Beads were my first crafting love affair. One summer holiday I went to a workshop on bead weaving and was hooked. My first craft business was selling bead woven bracelets to classmates at school.

As my interest in beads developed I learned more about the techniques Native Americans used beads to decorate their belongings. One of the techniques used is bead couching.

Couching in embroidery is when small stitches are used to hold a thread on the surface of fabric. The principle with bead couching is very similar.

• Bring the needle up through the fabric (A), thread on a small number of beads (between 3-6 is ideal)

• Take the needle down through the fabric at the end of the row of beads (B) as close to the last bead as possible

• Bring the needle up through the fabric about 2 or 3 beads along and make a tiny stitch over the string of beads to couch the string to the fabric.

An alternative method is:

• Bring the needle up through the fabric (A), thread on a small number of beads (between 3-6 is ideal)

• Take the needle down through the fabric and bring it up through the fabric about 2-3 beads along

• Pass the needle through these two beads and then thread 3 or 4 beads onto the needle and repeat

This technique of passing the needle through the string of beads helps to make sure the beads sit flat to the fabric and there are no gaps between each bead.

If you would like to have a go at bead couching, then why not take a look at my floral sampler kit where you can try this technique alongside a range of other stitches.

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