Beadweaving Snowflake Tutorial

December has come around again and I’m seeing Christmas trees popping up around where I live and, my other hangout, Instagram. With this in mind I decided to play around with the idea of making Beadweaving snowflakes.

I love how snowflakes look when magnified with all their delicate details and thought that seed beads, faceted beads and a few two hole beads to help form structure would work well. Also, I love working with two hole beads so this was a win win project for me!

I have also recorded this as a YouTube video so if you would rather watch that instead then scroll to the bottom of this post.

Beaded Snowflake Tutorial

You will need…

• Wildfire beading thread in White
• Beadweaving needle
• Size 11 Silver lined seed beads
• 3mm Faceted Czech clear glass beads with an AB finish
• 12 x Kite beads in white

Step 1.

Cut a length of beading thread (I tend to use two arm lengths to ensure I have a comfortable length to use) and thread on a needle. Pick up 6 kite beads, using the hole towards the longer end, alternating them with 6 3mm Czech faceted beads. Tie in a knot to form a circle leaving a good length tail thread to knot further and sew in later.

Step 2.

Move the needle through the beadwork to move away from the knot and exit from one of the 3mm faceted beads. Pick up 3 silver lined size 11 seed beads and sew into the next faceted bead along. This will make the seed beads sit on top of the kite beads.

Step 3.

Do step 2 all the way around and, once the circle is completed, move the needle through the beadwork so that it exits out the middle seed bead in one of the set of 3 seed beads.

Step 4.

Pick up 1 3mm faceted bead and sew the needle through a middle seed bead in the next group of 3 along.

Step 5.

Add 5 more 3mm faceted beads in this manner to complete the circle. After the last faceted bead is added and the needle is exiting through the middle seed bead, sew through the next seed bead along (going back towards the kite bead and not round the faceted bead circle just made) and through the bottom hole of the kite bead.

Step 6.

With the needle exiting out of the lower hole on the kite bead, take the needle through the top hole on the kite bead. The thread will sit snugly along the outer edge of the bead.

Step 7.

Pick up 1 3mm faceted bead, 1 kite bead but using the hole at the shorter end this time and then another 3mm. Take the needle through the top hole of the next kite bead along.

Step 8.

Repeat step 7 all the way around to complete the circle. It’s starting to look like a snowflake now.

Step 9.

Pick up 3 size 11 seed beads and sew needle through the 3mm faceted bead, added in step 1, sitting directly under the kite bead.

Step 10.

After sewing through the 3mm faceted bead sew back up through two of the size 11 seed beads.

Step 11.

Pick up 1 size 11 seed bead and sew through the same kite bead but from the opposite side. This will leave a seed bead sitting on either side of the point of the kite bead.

Step 12.

From the hole on the kite bead, sew through the 3mm faceted bead and then pick up 3 size 11 seed beads and sew the needle through the next faceted bead and kite bead along.

Step 13.

Exiting through the kite bead in step 12 repeat step 9 – 12 until the full circle is completed. If you are a beginner, don’t be daunted by the look of the finished piece. If you follow each step in order it will all come together.

Step 14.

Exiting out of the bottom hole on a kite bead, take the needle up and through the top hole on the same kite bead. The thread will sit snugly alongside the outer edge of the kite. Pick up 1 size 11 seed bead, 1 3mm faceted bead and 1 size 11 seed bead. Sew the needle through the middle size 11 sitting over the top of the lower kite bead.

Step 15.

Pick up 1 size 11, 1 3mm faceted and 1 size 11 and sew into the top hole of the next kite bead along.

Step 16.

Repeat this step all the way round the snowflake.

Step 17.

Exiting the needle out a top hole on a kite bead pick up 3 3mm faceted beads and sew through the same hole on the kite bead but from the opposite side. This will make the 3mm beads ‘hug’ the top point on the kite bead. Move the needle through the top line of bead work to the next kite bead along and repeat this step. Continue on all the way round the snowflake.

Step 18.

Once all the points are added to the kite beads move the needle up centre 3mm faceted beads on one of the kite beads. Pick up 5 size 11 followed by a 3mm faceted bead and repeat until there are 7 faceted beads and 8 clusters of 5 size 11 seed beads (add more in this manner if you wish your snowflake to hang lower). Take the needle back through the faceted bead you exited from but from the opposite side. This will form a loop. Sew back through all the bead in this loop to reinforce and then knot and cut the ends.

If you would like to see how I knot my threads on Beadweaving projects then visit this post – Towards the bottom of the tutorial I have some photos showing the steps and a video to help.

If video is more your think I have now recorded this as a YouTube video 🙂

As ever, is you make follow this tutorial and share on Facebook or Instagram don’t forget to @theartisanduck!

I hope you are all feeling festive. Are you planning on a little Christmas crafting? It is my favourite time of the year to craft for but I think that is because I love all that is sparkly and glittery.

Hannah x