Creating Jewelry on Canvas...
Bead Embroidered Glass Brooches
There’s something special about a handmade piece of jewelry...whether as a gift, or to wear yourself. It’s a statement piece, a conversation starter and definitely something to be proud of.
However, unlike many forms of jewelry making that require skill and practice to perfect, these bead embroidered brooches whip up in no time and require no experience to make!
Worked using the same basic techniques as our other Bead Embroidery Kits, you begin the design by stitching glass beads onto a canvas background then finish with a felt backing and brooch clip. The fabric is not visible on the finished brooch which shimmers with the reflections of glass beads and jewels. No-one will know that your intricate jewelry design was as simple as ‘bead by numbers’ !
If you’ve never done bead embroidery, be sure to check out our Bead Embroidery 101 tutorial, which will walk you through the basic techniques of stitching beads on canvas.
Ready to dive in? Let’s get started!
What We'll Cover:
> Getting Started: Arranging Your Beads & Understanding Your Canvas
> Stitching the Surface Design
> Attaching the Felt Backing & Securing the Layers
> The Beaded Edge & Finishing Touches
What Comes in a Kit
For today’s tutorial, we will be using the Little Snowflake Brooch kit. The front of the kit provides basic information including the finished size of the brooch and number of colors and beads included. For this kit, we will stitch 399 beads in an assortment of 13 colors for a finished brooch size of 1.9” x 1.9”.
Kit includes all the materials needed to complete our project:
1) The printed canvas background, which includes a color key at the bottom for identifying the bead symbols. These symbols correspond to each bead color in the kit. The high quality 100% cotton canvas will not stretch during stitching and is designed to withstand the weight of heavy beading.
2) Separate bags with each of the beads and jewels you’ll need for the project. The front of each bag will be numbered. Those numbers correspond to the numbers on the color key.
3) Beading thread and needles. Many kits will include multiple needles to accommodate different size beads, or as spares, in case one snaps during stitching.
4) A thick piece of felt for backing the brooch, after beading.
5) A stitch-on metal brooch clip.
Before starting, take a quick look at the different types of beads to find a combination of classic seed beads as well as novelty beads and jewels.
Most brooch kits include two sizes of seed beads.
In the example below, we see two sizes of white seed beads included in this kit. The beads on the right, which are larger 10/0 seed beads, are the most common size beads found in bead embroidery kits and typically make up the majority of the bead work. On the left, we show smaller 'microbeads' that are a small 13/0 seed bead--used for filling small spaces between larger beads.
All brooch kits include a selection of specialty beads that vary in size and shape depending on the kit.
For this project, there are four novelty styles: a single flat-back jewel for the center of the snowflake; silver-lined bugle beads; faceted blue round beads and clear pear beads.
While kits always include plenty of extra seed beads, specialty beads usually only come in the exact number needed for the project. Therefore, keep a close eye on these more expensive, finishing beads so the cat doesn’t take a piece of your project when you’re not looking!
Getting Started: Arranging Your Beads & Understanding Your Canvas
To begin, we arrange our beads in a bead organizer tray. You can put your specialty beads in the tray as well, to keep them ordered and safe.
For our project, we chose the Cactus Bead Organizer which has 13 compartments – exactly what we needed!
Unlike larger bead embroidery projects that are mounted on a frame for stitching, this small canvas is stitched free-handed.
We recommend leaving the color key attached to the bottom of the canvas--making it impossible to lose and easier to reference.
Take a closer look at the color key to see that specialty beads are usually denoted with a shaped symbol, as in the case of our bugle beads (#6) and our pear beads (#13). Regular seed beads are represented with a two-color round symbol.
Before stitching, examine the layout diagram included in your kit. The paper layout diagram (below right), shows a replica of the fabric’s stitching diagram (below left), with the addition of the outer border and edge embellishments.
Examining the fabric, you'll see a dashed, black, cutting line marked by scissor symbols. This black line corresponds to the dashed black line on the layout diagram marked as 'canvas edge'. Beads shown on the paper layout diagram outside of this canvas edge are the outer border of beads that are added later on.
While you won’t need the paper layout diagram until later in the project, it’s always good to get acquainted with the design before starting, so you know where you’re headed and to prevent mistakes later on.
Stitching the Surface Design
Let’s start stitching! But first -- a few important things to remember:
1) When beading the surface design, DO NOT stitch the outermost row of beads. The bead symbols that touch the black dashed line should be left empty until later in the project.
2) When making a brooch, always begin with your microbeads. Resist the urge to stitch down those beautiful specialty beads and jewels right from the start. It’s important to lay a foundation with the microbeads because their tiny symbols are easily covered up by larger, neighboring beads.
3) Throughout the process, be mindful of the orientation of the bead symbols. They are oriented to ensure that the entire piece is covered and none of the canvas will show through the completed brooch. For more information on how to read your bead symbols, refer to our Bead Embroidery 101 tutorial.
4) Always double-stitch the first and last bead on each length of thread.
In the image below, we have completed the first step...all microbeads are stitched in place.
Having stitched all the microbeads, we can see how they lay a surrounding foundation for our large novelty beads, which will fit perfectly down each of these ‘lanes’ later on:
When stitching any of your beads, never cross your thread over a cutting space.
In the below example, to stitch the two blue beads on either end of the red line, we would not want to run the thread in the orientation of the red line to get from one bead to the next. While not a problem at first, you end up cutting that thread when you cut along the black dashed line later on, causing the beads to fall off the fabric.
So, to go from one of those blue beads to the next, we bring our thread through several stitches within the design (as shown in green), so that the thread never passes under the black dashed line.
The next step is to stich down the larger seed beads. In this project, that means adding the periwinkle beads in the center (see red arrow) and a few light turquoise beads around the white microbeads.
It's time to add the specialty beads! You can add them in any order you like. We will begin with the alternating bugle and pear beads.
To attach specialty beads, first identify the direction the bead is intended to lay. Looking at the bugle placement below (highlighted in red), we can clearly see the orientation we’re aiming for. Examine your bead and see where the holes are. Bring the needle up through the fabric at the point where the first hole of the bead will be (shown below).
Next, thread the bead onto your needle. If the bead is not perfectly symmetrical, be sure you have threaded the bead in the correct direction. For example, our pear beads have a wide end and a thin end. Threading them backwards on the needle would result in a peculiar looking setting!
For our symmetrical bugle bead below, direction doesn’t matter...
Bring the needle back down at the opposite end of the bead placement:
The bead is now perfectly nestled in place!
It’s a good idea to double-stitch large specialty beads, to securely fasten them in place. Simply bring the needle back up at the first point and re-stitch the bead again.
Next, add a pear bead. Here you will see the importance of minding the bead orientation. The microbeads have been placed to perfectly surround the pear bead, when laid in accordance with the stitch symbol.
If your kit includes flatback beads, such as this turquoise centerpiece, you will need to stitch a little different. If we brought the needle up through the first hole and back down through the second, like a regular bead, it would leave a line of thread across the top of the bead (like stitching a button). This isn’t the desired effect with flatback beads. We want to minimize the visible thread as much as possible, so the pretty bead can be the focal point.
To do this, examine where the bead will sit on the fabric and bring the needle up at the edge of the bead symbol, near where you want the first hole to sit.
Next, drop the bead on top of its placement symbol.
Bring the needle down through the hole and to the back of the fabric.
Again, as with any large specialty beads, you will want to come back up and stitch through the same hole a second time, to secure the bead. This will give you just two small stitches (circled in red below), that are only slightly visible on the finished brooch.
Upon completing your second stitch, your needle will be on the back of the fabric. Bring it back up to the top, outside the bead, next to the second hole. Then repeat the same process, bringing the needle down from the top, through the hole...
...our finished flatback bead, double-stitched on both sides:
Once you finish stitching all your beads in place, cut the fabric along the dashed cutting line--noting, again, that the outermost row of beads has NOT YET been stitched:
Attaching the Felt Backing & Securing the Layers
Lay your beaded canvas on top of the felt and secure it in place with a few basting stitches.
To do this, simply thread a length of thread on your needle and go up and down with several large stitches, through both the canvas and the fabric, to hold the two together. These are temporary stitches to be removed later on, so large stitches are best.
The red lines below give an example of how you could place the large basting stitches.
Once the layers are basted together, use a sharp scissors to cut out the felt--just around the edge of the canvas fabric. If there’s a little bit of extra felt, it’s okay because you will be adding another row of beads around the outside that cover up a bit of overhang on your felt backing.
Now, add the outermost row of beads shown on the canvas (see red arrow below). In this project, they happen to all be white. On a different brooch, they might be a mix of different colors. Simply follow the color key on the fabric.
When stitching these outermost beads, go through both the canvas and the felt backing. This will attach the felt to the canvas, all the way around, to permanently hold the layers together.
Because the felt is thick, you can prevent any stitching from showing on the back of the felt by coming through at a slight angle--so as to only go halfway through the felt when stitching. If you have a hard time with that, don’t worry! Go ahead and stitch all the way through the felt. It will result in a small row of thread stitching showing on the back of the finished brooch. Will that matter? Not, really. After all, the back of the brooch isn’t visible once you’re wearing it!
When you’re finished stitching, hide the end of the thread tail by inserting the needle between the canvas and the felt. Then, push it through a little bit to bury the thread tail between the two layers.
The Beaded Edge & Finishing Touches
Before continuing, cut your basting stitches and remove them from the work.
It's time to add the final layer of beads that form the outer edge of the brooch.
To do this, we employ a slightly different technique. Instead of going through the canvas, we stitch into the previous row of beads.
Get started by threading your needle and tying a knot. Pick a starting point along the outside of the brooch--anywhere except on a point.
For example, we do not want to start at one of the tips of the snowflake. So for our project, we begin in the center of a 'valley', between two points. Bury the knot in the canvas, right in front of one of the beads on the outer row.
Now it’s time to refer to the paper layout diagram that shows the bead colors and placements for the outer edge.
The red arrow points to the white bead where we brought up our thread. Using the layout diagram, see that the corresponding bead on the outer edge (green arrow) is a grey symbol (which denotes a clear bead, according to the color key).
Therefore, pick up a clear bead on your needle and insert the needle into the corresponding white bead on the project (A).
Pull the needle through, to pull the beads together (B).
Working in a clockwise direction around the brooch, insert the needle into the next white bead, to the right of the previous one (C). In the same motion, re-insert the needle through the clear border bead (D). Pull the thread through (E).
Your first edge bead is attached!
Next, pick up another edge bead and insert the needle through the same white bead you last stitched (A) and pull through (B).
Bring the needle through the next white bead, to the right of the last (clockwise) and, using the same motion, insert through the newly attached clear edge bead (C). Pull through (D).
Repeat steps A-D until you reach a point on your layout diagram where you see that bead clusters need to be added.
Most brooch kits include some multi-bead clusters for added embellishment. For this kit, add these multi-bead clusters on each of the points of the snowflake.
Each brooch varies in regards to the exact number of beads placed at these special points.
Some might place specialty beads, in addition to regular seed beads. The technique is the same, regardless.
Follow the layout diagram to see the exact sequence for your brooch.
To make the multi-bead cluster in this project, we add border beads until we reach the bead just before the one marked by the extra center dot (red arrow). This bead, as well as the two above it (circled in green) compose the 3-bead cluster.
To add the bead cluster:
Stitch up to right before the cluster begins (A). Then lay out your cluster beads in the order shown on your layout diagram (B).
Starting with the bead closest to the brooch, thread all the cluster beads onto your needle (C), sliding the last (farthest) bead out of the way a little (in this case, the rose color bead).
Next, re-insert your needle down through all the remaining beads (D). This turns the last bead into a sort of stopper that holds the other beads in place on the thread.
Next, insert your needle through the last white border bead that you stitched through previously (E) and pull through. Then, insert the needle through the next white bead to the right and, in the same motion, insert the needle through the closest bead of the cluster (F). Pull through and your cluster will sit snugly against the brooch (G).
To continue as usual, after adding a cluster, pick up the next edge bead and insert your needle into the last white bead that you just stitched through (A).
Bring your needle through the next white bead to the right (clockwise) of the last and, in the same motion, insert through the clear edge bead you just placed.
Now you’re back in the normal sequence and can continue adding edge beads as before.
Once you’ve gone all the way around the brooch and are back to the starting point, place your final bead in the gap as follows:
Bring your needle up through the white bead and through the last-placed clear edge bead, in the same motion (A).
Bring the needle back down through the very first edge bead you placed, when you started stitching and, in the same motion, through it’s corresponding white bead (B).
Your edge is now fully stitched and secured!
To secure your thread, tie a knot as close to the beads as possible. Then, insert your needle down into the brooch and pull it through to the back. Pull it snugly to bury the knot inside the brooch and cut the thread.
Finish your brooch by adding the pin to the back. Simply center the pin in place on the felt and stitch it down until it feels secure. Careful though!--if your brooch is directional, be sure to place the pin so that, when wearing the brooch, it faces the correct direction!
Although this particular brooch is symmetrical all the way around, if making the Gnome Brooch, for example, you would need to place the pin so that the gnome isn’t sideways, or upside-down, when worn!
You’re finished!
You now have a beautiful piece of handcrafted jewelry, made with love and ready to display!
You may also consider using this beautiful little brooch as an embellishment for other projects.
Instead of adding the brooch clip, attach the embellishment to bags, hats, jackets, shoes--or any other creative project!
Thank you for reading! We hope you enjoyed this tutorial and found helpful information for your next beading project.
If you have questions, comments or ideas for tutorials you’d like to see, please leave us a comment below.
