How to do Simple Embroidery on Felt Beads (rosiepink) https://rosiepink.typepad.co.uk/rosiepink/2019/04/how-to-do-simple-e...

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Wednesday, 10 April 2019
How to do Simple Embroidery on Felt Beads

Jewellery made from handmade felt beads is:

- easy to make and fun to embellish

- inexpensive to make

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- a great alternative for people that cannot wear metal jewellery

- lightweight. Sometimes glass, ceramic or metal jewellery can be heavy but felt beads are very light, so no matter
how large the design of necklace, bracelet or brooch, the wearer will not be weighed down. The 15 beads shown
above are 2.5cm (1") in diameter and, after embroidery, the total weight of the beads is only 36g (1¼oz). Of course if
you wish to mix and match other types of beads and materials this can give even more design options.

- importantly, fun to wear!

Shown below are the beads prior to embroidery. They were made using the method in the free tutorial on this blog and they are 2.5cm
(1") in diameter, felted until very firm.

Felt beads can be embroidered just as easily as a flat piece of material. They can be stitched with embroidery floss, thick sewing cotton or
any suitable smooth thread. If you use embroidery floss you can choose to use it as it is or split it - in the first photo below only 3 strands
of floss were used.
Don't worry about getting the stitches perfectly even or perfectly spaced. The beads look better with 'organic' stitches!

Using the examples shown in this short tutorial, we hope you will feel confident to experiment and find many design possibilities with
just a few basic stitches.
Backstitch is useful for stitching lines. To secure the thread at the beginning of stitching, insert the needle and thread straight through
the bead ...

... leaving a little tail poking out. Tip: if you find it difficult to grip the end of the needle to pull it through, use a small pair of pliers.

Insert the needle one stitch-width to the left of where the thread came up through the felt ball, exit the needle after one stitch width, then
pull the needle and thread through ...

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... take the needle back to where the thread came up through the felt ball and insert the needle into the same hole then pull the needle
and thread through.

After making a few stitches, gently pull on the little tail then cut it off close to the felt. The end will disappear into the felt ball and be held
firm.

To secure the end of the thread when you've finished stitching, take the needle and thread through the ball, gently pull the thread taut,
then cut it off close to the felt as above.

If you would like a guide to stitch to, you can mark out your design with pins as you go.

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To stitch a spiral, poke a needle right through a felt ball to use it as a stitching guide - sew the stitches at an angle to the vertical needle.

Backstitch can be enhanced - one way is to weave a thread through the stitches.

There are many designs possible with simple stitch combinations.

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To make cross stitches, insert the needle at point A to form the first part of the cross and exit the needle at point B ...

... insert the needle at point C to make the second part of the cross, then exit at point D ready to start the next one.

You could add another colour by placing a single stitch over the middle of a cross.

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Double Cross Stitch is simply that - make one cross then put another over the top.

You could use a different colour for the top cross - stitch all the single crosses first then go back over with a second thread.

Seed Stitch is so named as it resembles spilled seeds. It's simply random short stitches.

To add interest, use a variegated thread. The thread used below is 'cotton perle'.

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A single stitch can make many different patterns.

This bead is decorated with straight stitches in a variegated cotton perle thread.

Divide and mark the circumference of the felt bead with 8 pins.

Insert the needle into the bead as shown then pull it through the felt ball just above the pin line. Repeat until the stitches go right around
the bead. Then push the needle right through the bead to the opposite side as shown bottom right.

Repeat the stitching but the pins aren't needed this time.

A different effect is achieved by making more stitches into the same point.

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You can use pins as a guide or work freehand.

Both ends of this bead were sewn with different colours.

We hope you enjoy embellishing felt beads - there are so many exciting possibilities!

The next blog post shows a simple way to join felt beads into a necklace with a double sliding knot.

Posted on Wednesday, 10 April 2019 at 06:57 PM | Permalink

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Comments

Ruth Lane dijo...

Great post with clear instructions and photos! Writing tutorials is a lot of work, thanks for sharing.

Responder Thursday, 11 April 2019 at 05:44 PM

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rosiepink dijo en respuesta a Ruth Lane...

Thank you Ruth. Writing tutorials is hard work but so rewarding!

Responder Thursday, 11 April 2019 at 08:21 PM

Ann dijo...
Thats great Lyn and Annie. They look great, the embroidery makes them pop.
Responder Friday, 12 April 2019 at 11:35 PM

rosiepink dijo en respuesta a Ann...

Thank you Ann. It's fun to do and the variations are endless!

Responder Saturday, 13 April 2019 at 08:06 AM

Marilyn dijo...
Thanks for such a lovely tut. As usual, very detailed and easy to follow. You have such a wonderful variety of embroidery ideas. Thanks
for sharing.

Responder Sunday, 14 April 2019 at 04:47 AM

rosiepink dijo en respuesta a Marilyn ...

Thank you Marilyn. Embroidering beads is very relaxing.

Responder Sunday, 14 April 2019 at 09:59 AM

Karen dijo...
These have to be the prettiest felt beads I’ve ever seen! You’ve made me realise I need to up my game and get more adventurous when
I’m stitching into mine! Thanks for sharing.
Responder Sunday, 14 April 2019 at 03:09 PM

rosiepink dijo en respuesta a Karen...

Thank you very much for the lovely compliment Karen.

Responder Sunday, 14 April 2019 at 04:59 PM

Els dijo...
Lovely !
(I knów how much fun making felted beads is ;-) !)

Responder Sunday, 14 April 2019 at 07:02 PM

rosiepink dijo en respuesta a Els...

Thank you Els! We hope other people might discover the fun in embroidery too.

Responder Sunday, 14 April 2019 at 09:10 PM

Patrick dijo...

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This coming from someone brand new to this...but...if you simply cut an end off the thread and it disappears into the bead, won't the
stitch eventually work loose?

Responder Wednesday, 29 May 2019 at 03:24 AM

rosiepink dijo en respuesta a Patrick...

Hello Patrick, the end won't work loose - it disappears because when it's cut it's under slight tension (you gently pull on it as you cut it),
but the felt grips the thread and because it's cut after a few stitches have been made, there's no pull on it from the surface, so it stays put.
You need to make the felt beads very firm, but don't worry as there's always just enough 'give' in them to be able to stitch.
Have fun with them!

Responder Wednesday, 29 May 2019 at 07:56 AM

Betty dijo...
What size felt bead do you recommend using for a first-time bead embroiderer? Thanks for the tutorial.

Responder Saturday, 29 June 2019 at 04:03 PM

rosiepink dijo en respuesta a Betty ...

Hello Betty - 1" in diameter (as shown above) is a good size to start with, then when you're confident with the process you could
experiment with smaller sizes. We hope you enjoy your stitching!
Responder Saturday, 29 June 2019 at 05:04 PM

anne vadcar dijo...

bonjour

vos perles sont très très jolies, j'aimerais beaucoup en faire, mais savez vous si on peut acheter les perles en feutre toutes faites ( j'habite
dans le nord de la France ) merci d'avance pour votre réponse et encore bravo
Responder Thursday, 14 November 2019 at 10:14 AM

rosiepink dijo en respuesta a anne vadcar...

Bonjour Anne
Je vous remercie pour votre aimable commentaire. Oui, vous pouvez acheter des boules de feutre. Il y en a beaucoup sur "Etsy".
Recherchez ces 2,5 cm de diamètre pour obtenir le même résultat que nous utilisons - mais achetez plus petit ou plus grand que vous le
souhaitez. Utilisez la recherche sur Etsy pour les trouver. Voici un exemple:
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/735832900/25-cm-christmas-felt-balls-pom-pom-balls?ga_order=most_relevant&
ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=felt+beads&ref=sc_gallery-1-5&
plkey=8888dcf4a8a50d785bb246c27742c6dcf03d64ac%3A735832900
Responder Thursday, 14 November 2019 at 10:28 AM

Sara dijo...
I am so excited to find this post. I've wondered how to do this and now I know. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!
Responder Sunday, 17 November 2019 at 10:29 PM

rosiepink dijo en respuesta a Sara...

You are very welcome Sara - we hope you have fun with this!

Responder Sunday, 17 November 2019 at 11:20 PM

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NICOLETTA Aguccioni dijo...

Hello Annie and Lyn,

Do you sell the embroidered felt beads?

Thank you,

Nicoletta
Responder Sunday, 24 May 2020 at 10:07 PM

rosiepink dijo en respuesta a NICOLETTA Aguccioni...

Hello Nicoletta
Firstly we apologise for not answering your comment sooner - there has been a problem with Typepad's comments and we've only just
seen yours today.

We don't sell the embroidered beads - it's just a fun thing and we thought we'd share the process so that others could have a go.
Thank you for your interest in our blog.

Responder Thursday, 16 July 2020 at 12:23 PM

Leela Cherian dijo...

Such a useful, clear tutorial. Thank you so much

Responder Saturday, 06 June 2020 at 02:42 AM

rosiepink dijo en respuesta a Leela Cherian...

Thank you Leela!

Responder Thursday, 16 July 2020 at 12:24 PM

Shannon V dijo...
What a fun idea!!! What type of needle do you recommend?

Responder Saturday, 07 November 2020 at 06:12 AM

Annie and Lyn dijo en respuesta a Shannon V...

Thank you Shannon - The best needle is a 'sharp' - often referred to as an 'upholstery needle' with a 'large eye'. We have seen them for
sale online, inc Amazon.

Responder Saturday, 07 November 2020 at 07:27 AM

Yvette Valenciano dijo...

Thank you so much for sharing this. I am so weary & sad after losing 2 family members to the virus in less than a month. I thought
nothing again could have meaning after all this sadness & these precious little jewels caught my attention. I haven't been able to read, or
care to read in so many months so I thank you for sharing their simple beauty.

Responder Saturday, 23 January 2021 at 12:05 AM

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