of the existing versions, in North Africa and the Middle East. Artificial pearls were very popular in Egypt, they were called in Arabic - "bursa". Various types of jewelry were made from them: bracelets, beads and others.
Beadwork began to spread in the Middle Ages. This occupation was especially popular in monasteries and parishes. From the hands of the nuns came out real masterpieces - icons created by this method. Also, decorations for churches and religious clothes were embroidered with beads.
Highlights in beadwork
In order to know how to embroider with beads, it does not take much effort. The main point is that for such work as a picture, two methods are used: counting and with the transfer to the fabric of the pattern. In this case, you may need the following tools and materials:
- Basis - it can be a fabric with a simple weave, for example, linen, cotton, more often used canvas. In addition, cardboard can also be used.
- Threads - mouline thread, silk or reinforced in two layers.
- Needles No. 10 or No. 12, depending on the thickness of the hole in the beads.
- Beads, containers for beads and scissors.
- A hoop or a special device - a stretcher.
- A stencil of paper with holes for monitoring the location of beads.
- Outline drawing, ruler and marker with disappearing ink.
On the question of how to embroider beads on a canvas, it is important to consider that for this it is better to use the half-cross or monastery embroidery method. In this case, the needle passes along the wrong side in the forward direction, and on the front side you need to make a diagonal stitch with a bead fastening.
Counting method
To understand how to embroider beads with this method, here are the basic rules for performing this process:
- It is important to use a fabric with a uniform arrangement of threads so that squares can be distinguished.
- Marking is best done with a size of 10 × 10 crosses, using ordinary thread for sewing with small stitches or a marker.
- The size of the bead should not be less than the hole in the fabric.
- One stitch should occupy the entire area of the square, the size of which must be planned at the very beginning, and then adhere to this value. This is easy to do on the canvas, while the needle captures the same number of threads vertically and horizontally.
- The first bead needs to be fixed with two stitches.
The method of transferring the circuit to the fabric
This method is quite simple: you need to transfer the lines of the picture to the fabric using carbon paper and embroider, picking up beads by color. At the same time, it is possible to make seams horizontally or vertically, but the main condition is not to change the selected direction so that the pattern turns out without distortions. And besides, it is necessary to observe the lines of the picture.
This type of needlework is very exciting, doing it, you can enjoy it and forget about any problems. Here we examined the main points in the question of how to embroider with beads. For beginners, this information may be useful in creating various crafts.