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5 Secrets for Great Bead Embroidery

Join us at Maker Festivals Colorado, the ultimate crafting extravaganza in Loveland from April 10-13, 2024, where the beloved Yarn Fest evolves with an exciting addition of beads and jewelry artists!

Bead embroidery is similar to traditional embroidery in that it’s a secondary component of the fabric’s structure, creating unique and eye-catching patterns and designs that bring big texture and personality. Whether you want to learn how to put bead embroidery on clothing—and trust us, you’ll love seeing how decadent and beautiful your work looks after the fact!—or want to make bead embroidery jewelry, don’t be deterred by the complex-looking patterns.

If you want to know the secrets of making great bead embroidery, here are five to get you started. But be warned: once you start making gorgeous pieces, you won’t want to stop!

Embroidered Fish Cuff by Kinga Nichols

Top 5 Secrets for Great Bead Embroidery

1. The color of your medium matters.

Many people use white beading foundation on their first bead embroidery projects. However, it can be frustrating that the bright white of beaded patterns medium shows through the finished pieces. Using dark colors of beads can be particularly frustrating. You can dye your white embroidery medium, but it’s messy and takes time.

If you haven’t yet discovered Nicole’s Beadbacking, then ta-da! Problem solved! The thickness and durability of Nicole’s Beadbacking makes it a perfect beading foundation, and it’s great to support a small business. And the beautiful colors will inspire you to create pieces where you might even leave large portions of the bead embroidery medium showing through the stitching!

Related: Top 5 Bead Embroidery Materials.

Marty the chameleon by Kinga Nichols

2. Don’t crowd your rows.

This is probably the mistake that almost everyone new to bead embroidery designs makes. Learning how to line up those rows can be tricky—you need to learn how to “see” where the thread path should go.

You might try drawing light pencil lines on your bead embroidery medium that are approximately the same distance apart as the width of the beads you are using.

If you don’t want to draw lines, try this technique:

1

String your next set of beads, then push them down to where your thread is exiting.

2

Pull your thread straight and line up those beads so that they are a comfortable distance away from the previous row. Look where the thread is coming out of the last bead you strung.

3

Make a small point or dot on the medium at the exact point where the thread exits that last bead. Bring your needle straight down through that point to make your next stitch.

3D Layered Bezels by Kinga Nichols

3. Keep your needle straight.

Did you know that the angle at which you stitch through your medium also makes a huge difference in how your beads lie within each row of bead embroidery? If you insert your needle at an angle through the medium, your beads will either be spaced too far apart or will bunch up against each other and make little bulges in your rows. Try as hard as you can to keep your needle exactly perpendicular as you make each stitch to keep your rows of seed beads nice and even in your patterns.

4. Reinforce each row of bead embroidery.

If your beaded embroidery row looks a little wonky, never fear. Try running your thread through the beads once or twice after you finish each row. The extra thread will help fill up those bead holes and make them line up straight like good little seed bead soldiers!

5. Practice your tension.

How tightly you stitch those beads down in each row also makes a big difference in your finished piece. Stitching too tightly will cause your medium to buckle and pucker, and will make it nearly impossible to add the leather or imitation suede backing properly. Stitching too loosely will, obviously, cause problems in getting your beads to lie straight, no matter how many times you reinforce.

Branch Out With New Bead Embroidery Techniques

The Free Bead Embroidery eBook gives you dozens of new stitch techniques that you can use not just for jewelry, but for adding a little touch of pizzazz to clothing, accessories, and home decor items, too! If you want to take things a step further, look into Kinga Nichols’ bead embroidery online workshops.

Do you have a secret for making great bead embroidery designs? What do you know now that you wish you had known when you started? Share your tips and secrets in the comments!

Originally published October 2012. Updated August 2023.


More Bead Embroidery with Kinga Nichols


  • Advanced Bead Weaving Series: Seed Bead Embroidery – 3D Layering Bezels with Kinga Nichols Online Workshop

    $39.99

  • Advanced Bead Weaving Series: Seed Bead Embroidery – Troubleshooting with Kinga Nichols Online Workshop

    $39.99

  • Advanced Bead Weaving Series: Seed Bead Embroidery – Finishing Touches with Kinga Nichols Online Workshop

    $39.99

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