Stitching on Hama beads

If you have been reading my blog for a while you will know that I am obsessed with hama beads and cross stitch...I just love designing patterns pixel by pixel and bringing them to life with either bead or thread.

So I have been playing around combining my two favourite things....

I had this brilliant idea to make a square of hama beads and try and stitch on it.
I decided to use my Mr Fox hama bead brooch pattern to start with. I just love the contrast of the threads on the bright background beads. Stick a bit of felt to the back and you have a coaster!
photo

Next I thought about making smaller shapes to stitch on to make into brooches/pins and pendants or just decorations.  Now the trick is not to melt the beads too much otherwise your needle won't fit through the holes!

 

So four beads will make one cross stitch...you just go up and down through the centre of the beads like you do with the holes in aida cloth.

If you want to try this yourself here is a BIG TIP.........if you create your shape with your square board placed on an angle you can then use the spaces between the fused beads as extra stitch holes and therefore get bigger designs onto a smaller area....did I explain that very well?!

So I got very excited and started making lots of shapes and stitching lots of woodland creatures....

 

 

 

You can see that both the deer and owl have been stitched on 'angled' shapes while if you go back to the top and look at the fox he is stitched on a 'straight' board.

 

OK so I am never going to be asked to write technical manuals with this kind of explanation but I hope you get the idea. Please feel free to ask questions!

 

Have a go...it is so much fun!

 

I am working on a cute Easter one which will be revealed soon.