Add color, dimension and maybe a little bling to your fabric with beads! With the beaded back stitch, you can embellish a straight or curved line and keep your beads attached securely. The beaded back stitch is the most basic way to stitch beads on fabric and is a versatile choice to embroider beads on fabric because of its ability to follow any design line. You can use one bead for a continuous beaded line, or vary the beads for more visual interest. You will need a foundation or bead backing to stabilize most projects. Use the motifs printed on commercial fabric as stitching patterns or draw an original design for bead embroidery.

The beaded back stitch is a versatile choice to embroider beads on fabric because of its ability to follow any design line. It can be used for long lines of beads and because you back stitch through the beads, it is very secure, holding the beads tightly to your base fabric. This stitch easily goes around curves, but is perfect for straight lines, too!

There are variations on the beaded back stitch based on how many beads you back stitch through. Here’s how to back stitch using the 2-bead back stitch on fabric with bead embroidery. The name means that because you add 2 beads at a time. Other varieties include 3, 4 and 5-bead back stitch.

One embelishment

Bead Embroidery: How to Back Stitch Beads on Fabric

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Active Time: 50 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Difficulty: Beginner

Add color, dimension and maybe a little bling to your bead embroidery with the beaded back stitch on fabric.

Stitch straight or curved lines to create a beaded motif or add abstract elements to your fiber art.

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Here's how to back stitch beads on fabric with bead embroidery with a 2-bead back stitch.

Materials

Fabric for Beading
Optional: fabric marker if drawing your own designs
Bead Foundation or Backing - I used a fusible foundation. Add fusible web if your foundation is not fusible.
Nylon Beading Thread
Seed Beads - size 11 seed beads are demonstrated

Tools

Beading Needle, Size 10 or 12
Fabric Scissors
Thread Snips
Beading Mat
Bead Scoop - optional, but makes cleanup easier
Iron and Pressing Surface
Non-Stick Pressing Sheet

Instructions

Gather your supplies and tools as listed above. Most of them are shown here.
Cut the beading foundation to the size needed for your project and fuse to the back (wrong side) of your fabric, following the manufacturer's instructions. Use a non-stick pressing sheet to protect your iron and pressing surface. Fusing the fabric to your beading foundation keeps the layers from shifting as you stitch.
Draw your design on the right side of your piece or select a line on the fabric to embellish with a back stitched line of bead embroidery. Thread your needle with 2 to 4 feet of beading thread and tie a knot at one end. Bring the needle up where your beaded line will begin. This picture shows you how to begin at the edge of an object if that is part of your design.
Load 4 beads on the needle. We are following a printed line of the fabric with a 2-bead back stitch.
Lay the beads along the line and insert the needle back through all layers where the 4 beads end.
Bring the needle back up between beads 2 and 2.
Insert the needle through beads 3 and 4, without catching the fabric.
Pick up 2 beads with the needle.
Lay those 2 beads along the line snugly against the line you have started with the first 4 beads and insert the needle down through all layers at the end of the last bead added.
Bring the needle up between the last two beads.
Insert the needle through the last bead.
Continue adding beads to your line by repeating steps 8 to 11 until your bead embroidered line is complete. Then insert the needle to the back and secure the stitches with a knot. Now you are ready to begin your next line of back stitched beads on fabric!