A few years back, I was mesmerized by the intricate beaded flowers on Pinterest. Some of the designs just take your breath away. I was determined to create something noteworthy, without getting too complicated. They may be beautiful to look at but not very practical. I think you will agree that simple is better, so I created 2 simple beaded flower patterns: Pansy and Orchid.
I made this necklace when I first started beading. I'm not sure what I was thinking when I made the orchid out of those 2 colors. By some miracle I found those rectangular beads with the same colors that pulled it all together! I found a pattern on Pinterest without instructions so I was at a loss as to how to put it together. I'm not going to show you what the back of that orchid looks like!
Shortly afterwards, I was at my local bead store and they had a similar orchid on display. I asked how they attached the pieces together. I was told that everything is sewn together and that glue is a 4 letter word in the world of beading and was only to be used if absolutely necessary and even then, only a tiny amount.
Using glue is a 4 letter word in the world of beading
Like I've said before, I would never judge how someone makes their jewelry. In return, I ask that you don't judge me either.
I wanted to do another orchid and change the way the center piece was done. I didn't like the way the first orchid had a raw edge where the 2 edges came around and were joined together. I used 11/0 Delicas for this orchid, but it might almost look better with seed beads.
I widened the petals a little bit and made the center piece more of a bowl. I added some shading to the center of the petals. The big question is, what do I do with it now?
When I moved my mom to assisted living, I inherited a LOT of costume jewelry. Honestly, I don't know where she got it all! And most of it is broken or missing pieces. Like most children of the Great Depression, she believed that nothing was to be thrown away, because everything could be fixed.
I poked around in the bag of broken jewelry and found a fake pearl necklace. It had 3 strands of 10mm pearls, light, medium and dark pink. In my own stash, I found these green crystals I had bought at Michaels. The pearl necklace had used small bead caps as spacers. After some fiddling around, I finally made this necklace.
I loved the way the necklace turned out. I also know I won't always want to wear the orchid with it. So, I beaded a bale to the back of the orchid so that I can slide it on and off the necklace.
Add a beaded bale to the back so it will slip over the necklace
I would love to share my beaded flower necklace pattern with you! You need to have a working knowledge of brick stitch. If you like simple beaded flower patterns, then check out my pansy tutorial. I am still crazy about seed bead flower patterns and I am still in awe of some of the 'masterpieces' I see on Pinterest.
I have created a short tutorial that gives you the pattern and shows you how to assemble the pieces together, with or without glue! Grab your free copy.
I love your orchid pattern, but must admit I like the old one better. Do you have a pattern for that one?
It’s not my pattern, but you can find it here. https://biserok.org/orxideya-2/
I have been trying to download the orchid pattern and tutorial and it just isn’t happening. Help!
Have a friend who has a nursery and sells orchids. He would love this.
Linda
Linda, I emailed the pattern to you. Thanks!