I've seen ornaments finished with a beaded edge instead of cording. Some have a single strand of beads attached to the perimeter of the ornament while others have what I can best describe as a jumble of beads around the perimeter. The single strands of beads appear to be seed beads and the "jumbles" seem to be composed of pebble beads.
How is this accomplished?
Kathy
You can also buy ready made stringed beads and sew this onto the cloth where you want it. Or make a string of beads to match your needs. I have worked some art work where i have beaded some very long `lines` , as they were at times wavy i used a bead at a time, when the lines were more straight i would pick up 3 beads at a time on my needle , stich the cloth and than enforce each bead seprately. mirjam
Go find the most recent issue of Just Cross Stitch - it has a article about doing just that!
Cheryl
Oh, they have some neat stuff. Thank you!
Cheryl
Finish the ornament in to a "pillow" style ornament - close all 4 sides, so you've basically got a small pillow.
Thread a beading needle, and pick some beads you like that go with the piece. It doesn't matter what size - 8/0, 11/0 - Mill Hill seed beads are
11/0, just for reference.Knot the thread, and bury the knot inside of the pillow. Come up in the seam of the ornament - preferably at a corner.
Then you can get creative. One example is to thread 3 beads on to the string, and move over about 1 or 1 1/2 bead widths away. Do a very small whip stitch into the seam of the pillow, and come back up through the last bead you threaded. (If you didn't do the whip stitch, the last bead should have come off the thread completely, because you've come back up through the bead in the opposite direction you orginally went into the bead in). You should now have two upright beads, with a horizontal bead in the middle. Thread two more beads, do another small whip stitch, come back up, thread two more beads..... etc. until you've gone around.
Alternatively for a more elaborate beading edge, start with 5 beads, leaving
3 or so bead widths between stitches and adding 4 more beads each time you take a whipstitch - you should have a series of little peaks all with 3 beads in the middle. You then go around a second time, and add three beads in between each set of peaks. You go through each of the middle beads in the peaks, add three beads, go through another set of beads, add three beads.It is relatively easy to do and adds a very elegant finish to the ornament. I should work on putting these instructions - including graphics - up on my website sometime.
Good luck !
Many thanks to everyone for sharing their ideas! I have experimented with Shannon's methods and will use a beaded edge on the next ornament I finish!
Thanks to all, Kathy
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