How to Make Beaded Flowers - Violet

On Monday, we learned how to make beaded rings. Today, lets embellish those rings by making beaded flowers. Beaded flowers are very pretty and delicate, and can also be used for all kinds of jewelry, or as ornaments. I’ve chosen a violet for this bead flower tutorial, as it involves teaching you two different techniques to make the petals. Armed with those beading techniques, you can make most flowers by combining the petals in different ways.

You’ll need:

• Seed beads in purple, white, yellow, plus three brown or black beads.
• Fine wire or nylon filament
• Wire cutters
• (optional) Florist’s tape

Lets begin with the simpler technique, which is actually exactly the same as that used to make bead rings – specifically the third ring in Monday’s post, which has centre beads but no side-beads. We’ll use this to make pointed petals.

To make the larger upper petal, cut a length of wire and string 8 purple beads, sliding them into the centre of the wire. Pass the opposite end of the wire through five of those beads, making two rows with the ends of the wire crossed through the second row, as in our bead rings. Thread 7 beads and pass the other wire through them in the opposite direction, making the third row. Again, both wires should pass through all 7 beads, in opposite directions. Make the remaining rows in the same way, as follows: 9 beads, 11 beads, 13 beads, 13 beads, 11 beads, 9 beads, 7 beads, 5 beads, 3 beads. Twist the wires together but do not trim them off.

Make the smaller petals in the same way – starting with 1 bead, 2 beads, 3 beads, 5 beads, 7 beads, 7 beads, 7 beads, 5 beads, 3 beads, 2 beads, 1 bead. Make two small petals like this. Again, twist the wires but don’t trim them yet.

Now for the bottom, rounded petal. You’ll need three colours of beads for this – purple, white, and yellow. This technique starts out similar to the pointed petal – thread 2 purple beads onto a piece of wire, around 40-50cm long, and slide them to the centre.  Cross the wires through the second of the two. Now add a third bead, and cross the wires through it. Thread both wires in the same direction through a fourth bead, joining them together.

Onto each of the two wires, string three purple and one white bead. Thread both wires through two yellow beads, joining them together.

Now take one of the two wires. String onto it 2 yellow, 2 white, and 6 purple beads. Pass the wire through the third bead down from the top of the petal – the last one that you crossed the wires through before joining them. Now thread 6 purple, two white, and two yellow beads, bringing the wire back down to the bottom. Thread a yellow bead onto both wires, in the same direction, joining them together. The diagram shows what it should look like by this point.

On the other wire, thread 2 yellow, 2 white, and 11 purple beads. Pass this wire through the second bead from the top, and string 11 purple, 2 white and two yellow. Join the two wires together again with a yellow bead.

For the final round, take one of the wires and string 1 yellow, 3 white, and 16 purple beads. Pass the wire through the top bead – the very first bead you strung – and then add 16 purple, 3 white, and 1 yellow bead. Twist the wires together at the base of the petal.

Finally, we’ll make the anthers. Cut about 15-20cm of wire, and thread a brown or black bead. Twist the wires together tightly below the bead for about 1cm. Add a second bead, positioning it about 1cm from the twist, and twist the wires together for 1cm. Repeat once more with a third bead, then twist the wires together at the base.

Now you have all your parts, you can arrange them and secure by twisting the wires together firmly. Trim off, though not so short that the twisted wires won’t hold together, or wrap with florists tape to make a stem.

Why not try some other flowers? Make 6 pointed petals for a lily, or upturn 7-9 rounded petals for a rose. Many different beaded flowers can be made with just these two petal shapes.

You may also like:

1. Beaded weaving – make a beaded textile necklace
2. How to do hana-ami Japanese beading – Sunflower charm
3. How to make bead rings