Description
Beaded Pine Cone Pattern
I designed this beaded pine cone pattern after I had been using Piggy beads for another project. As I was working with them, they reminded me of the shape and texture of pine cones.
It took me a little bit of searching to find the colour that I wanted. (I eventually bought them from The Old Bicycle Shop. So, thank you to the lovely Davida for her help there!).
Finally, equipped with the beads, I began experimenting with stitches.
I had already decided in my head that Peyote stitch would be the most likely to achieve the look I wanted. So now, I just needed to experiment. It took a few tries to get the shaping to look just right… But once I had done that, I simply used the seed beads to add a base.
I found that a little bit of stuffing helps my cones to keep their shape. Thus, my beaded pine cone pattern was born!
Materials, Tips and Techniques
As you may have already guessed, you are going to need Piggy beads and size 11 seed beads for the beaded pine cone pattern.
Tension is very important for this project. So, I recommend a good strong beading thread. Personally, I prefer Fireline. I find that the fact this thread doesn’t stretch means that it will really help you to achieve the tension you need.
You also need to bear in mind that the Piggy beads are two-holed. So, you will need to check both holes are free before you use each bead.
You will also need to take care as you work… Make sure you are stitching through the correct hole each time! As the pine cone grows, it becomes trickier to keep track of this.
I have used diagrams to show thread paths and correct hole usage in beaded pine cone pattern.
Having created my pine cone, I then used it to make an Advent Candle Holder. I combined my pine cones with holly leaves on a circular wire structure. If you like that idea, you will need the beaded holly leaves pattern. You can find that here.
