Bead Embroidery Heart Ornament Tutorial

• About 200 size 11/0 round opaque red seed beads
• About 200 size 11/0 round opaque cream seed beads
• About 1.5 square inches of red bead embroidery backing (such as dyed Stiff Stuff or Nicole's)
• A blue or black ball point pen
• Sharp scissors
• Size D Nymo beading thread in pink
• Thread conditioner, such as Thread Heaven (for preparing the thread)
• A size 12/0 beading needle
• White fabric glue or craft glue
• About 1.5 square inches of ultrasuede in red, white, or a neutral color
• Ribbon for hanging your ornament
• Optional but recommended: A beading awl for pulling out stitches to correct mistakes

Download and print the heart pattern. Cut out one of the hearts in the pattern and trace it onto your backing material with a ball point pen.

Please click on any image in this tutorial for a full-size view.

Prepare an arm span length of beading thread and thread the needle as you would for single-strand beading.

Tie several overhand knots, one directly on top of the other, a few inches from the end of the thread.

Pass the needle up through the backing material at the bottom point of the heart, and pull the stacked knots up against the underside of the backing.

Pick up six cream beads and slide them down against the front of backing. Use your fingers to align this row of beads on the inked line that you made while tracing the heart, then pass the needle back down through the backing just past the last bead. Be careful not to stitch too close to the last bead, which can cause it to tip downward; ideally, you want the entire row of beads to sit flat, with their holes running parallel to the backing.

• Learn more about the terms used in beading patterns and tutorials.

Pull the thread taut, and then pass the needle up through the backing -- on the inked line -- between the fourth and fifth beads that you stitched. The trick here is to bring the needle up as close to the existing thread (running between beads) as possible, but to avoid splitting that thread with the needle.

Pull the thread taut again.

Now pass through the fifth and sixth beads in the row again, and pull the thread taut.

Use your finger to push the entire line of beads back in the opposite direction that you passed the needle. This eliminates extra space between the beads and helps to keep the stitch looking linear and neat.

Continue this backstitching technique to bead along the pattern line. For straight portions of the heart, you can stitch six, five, or four beads at a time, always bringing the needle up behind the second-from-last bead stitched, and passing through the last two beads.

When you reach the curved part of the heart, switch to shorter stitches: Pick up three beads at a time, and pass through just the last of those three to complete each stitch (as shown on the left).

Tip: If you make a mistake, you gently pull out stitches after making them. To avoid fraying your thread, go slowly, and always apply more thread conditioner before re-threading your needle.

When you reach the center of the top of the heart, stitch one bead beyond the ink line, toward the inside of the heart. (You can stitch one bead by itself, if necessary; just be sure to bring the needle up behind it and stitching through it again to lock it in place.)

Then, pass down through the backing, reposition the needle, and pass it back up on the ink line. Beackstitch two or three beads here to continue the outline (see the bottom photo on the left).

Keep backstitching until you finish the heart outline. After completing the last stitch in the outline, pass the needle down through the backing, reposition it, and bring it up inside the outline to begin the second round.

Stitch the second round with red beads. When you reach the center of the top of the heart, stitch one bead beyond the center bead in the outline (see the second photo on the left), then reposition your needle (like you did in Step 6) and continue the round.

Continue backstitching. When you complete the second round, reposition your needle, switch colors again, and stitch the third round. Keep each row of beads as neat and tidy as you can. As shown in the photos, the lines of beads may still look a little messy. They'll come together and straighten up quite a bit when you have the entire heart filled with beads.

When you reach the fourth round, you won't have enough space to make a smooth curve with your beads. Instead, bead upward as far as you can, pass down through the backing to change position, and then pass up through the backing next to where you left off (see the first photo on the left).

(Remember that you can click on the photos for larger views.)

To fill in the very center of the heart, you'll only have enough space for a "V" of two lines of backstitched beads.

When the heart is completely filled, pass the needle down through the backing, reposition it, and bring it up between beads somewhere in the initial outline. Pass through several beads, then make a half hitch knot by looping the working thread around the existing thread that runs between two beads (the top photo on the left), passing the needle through that loop, and pulling the thread taut.

Pass through several more beads in the outline and make a second half hitch knot.

Pass through several more beads and bring the needle out of the beadwork. Pull the thread taut, and cut it close to the beadwork.

Turn the beadwork over and trim the initial thread tail to about a 1/4 inch.