Most common beading techniques I use for my works

Seed bead embroidery with cabochon

There are two main techniques I use for embroidery with cabochon. 

“Stem” stitch.

Fasten the thread, string the bead, put the needle on the fabric, pull the needle behind the beaded string, and go through the sewn bead again. String the second bead, put the needle into the material behind the new bead, and bring it between the last and the penultimate beads. Pass the needle through the sewn bead and thread another one on the thread. With this method of sewing, the embroidery is solid.

I can use this stitch to make a single row of seed beads around the cabochon to go to the next step. I also use this stitch for additional decoration rows.

• Mosaic stitch. 

Here, I make a little clap around the the cabochon to hold it tightly inside. To “close” the clap, I use two sizes of the seed beads: 10/0 (or 11/0) and 15/0. The last rows should be the smaller ones, so they will tighten the seed beads in between and make a tight ring around the stone.   

• Seaming stitch with beads ‘American way.’   

Nets

To learn more about netting technique you can read the following blog post:

Hair Nets and Necklaces with a Netting Technique

The Ndbele technique

This is a very useful technique for making cups, cords, etc. Another name for it is Herringbone weaving. If you look closely enough, the “cups” on this brochure were made using that exact technique.

Looming/square stitch Weaving

To learn more about looming, please read this blog post:

Gerdan