RSN Essential Stitch Guides: Bead Embroidery

The Royal School of Needlework 6, Introduction 8, The history of bead embroidery 10, Materials 14, Framing up 24, Stitches 28, Basic techniques 29

COUNTED THREAD BEADWORK 32
Counted thread stitches 34, Byzantine stitch 34, Cushion stitch 35, Diagonal stitch 36, Hungarian stitch 37, Hungarian ground stitch variation 38, Jacquard stitch 39, Moorish stitch 40, Mosaic stitch 42, Norwich stitch 43, Parisian stitch 44, Rhodes stitch 45, Rice stitch 47, Smyrna stitch 48, Staircase stitch variation 49, Twill stitch 50, Vertical Milanese stitch 51, Victorian step stitch 52, Wild goose chase stitch 53

BEAD EMBROIDERY 54
Bead embroidery stitches 56, Back stitch in bead embroidery 56, Circlets 57, Couching with a single needle 58, Couching with two needles 59, Links and crosses 60, Loops 62, Running stitch 63, Satin stitch 63, Sequin lines 64, Sequin rosettes 66, Stab stitch 67

BEADED SURFACE EMBROIDERY 68
Surface embroidery stitches 70, Back stitch, threaded and whipped 70, Buttonhole stitch 71, Chain stitch 72, Chevron stitch 73, Coral stitch 74, Cretan stitch 75, Feather stitch 76, Fly stitch 77, Herringbone stitch 78, Seeding stitch 79, Stem stitch 80, Whip stitch 81

FRINGES 82
Edging and fringing stitches 84, Simple picot edge 84, Alternating picot edge 84, Spaced picot edge 85, Spaced picot edge with drops 85, Straight fringe 86, Shaped fringe 87, Alternating straight fringe with a back stitch base 88, Staggered fringe with a back stitch base 89, Simple looped fringe 90, Alternating looped fringe 91, Overlapping looped fringe 92, Twisted looped fringe 93, Horizontal netted fringe 94, Vertical netted fringe 95

Index 96

About Shelley Cox

Shelley Cox teaches at the RSN on Day Classes and the Certificate & Diploma Course, both in the UK and internationally.

Originally from New Zealand, Shelley travelled widely before joining the RSN’s Apprenticeship. After graduation, she worked for several years in the RSN Studio where she project managed prestigious commissions such as the Wells Cathedral altar frontals. She was part of the RSN team which created the embellishment for the shoes, veil and wedding dress for Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, and has worked on a variety of RSN Studio commissions.

Bead Society of Great Britain Issue 137

If you embroider and bead then you need this book. This beautifully illustrated book shows you how to marry the two media together. 

A good portion of the book shows the basics, the materials you will need to get started, the threads, needles, beads, fabric and all the rest of the bits required. 

Basic stitches including how to get your thread onto the fabric with no knot to spoil the work. Clear diagrams show the stitch placement with hints and tips to get the best results. 

Counted thread stitches on canvas shows how to build stitches which have beads as part of the design either on the work already done or within the pattern. 

The Bead embroidery section includes using just beads to create works of beauty. There is good advice on the best fabric to use and a line about just going for it, being brave and letting the beads do the talking, which made me smile. There is a lovely section on how to create motifs with step-by-step photos; how they build up, lines, loops and circles are all covered. These can be used or adapted to bigger or alternative designs. Bead running and satin stitching along with sequin lines will give a new dimension to ideas. The sequin rosettes are also lovely.

Beaded surface stitch is based on normal embroider stitches. The combination of all threads or all beads or a bot of both opens up a whole new world. There are some lovely samples showing what can be achieved, with photos showing how the stitches will look using the various combinations. 

The last chapter is Fringes, featuring various types and how to do them, with very wise words, 'Have you got enough beads to complete?'. I know that feeling very well.

This is a beautiful 'how-to' book that will encourage the creative juice to flow and get a new dimension to your embroidery. This is also a good reference book to dip into if a bit of inspiration is needed. If you can embroider then you can do this! I did some samples just from reading a few pages ... then I went off on a bit of a tangent.

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Customer Review

This book is larger than I expected having seen previous editions of this book series before but this reformatted version of the 2010 original has been made larger (A4) and thus much easier to read and use. Its absolutely full of step-by-step pictures and instructions to show you how to do very basic beading patterns all the way up to much more complicated pieces incorporating multiple different beading and embroidery techniques. The instructions are clearly worded and pictured in detail so that you can easily follow along. There is a vast array of different patterns/layouts for beads from traditional designs to more modern interpretations and all sorts of different colour schemes which can be mixed and matched to your hearts content. The techniques include seed beads and bugle beads as well as sequins and near the end there are also patterns to create beaded fringes for your work. Its really wide-ranging for something I assumed would be quite niche and specific. There are some really nice suggested projects for your work including glasses cases and decorative boxes and the fringes could be attached to curtains or clothing, a real labour of love. All in all, if youre wanting to incorporate beads and sequins into your embroidery work then this is a great book to have and itll give you plenty of ideas and techniques to use time and time again.

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Amazon Customer Review

This book is typical of RSN guides in that it contains comprehensive instructions, diagrams and photographs of finished pieces for inspiration. I like the larger format as the details are clearer and it is sufficiently detailed for a relative beginner to follow and thus keep this aspect of needlework relevant.

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I found this book well written & informative. It has stitch instructions along with samples of different ways to use stitches and beads. I now need to sort out my bead stash & give it a go. I won this book in a giveaway.