Beaded Rounded Heart Pattern By Laura

Welcome to the beaded rounded heart pattern instructions! This pattern was created by our fellow beader Laura. If you have any difficulty following this tutorial, please post a comment at the bottom of the page, and we'll do our best to help. Continue to page 2 for the original pattern by Allegra (which contains photographs).

The beaded rounded heart by Laura

Before you begin ...
Materials:
- 150cm of nylon thread/fishing line,
- 76 seed beads of any colour but smallish in size (I used size 8/0)
- 37 5mm acrylic beads of any colour
(As long as you use beads of relatively different sizes you should be okay).
Time required: 2-3 hours
Techniques: Beadweaving, right angle weave
Difficulty: Challenging

Step 1 - Stage 1 of the base

Step 1: We will be starting at the blue dot on bead 1. This bead should be at the centre of your nylon thread - one end of the thread is your blue thread and the other end is your green thread. As the beads are numbered irrespective of their size, I will state either B (for big beads) or S (for small beads) next to the numbers in the typed instructions. We will be starting at the base of the heart, working upwards towards the peaks. Remember to pull tight regularly.
- Thread beads 1-4 (all S) and criss-cross through bead 4
- Thread beads 5-9 (BSBSB) and criss-cross through bead 9, then pass the blue thread (the one you used to thread beads 5-9) back through bead 1
- Thread beads 10-13 (SBSB) and criss-cross through bead 13, then pass the green thread (the one you used to thread beads 10-13) back through bead 2
- Thread beads 14-17 (SBSB) and criss-cross through bead 17, then pass the blue thread (the one you used to thread beads 14-17) back through bead 3 and bead 5
- Thread beads 18-20 (SBS) and criss-cross through bead 20

Step 2 - Stage 2 of the base

Step 2: We are starting here at the blue dot on bead 20
- Pass the green thread back through bead 6
- Thread beads 21-24 (all S) and criss-cross through bead 24, then pass the blue thread (the one you used to thread beads 21-24) back through bead 7
- Thread beads 25-28 (BSBS) and criss-cross through bead 28, then pass the green thread (the one you used to thread beads 25-28) back through bead 8 and bead 10
- Thread beads 29-31 (all S) and criss-cross through bead 31, then pass the blue thread (the one you used to thread beads 29-31) back through bead 11
- Thread beads 32-35 (BSBS) and criss-cross through bead 35, then pass the green thread (the one you used to thread beads 32-35) back through bead 12 and bead 14
- Repeat this pattern until you criss-cross through bead 45, then pass the blue thread back through bead 19 and bead 21
- Thread beads 46-48 (BSB) and criss-cross through bead 48

Step 3 - Stage 3 of the base

Step 3: We are starting this time at the blue dot on bead 48
- Pass the green thread back through bead 22
- Thread beads 49-52 (SBSB) and criss-cross through bead 52, then pass the blue thread (the one you used to thread beads 49-52) back through bead 23 and bead 25
- Thread beads 53-55 (SBS) and criss-cross through bead 55, then pass the green thread (the one you used to thread beads 53-55) back through bead 26
- Thread beads 56-58 (all S) and criss-cross through bead 58, then pass the blue thread (the one you used to thread beads 56-58) back through bead 27 and bead 29
- Repeat this pattern until you criss-cross through bead 82, then pass the blue thread back through bead 47 and bead 49
- Thread beads 83-84 (both S) and criss-cross through bead 84

Step 4 - Rounded heart (top view)

Step 4: This diagram is purely to show how you should squeeze together your piece to create the correct shape. This is just a guide and will help you to understand how the heart shape is formed - it doesn't matter if you can't squeeze it exactly. The numbered beads are the 'outer' beads from the last step and should form the upper rim of what you have made so far - a cone shape. This is the base of the heart up to its widest point. The blue dot and arrows on bead 84 show where your threads should be coming out. We will now be forming the 2 peaks of the heart.

Step 5 - 2 peaks

Step 5: We will now be using the beads specified in the previous diagram (and originally threaded in Step 1). The numbers of these beads are greyed out and the numbering of the new beads to be added has been reset to 1. We are starting at the blue dot on bead 84 (where your threads should currently be). Be careful to look at the instructions closely in this step, as they don't follow an obvious pattern. Remember to pull tight regularly.
- Pass the green thread through bead 50
- Thread beads 1-4 (BSBS) and criss-cross through bead 4, then pass the blue thread (the one you used to thread beads 1-4) back through bead 51 and bead 53
- Thread bead 5 (S) and criss-cross through it, then pass the green thread back through bead 54 and bead 56 and pass the blue thread back through bead 3
- Thread beads 6-7 (SB) and criss-cross through bead 7, then pass the blue thread (the one you used to thread beads 6-7) back through bead 57 and bead 59
- Thread beads 8-10 (SBS) and criss-cross through bead 10, then pass the blue thread (the one you used to thread beads 8-10) back through bead 6 and bead 2
- Thread bead 11 (S) and criss-cross through it, then pass the green thread back through bead 1, bead 83 and bead 81 and pass the blue thread through bead 9
- Thread bead 12 (S) and criss-cross through it, then pass the blue thread back through bead 80
- Thread beads 13-14 (both S) and criss-cross through bead 14, then pass the green thread (the one you used to thread beads 13-14) back through bead 78
- Thread beads 15-16 (both S) and criss-cross through bead 16, then pass the blue thread (the one you used to thread beads 15-16) back through bead 77 and bead 75
- Thread beads 17-19 (BSB) and criss-cross through bead 19, then pass the green thread (the one you used to thread beads 17-19) back through bead 74 and bead 72
- Thread beads 20-22 (SBS) and criss-cross through bead 22, then pass the blue thread (the one you used to thread beads 20-22) back through bead 71 and bead 69
- Thread bead 23 (S) and criss-cross through it, then pass the blue thread back through bead 21 and pass the green thread back through bead 68 and bead 66
- Thread beads 24-25 (BS) and criss-cross through bead 25, then pass the green thread (the one you used to thread beads 24-25) back through bead 20 and bead 18
- Thread bead 26 (S) and criss-cross through it, then pass the blue thread back through bead 17 and pass the green thread back through bead 24, bead 65 and bead 63
- Thread bead 27 (S) and criss-cross through it, then pass the blue thread back through bead 62 and pass the green thread back through bead 15
- Thread bead 28 (S) and criss-cross through it, then pass the green thread back through bead 60, bead 8 and bead 13
- Pull the threads extra tight and tie your threads together in a double-knot

Step 6 - Base bead

Step 6: The main structure of the heart is now finished and all that is left to add is the bead at the base of the heart. Your threads should be at the top of your heart (in the middle) and what you need to do now is thread them down inside the middle of the heart (you might need a needle to do this) so that they both stick out of the base - where you first started beading. The numbered beads in this step refer to the first 4 beads you threaded at the very beginning of the pattern.
- Hold the 2 threads together and gently pull until the heart takes the desired shape (this should pull the top part of the heart downwards/inwards)
- The blue and green dots represent where your threads should be but it doesn't matter if you can't remember which is which from the previous steps
- Thread on your final big bead and criss-cross through it, then pass the blue thread back through bead 4 and bead 1 then back through the new big bead and pass the green thread back through bead 2 and bead 3
- Pull the threads extra tight and tie your threads together in a double-knot


Your beaded rounded heart is now finished!

Continue to page 2 for the original pattern by Allegra (which contains photographs).