This is a pretty straight forward project, with a good visual impact. We go from a plain camisole top, to something worthy of a night out.
The first step was getting the design onto the top, and to support the fabric of the top while stitching, I decided to use the sticky solvy. The added stiffness the solvy provides makes it easy to stitch on the beads without pulling or puckering the fabric.
Using a light box makes short work of transferring the design onto the solvy (much easier than using the window), and then I used pins to mark the centre of the top to stick the design in the right place.
These were a good size bead, being small, but not so small that I needed a beading needle to stitch them on. A short, sharp, fine needle makes it easier to attach the beads, and won’t bend quite like a beading needle might, as it is pushed through the layers of fabric.
I chose a thread colour a touch darker than both the fabric and the beads, and it blends nicely into the shadows. Each bead has been sewn on separately, using whip stitch. This particular design would also work well using lazy stitch, which is demonstrated in our Beading on the Flat part 2 video.
The leaves are completed in green beads, which I think were a fraction larger than the red, but were what I had on hand. Looking at the finished piece, if I were to bead this design again, I think I would thin out the lines that make up the leaves, so the leaves themselves are a little less solid looking. But overall, I am very happy with how the project came together.
The beads were from my stash, which I’ve been adding to for some time, finding bags of beads at different thrift stores over time.
If embellishing things with beads or sequins is something that interests you, then keep your eyes peeled when thrifting, not just in the craft section, but on the discount racks as well. You never know where you might find something that you can put to use.
See our video on Beading on the Flat part 1
Have a look at our Beading on the Flat part 1 web page.