BEADING Articles 2 min read

Hello, Fall! Ideas and Tutorials for Beaded Leaves

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!

What’s not to love about fall in the Adirondacks? We get all of my favorite cool-weather things like fresh apple cider and cider donuts, pumpkins, crisp weather, soup, and snuggly socks, but without the harsh winter storms. Once the leaves in the forests along my favorite trails here in upstate New York start turning bright colors of yellow, orange, and red, I start finding inspiration to make all kinds of beaded leaves using my favorite off-loom bead-weaving stitches.

I first discovered beaded leaves in the form of Russian leaves made with peyote stitch, and later with St. Petersburg chain. After that, I discovered how much fun it was to make beaded leaves using leaf fringe, and that set me off on a beading binge to make as many intricately fringed necklaces as I could.

Why are beaded leaves so much fun to make? I have no idea. But they are. Whether you make your beaded leaves as accents to highlight beaded flowers or other nature-inspired beaded jewelry designs, or you want your beaded leaves to take center stage, here are a few great beaded leaf tutorials for you to try.

1. Leaf fringe. Try this short and sweet beaded leaf fringe suggestion from Jean Campbell. Once you have the basic pattern down, try varying the size of your leaves within each strand of fringe for more visual appeal. You can also use tiny gemstones at the tip of each beaded leaf, add some plain branched fringe for more texture…it’s an easy, fun technique!

2. Beaded leaf chains. I love all the ways you can use Hazel Furst’s Turning An Old Leaf beaded chain. Not only does this tutorial make beautifully simple autumn-themed beaded bracelets and delicate beaded necklaces, but you can also use this beaded leaf chain to add texture and interest to your bead embroidery projects.

3. Beaded leaves made with St. Petersburg Chain. I wrote this free tutorial for beaded leaves using St. Petersburg chain a long, long time ago, but they’re still so much fun to make! I still refer to this tutorial when I want to brush up on my St. Petersburg chain, and because these leaves work up so fast, they make great accents for earrings or necklaces.

4. Beaded leaves made with peyote stitch. And don’t forget about everybody’s favorite bead-weaving stitch – beaded leaves can be made quickly using a simple peyote stitch technique. These beaded leaves are a great introduction to making shaped peyote stitch using a simple increasing technique, and they look great with both cylinder beads and round seed beads.

peyote-stitch-leaves-melind

Feeling inspired to do some beading this fall? It’s a great time to stock up on your favorite beading projects and patterns, or maybe treat yourself to a new beading book like Melinda Barta’s Mastering Peyote Stitch. For one day only, you can save 40% on some of your favorite beading resources in the Beading Daily Shop. Use coupon code FALL40 for one day only (September 23, 2015) and find something new to bead this fall.

Bead Happy,

8311_sig-jennifer-web

 

 

Jennifer

Join the Conversation!

Choose the membership you’d like to join​

Bead & Jewelry

Annual Charter Membership â€‹

(Limited Time Offer)​

$78.00 $24.95/year

Interweave Knits

Annual Charter Membership â€‹

(Limited Time Offer)​

$78.00 $24.95/year

  • 250+ Projects should be ​ ($2,000+ value)
  • 100 Member exclusive ​ should be ($800+ value)
  • 10,000+ Pieces of Expert Advice (Priceless)​​​
  • To View All Benefits Click Here for Bead+Jewelry or here Interweave Knits

The membership you’d like to join​

Interweave Knits

Annual Charter Membership â€‹

(Limited Time Offer)​

$78.00 $24.95/year

  • 250+ Projects – Fresh for Each Season ($1,400 value)​
  • 100 Member Exclusive Projects ($500 value)​​​
  • 10,000+ Pieces of Expert Advice (Priceless)​​​
  • To View All Benefits Click Here for Bead+Jewelry or here Interweave Knits

The membership you’d like to join​

Bead & Jewelry

Annual Charter Membership â€‹

(Limited Time Offer)​

$78.00 $24.95/year

  • 250+ Projects – Fresh for Each Season ($2,000 value)​
  • 100 Member Exclusive Projects ($800+​ value)​​​
  • 10,000+ Pieces of Expert Advice (Priceless)​​​
  • To View All Benefits Click Here for Bead+Jewelry or here Interweave Knits

The membership you’d like to join​

Interweave Knits

Annual Charter Membership â€‹

(Limited Time Offer)​

$78.00 $24.95/year

  • 250+ Projects – Fresh for Each Season ($1,400 value)​
  • 100 Member Exclusive Projects ($500 value)​​​
  • 10,000+ Pieces of Expert Advice (Priceless)​​​
  • To View All Benefits Click Here for Bead+Jewelry or here Interweave Knits