Stitch Club: sequin and bead flowers

Series: Stitch Club no.12

Workshop: Building 3D embellishments
Host: Chloe Patience website – Instagram
Aim: Create structure and texture using beads and sequins.

I think I’ve only really ever used my collection of sequins as embellishments on cards. There have been a couple of mixed media pieces and the recent Indian gold Stitch Club workshop, but apart from that, it’s just been cards. And the same goes for my bead collection. They’ve been used in handful of projects over the years, but nothing that justifies the size of the stash.

This project changed that. This project is all about the sequins and beads.

The first thing I had to do was sort out the sequins. I had bought a bag of mixed sequins way back when — mixed sizes and styles and colours — and they were still all mixed together. So, knowing that I would want to make three flowers with at least six petals, I set about working out which sequins I had enough of.

Once I had chosen the sequins and beads, I played around with stacking different combinations until I had a petal design that I was happy with. Then it was just a case of sewing them in place. Then I added the green sequin stacks scattered across the background.

And that’s how it stayed for quite some time. I knew I needed to add something more — probably some hand embroidery — but I wasn’t sure what. Eventually the answer came as a result of another workshop that will (if I manage to stick to my schedule) be on the blog in a couple of weeks.

Mounting this was another experiment, inspired by someone else in Stitch Club. This time I cut a couple of layers of foam board in an oval shape, glued them together, and laced the cotton around it. It looked a bit bare so I dug through my stash, found some fluffy trim in an appropriate colour, and sewed it around the edge to finish it off.

This was fun to make and I am definitely more inspired to use my bead and sequin stash in future. Though, I will probably use it as an element in a piece, rather than the main technique.