beaded object class
Unit 1
patterns and foundation
Welcome to the beaded object class. I am delighted to have you here with me on this journey.
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In the next five weeks I will walk you through my process on how to bead embroider an object. I hope you will find that looking for the object can be quite enjoyable. You will probably never look at an object the same as you will be wondering if and how you could cover it with beads.
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At this unsettling time on our planet we need to focus more on making art and beauty than the media and tragedy. Some of you have always been blessed with making art but perhaps you have gotten lost along the trail, I hope that this class will inspire you to once again find your path, look beyond the normal and challenge your creativity. May you fill the world with beauty, love, honor and respect.
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If you haven't seen the video I presented to you when you signed up on finding an object please view it below.
The story of the sphere
"The Fortune Teller" was my first beaded object. I find that designing things for competition is always a great way to challenge your abilities. In this case the competition was BeadDreams 2009.
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I also find that life's challenges can influence our creative work. At the time I made this piece I was recovering from breast cancer, my father just passed, my mother with dementia was living with us, and our son Ben was a teenager. There was nothing that was easy about life, my beadwork was my only escape. This piece was crazy just like my life at that time. Trying to cover every surface with beads, and than figuring out how to put it all back together. Somehow this was my therapy each bead somehow made it better.
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The challenge for me was how do I bead embroider a sphere? I wanted to bead something nobody had done before. What could I use as a base? And how could I cover it with a ultra suede foundation.
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I found a basket ball in my sons closet and from there it all fell into place. The lines on the basket ball reminded me of an orange, and how it is quartered. I new the suede would have to be cut into eight sections, but how does one figure out the size and shape of those sections?
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I found a six inch foam ball at the local craft store and new that was just the right size for my object. I than covered the foam ball with several layers of masking tape. Than using string I marked eight sections on the ball. If I was to do this again today rubber bands would work much better than string.
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I numbered the sections and also marked the top and bottom, because they were not all the same size. I than used a utility knife and cut the marked masking tape into eight sections.Than I transferred the patterns to ultra suede and transferred the numbers as well. I than sewed four sections together. Now I had two half sections to bead my magic on.
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And that my friends is exactly what you are going to be doing. Making your patterns for your object by using masking tape. You may not have eight sections, but the process will be much the same.
Making your Pattern
Materials needed
• Object to bead upon
• Masking tape
• utility knife
• fine tip marker
• scissors
• paper for pattern making: if you have a flat object.
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No matter what the object is you want to cover in bead embroidery, you need a pattern first. The question you need to ask yourself is, how much of the object will be covered?
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Sometimes the design calls for some open space. Some of the teapots I have covered, have some lovely metal areas where I didn't want to cover. Even a white porcelain figurine might need some areas that are free of beads. As you can see with the VW Bug below, I didn't cover every inch of the car, not only would it have been difficult but I liked seeing the the green of the car showing.
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Certainly if you are covering a foam ball, or an object with a boring background you should consider covering the whole thing.
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I find masking tape works the best for me, you want to layer it with at least 2 ~ 3 layers. If you want a clean line and it is easily obtainable you can just tape along a seam and not have to cut it. Use a fine tipped marker and mark your sections, cut the sections with a utility knife or peel the tape off and cut the lines with scissors. Keep in mind if you use a utility knife that the knife could leave a mark on your object.
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It is a good idea for you to mark the sections you will be cutting, with numbers or locations, so that you will know how they all fit back together.
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If you are working with a flat object, something with no curves or angles, you can use a piece of paper to make your pattern.
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Cover your object with 2-3 layers of masking tape or more. Once you have identified your sections mark them with a number and top and bottom
Depending on your object not everything needs to be covered.
You can use a utility knife and carefully cut your sections. Or you can also peel off the masking tape and cut your sections with scissors, this will give you a much cleaner cut.
Video below
Sewing the foundation
Materials needed
• Object to bead upon
• Foundation material ultra suede
• Beading thread and needle
• fine tip marker
• scissors
I like to use black ultra suede for my foundation it is a bit more stretchable so once your foundation is covered in beads it will be easier to pull it where it needs to go, especially if you are working on a curved object. Black works well because it hides certain sections that may be hard to cover, but this will also depend on your object.
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The pattern for the car below shows how easy the tape sticks to your ultra suede foundation. You can also see that this piece has a slight curve to it, so a dart was made on one end, to adjust for the curve. I marked left and right doors, and also any numbers onto my suede, so I know how to sew them or place them back together. If you are working on a symmetrical object such as a teapot you may need to only make a pattern for one side, and simply turn the pattern over, so that it fits the opposite side.
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If you have a pattern with a curve to it you may need to add a dart, as shown in the bottom photo. A dart is a tapered tuck in a garment in order to shape it. In our case we don't want a dart with excess fabric so we will be cutting a line in the center and cutting away the excess fabric. Whether you need a dart or not will show up for you when you lay the taped pattern to the foundation. More on this in the video below.
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Before you start to sew the pieces back together, you will need to pay attention to how your piece will be assembled back together. Meaning some pieces will not be sewn back together until after they are beaded. The sphere is a good example by sewing four sections together rather than all eight it made it easier to bead upon.
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When sewing the sections together make sure you knot your thread well and sew the ends a few times so as not to unravel later. I use a simple stitch close together along the seams, as shown in the photo below and also in the video below. You will be carefully pulling the stitches to lay flat, so you don't want a bulky seam.
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Once you cut your taped pattern out you can tape it to your ultra suede foundation and cut it out.
Make sure you transfer the numbered sections to your suede foundation.
When sewing your sections back together make the stitches small and close to the edge to keep the pattern true to size.
DART: a tapered tuck stitched in a garment in order to shape it.
If your taped pattern won't lay flat you may need to cut a dart into your foundation.
Video below
Copyright © 2025
by Heidi F Kummli
All rights reserved. This course or any portion there of it, may not be reproduced, or used in any manner whatsoever without the written permission of the author.