Surface Beading
Please be patient with the animations; depending on the speed of your connection, they may run slowly. Beads are sewn directly to beadable surfaces such as fabric, non-woven, leather, suede, or cardstock, following a printed design for precise placement. Surface beading is similar to embroidery and uses many of the same stitches—couching, backstitch, and picots to name a few. You can also incorporate the traditional beading stitches into your surface beading pieces; use peyote stitch to attach a cabochon to a flat surface. Three-dimensional embellishments and raised textures are easy to do if you're using the correct techniques.
Equipment and Supplies:
You'll want to use needles with sharp points. If you're working with very tiny beads, you'll have to use a fine needle such as a #12; these can break with too much pressure when you're trying to force them through a surface. It's helpful to keep a heavier needle such as a #9 embroidery needle on hand for making holes in the surface. Use the largest needle possible that will fit through your smallest bead. You can use beading nylon such as Nymo or C-Ion for beads that don't have sharp edges. Ordinary sewing thread works well with seed beads. For crystals or metal beads, you can use fireline or Toho beading thread, which is less prone to being damaged by sharp bead edges.
Methods for putting the pattern onto the surface:
Pencil Simply draw the pattern onto the surface using a pencil. In most cases, graphite pencil will wash out with light detergent and water, so this is a good choice for surfaces that will not be damaged by water. Indelible Marker Pen If you're covering the surface completely, indelible pens such as Sharpie fine point can work well. If you're working on a dark color, use a black pen. On lighter colors, use a lighter color, preferably one that blends with the color scheme of your beadwork. Transfer Pencil If your surface won't be damaged by heat, you can make a mirror image drawing of your pattern using a transfer marking pencil (available in most fabric and quilting stores) and then iron the pattern onto the surface. It's a good idea to preshrink both your paper (before using the transfer pencil on it) and your surface, or the pattern may "ghost" as shrinkage occurs.  Non-Woven Sandwich Print, draw, or copy your pattern onto very lightweight paper. Iron very light-weight fusible interfacing over the front of the pattern; when it's cool, iron heavier fusible interfacing to the back of the pattern. You've created a stiff, beadable surface that won't ravel or shred, with the pattern visible through the upper layer of fusible interlacing. This method is especially easy when it comes to finishing since non-wovens don't ravel and are extremely pliable. For heavier projects, it's a good idea to use a full layer of meltable adhesive such as Heat 'n Bond between the paper and the non-woven; this gives the best results.
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