Description
About the Beaded Bauble Pattern
As so often happens, this beaded bauble design evolved as I was trying another project entirely. I came up with the Kheops star motifs when I was working on my Kheops Christmas decoration. They did not make it into that pattern, but the idea stuck and I thought they would look great sitting around a beaded bauble. I decided that I would try a design in which ‘less is more’.
The red and gold colouring contributes to the impact and I kept everything as simple as possible. A single tube of Kheops beads will suffice for this beaded bauble. You will also need just a few grams of size 11 seed beads and only four Honeycomb beads. This means the project will not break the bank. In fact, you may find it is a great way to use up a few leftover beads. That is certainly what I was doing with my Honeycomb beads. I had just a handful left after completing my bracelet and necklace projects, so this was the perfect way to use them.
A Few Tips for the Beaded Bauble
I bought my actual bauble from GJ Beads and it is a 60mm size. This red and gold design has been created to fit that size, so if you are using a different bauble, you are going to need to make some serious alterations. Having said that, it is pretty simple to just adjust the length of the brick stitch band around the centre and also the seed bead strands that hold everything in place.
Talking of fitting and adjustments, I have used Miyuki brand seed beads and I would strongly recommend that you do the same for your beaded bauble. If you have some beading experience, then you may be aware that there are subtle differences in the sizing of different brands of seed beads. If this is news to you, then you can read a more detailed article about it here. Apart from the precise sizing, I find that the Miyuki brand have lovely big holes and this is a bonus here as you will be making a lot of thread passes through some sections.
Lastly, the beaded bauble instructions assume that you are familiar with brick stitch. If this is not the case, you can find a free tutorial here. The pattern does include a reminder for anyone who has done this technique in the past.
So, armed with that help, you should be good to go and I hope you enjoy making your own beaded baubles this year.
