How To Add Beads To Cross Stitch Designs

Your cross stitch design is finally finished and it looks great, but it looks like it's missing something. But what could you possibly do next when the only supplies to hand with your kit are the threads and the standard chart?  Just because it's a cross stitch kit, you can branch out and add some touches from your other favourite needle craft hobbies to the chart too, such as embroidery. With limited instructions about how you can transform your cross stitch into something a bit different, we have put together some simple instructions on how you can add beads to any cross stitch designs that you're working on. We promise you'll never look at cross stitch in the same way again!

Adding beads or even sequins to a cross stitch design is the perfect last step in the completion of your project. It's a relatively straight forward process once you have the correct tools. When attaching beads we would recommend using a specific beading needle, but a size 28 tapestry needle may also work well.  Choosing the right needle from the start will make the whole process a lot easier, nothing is as stressful as continually getting your beads stuck on your needle!

Equipment You Will Need:

• Seed beads (most common size is 11.0)
• Beading needles
• Beading thread or single strand of embroidery floss
• Other essentials, but not necessary, beading mat or beading board

Instructions

1.  Once you've gathered the necessary essentials, and your needle and thread are all set up on your cross stitch project, bring the threaded needle through the desired hole on the cross stitch and pass the needle through the fabric with a bead.
2. Bring the needle back up again through the opposite hole like you would when you are doing a traditional cross stitch with thread.
3. Twist the bead slightly so that when you have pushed the needle through the hole you can push it through the centre hole of the bead.  Then take it back down the top right hole of the fabric.
4. As the last sequence, you should then find that you have a firmly attached bead to your cross stitch project.

Ideas For Using Beads 

Now you know how simple it is to attach beads to a cross stitch project, it's time to explore all of the different ways that you can incorporate them into your finished designs. Here are some of our favourite ideas:

• A teddy bears nose
• The centre of flowers
• Baubles on a little Christmas tree
• Little eyes for small designs
• Attaching treasures - such as a ring, sparkling hair brooch or tiara

Attaching beads to your cross stitch project is simple and secure, you can be as creative as you want with different colours and sizes of beads, and you can guarantee that it will always look great! Look out for our future blog posts on our Facebook Page,Twitter and over at Google+!