The Art of French Beaded Flowers

How French Beaded Flowers Are Made

1. Decide on a flower to make. It can be realistic, or once you have had some experience, it can be from your imagination. Take for example the butterflies in my flickr photos--they are my original designs, sometimes using real butterflies as inspiration; sometimes they are from my imagination.
2. Select your bead colors. Typically, size 11 seed beads are used unless you are making miniatures. You can buy seed beads loose, but by the hank is easiest as you will see as you read on. Beads by the hank can be purchased at a bead store or online, and I have provided some sources below.
3. The next step is to string your beads on wire. I use 28 gauge silver colored wire as I feel it is the least noticeable. Another option is to match the wire to your bead color, but this requires an extensive and expensive outlay. Silver colored wire is fine for the beginner. I have been making french beaded flowers for over 40 years, and silver colored wire is still my preference.
   
   If beads are purchased loose, they must be strung on the wire one by one which can be very tedious. Or you must use a bead stringer which requires a bit of skill to get the hang of itself!
4. Once you have some beads strung on wire, you will begin to form the components of the flower. Each petal, leaf, stamen, sepal, etc. is formed separately.
5. Then, using foral tape & wire you assemble the components in your beautiful flower masterpiece.