February 18, 2010- Beads are beautiful. Embroidery is a decorative art. When both beads and embroidery are combined, they give birth to a very fine art- the art of bead embroidery! Bead embroidery is one of the many bead crafts that represent beauty. Bead embroidery patterns, in fact, can make dull daily use items into fine pieces of art! This photo feature article will present you with some fine bead embroidery patterns and designs made onto a variety of things. You can get inspiration from them or buy them following the links given along each of them. However, before moving on to see some beautiful pictures of bead embroidery patterns, we must know what exactly is bead embroidery?

What is Bead Embroidery?

Bead embroidery is an ancient hand embroidery technique. It traces its origin in Germany where it was done as early as 12th century. The bead embroidery patterns were first drawn onto the parchment and then attached to the fabric. Beads were strung onto one single thread, laid on the design in the desired manner and then couched into place with a thread and second needle. The modern bead embroidery patterns, however, generally require taking five to six beads on the needle at a time. The needle is then driven into the fabric and the beads are then couched with a second needle and thread into place. Generally, backstitch technique is used to run through many couched beads. A final thread is run through to make the bead embroidery design stable.