Thread: Another beading question

I bought beads and thread and needles and now I'm trying to figure out how to bead. The costume is velvet so my question is how do you keep the fabric taunt enough to sew the beads on so it doesn't pucker? Do you use an embroidery hoop or another something I don't know about?..c::

Thanks so much for all the help I've received so far!

Are you talking about stretch velvet or regular velvet? Stretch velvet has tension issues that the other kind doesn't. At any rate, you wouldn't want to use a hoop, since that would leave marks. If you really need some sort of blocking while you sew, it would probably be better to use a topless wood frame like you'd use for cross stitch or needlepoint, but you will have to be careful not to mark the fabric where you attach it to the frame.

The easiest way is to do as much of your beading as you can as applique work and then sew the larger pieces onto the costume instead of beading directly onto the outfit. That way you can use a hoop, but the marked areas are not going to be part of the finished project.

Thanks so much, Tourbeau! Yes, it's stretch velvet so I will definitely try your suggestions.

I second Tourbeau's suggestions, but would like to add:

I've drawn my designs on tissue paper, pinned it to my fabric, making sure there's no wrinkles.
Stitch through the paper, then gently tear it away, when I'm done.
I did this with four way stretch lycra, I haven't tried it with stretch velvet yet.

Originally Posted by gothique

I've drawn my designs on tissue paper, pinned it to my fabric, making sure there's no wrinkles.
Stitch through the paper, then gently tear it away, when I'm done.

You can also buy tear-away stabilizer especially for embroidery. I'm not sure I'd want to get the water-soluble kind, since it might get weird or gummy on velvet (haven't tried it), but the other should be fine.