Description
About Beaded Needle Cases
If you’ve never come across them before, beaded needle cases are basically an opportunity to create a personalised needle case in which you can store your needles.
You can buy beadable needle case forms, either made from wood or from metal. They have been specially designed so that their main body is slightly indented to allow you to add a strip of beadwork around.
You can embellish this indented area in any way you like. But most patterns use a strip of beadwork in either Peyote stitch or Brick stitch. Then, join the two ends of the strip so that it is fastened around the needle case.
There is really no limit to the ways in which you can decorate your beaded needle cases, as my friend Sian Nolan has demonstrated. In 2015 she published her first book, full of gorgeous, whimsical patterns for decorating needle cases. If you want to find out more, you can read a review of the book here.
The Bead Flowers Pattern
I designed my own pattern for beaded needle cases based on my company name and logo. I designed this as a project to teach.
The project is a great way of learning how to read a Peyote stitch pattern and also practising your basic Peyote stitch. The design features the Bead Flowers name on one side. Then I covered the remaining area with little beaded flowers. I used my company colours to make my sample, but my students have used lots of different colour combinations for their beaded needle cases.
I also wanted to encourage everyone to explore their own creativity. So, the area with the flowers is beaded freeform. You can use the blank graph paper in the pattern to create your own flower design if you wish. Or follow the freeform instructions and bead as you go.
The pattern also includes some blank graph paper, sized to fit the needle case, so you can create your own design.
Materials and Techniques
For this project I used metal needle case forms, so the design will fit that style. You can buy the needle cases here>>
If you choose a different style of needle case, you may need to alter the design to create a good fit. Now, if you are experienced, this will be no problem. But if you are just starting out, it is best to stick to the recommended products.
You will also need size 11 delicas. Again, using a different size or brand of seed bead will most probably cause problems with the fit of the pattern. So, if you want to know more about that, read this blog>>
If you need help learning Peyote stitch, then you can find free technique sheets on this website. I also have a technique sheet to help you with reading Peyote patterns.
If you want to design your own lettering to replace the ‘Bead Flowers’ section – for example add your name – you might find my Peyote stitch alphabet helpful.
I hope you will enjoy creating your own beaded needle cases. Please do send me photos of your work and I will feature them in the gallery pages.
