Adding Beads For Decoration

Make your Craft Projects Unique With Decorative Beads.

I think we have all experienced this: we have finished making a lovely craft item; we have added pretty colours and stitches, but it needs something extra.
So reach for those beads! 🙂

I always like to have an assortment of beads to hand. Some will be large, with big centres so that I can thread a darning needle through, while others will be tiny beads which require the use of a slim, sewing needle.

As you can see from the picture above, my first job is to sort the beads out – if I can’t use a darning needle with them they go into a different pile for daintier items.
I also like to sort my beads by colour – not just matching colours, but some which will contrast, to give the decoration a bit of an oomph!
Silver mixed with matt colours works that way too.

If you only want a small amount of beads, it’s a good idea to try to work out what size you need.

For example, it would be no good purchasing only tiny (under 2mm) beads if you want to thread them onto knitting or crochet yarn; for that you will need 8mm beads or more. However, another point to remember is that bead size is often worked out by the size of the hole for threading, rather than the actual bead. For example, seed beads may be tiny, but they can often be threaded onto quite a wide needle.
So always try to research your beads unless, like me, you don’t mind surprises 🙂

Beads can often be fun. You can see from the top picture that just a small range like this has really fun patterns on some of the beads.
And I can usually find a use for most of the beads I buy – in fact they sometimes give me an idea for something new to make 🙂

I usually buy my beads online. Hobbycraft have a nice range of beads to choose from in their Jewellery Making section, or, if you don’t mind surprises, you can often find mixed sets of beads on Ebay – and it’s always fun opening the packets when they come because you never quite know what you will get :).

Oh yes, and if you want to see what I did with some of those beads, here they are:

Two large bags with beads and tassels.

I think they look great 🙂