Description
This beaded apple tutorial shows you how to use French beading techniques to create a beaded apple.
Materials
For the beaded apple, you will need the following materials:
- Size 11 seed beads in leaf and apple colour
- 24ga (0.5mm) wire to match your beads
- Floral stem tape
- Brown embroidery silk
- A 4mm round bead with a large hole
I have all these materials available right here in the beading supplies.
You will need a bead spinner for this project. Plus, some wire cutters.
Techniques and Experience
I would recommend this project for experienced French beaders. You are going to be working in a variation of the ‘basic’ technique, that I refer to as the ‘beehive’ basic. It is a little fiddly, so will be easier when you are more experienced at working with wire.
About the Beaded Apple Project
This is a tutorial that I created at the request of a customer. She had seen my strawberry plant and had the idea of creating a complete fruit bowl.
So, she wrote and asked if I had patterns for some other fruit. Now, I’ve seen some really cute little fruit made using CRAW. I’ve even made some Peyote bananas in the past! But I haven’t seen any French beaded fruit.
So, it didn’t take me long to agree to try and work out a beaded apple pattern using French beading techniques. However, this idea has taken a while to percolate.
When I want to make something specific, I like to take my time to think about how I might construct it. So, by the time I sit down with the beads, I have a fair idea of how it will work. That’s not to say that it always turns out right first time. Often I still have to do a lot of trial and error to get there.
So, it has been a few months between the original request and the eventual appearance of this beaded apple tutorial. I hope it’s worth the wait!
The tutorial includes detailed descriptions of the steps and photos. I have assumed you are already familiar with the ‘basic’ technique. But if you do need a reminder, you can grab my free tutorial here.
