Make your own DIY Christmas stars with small beads
In this blog post, Smyks' designer Charlotte works with the well-known peyote stitch beading technique and explains how to make three-dimensional stars in beautiful colours and patterns using Delica seed beads.
The star shown as example was sewn in 7 seven rounds and has a width of approx. 3cm. If you want to make larger stars, you simply sew more rounds. Additionally, you can fill the star with cotton wool to help it hold its shape. Charlotte uses the popular Delica beads size #11 by Miyuki to to obtain a shiny and elegant surface.
Once you have learned the technique, you can use the stars as window decoration, Christmas tree ornamens, gift tag or as pendants for earrings and necklaces.
Please note, this is a more advanced tutorial and it is therefore recommended that you are already familiar with Peyote stitch in its basic form, this can be seen in some of our previous blog posts for example:
Peyote stitch jewelry
We used the following DIY components to make this star:
Delica beads, forest green, size #11
Delica beads, sea green, size #11
Delica beads, 24-carat gold-plated
Approx.. 3m Fireline, LB3, black
String 4 beads.
Sew through all 4 beads one more time ...
... in order to form a loop.
Continue into the same direction ... sew through 1 bead.
Tighten the thread. Now the first round is done.
String 2 beads ... and sew through the next bead. Continue sewing into the same direction.
Tighten the thread. The 2 new beads now lean on each other.
Repeat these steps: String 2 beads ... and sew through the next bead.
Tighten the thread.
Repeat again: String 2 beads ... and sew through the next bead.
Now you are about to add the last 2 beads in this round. String the beads and sew through 2 beads to prepare for the next round. You do this every time you have finished one round.
Now the second round is done.
You start the third round by stringing 2 beads and sewing through the next bead.
Then you string 1 light-coloured bead and sew through the next green bead that sticks out. After that, you string 2 green beads and sew through the next bead.
Continue like this all the way around the circle. You add 3 green beads at a time (they form the 4 corners) and 1 light-coloured bead at a time (it fills out the space in between the corners).
Remember: When you have added the last light-coloured bead, you sew through 2 beads in order to prepare for the next round.
Now you have finished the third round.
Tighten the thread. Now your piece of needlework will automatically start to fold up.
Star the fourth round by sewing on 2 green beads.
String 1 light-coloured bead and sew through the light bead that sticks out.
String another light bead and sew through the next green bead that sticks out.
Thew light-coloured beads fill out the spaces, the green beads form the edges of the star.
Continue like that all the way round. Now the fourth round is done ... and 2 light-coloured beads stick out on each side.
Sew the fifth round in the same way. Once you are done, 3 light beads will stick out on every side.
Then you sew the sixth round in the same way. After that, 4 light beads will stick out on every side.
Now you are going to start the seventh round. String 1 golden bead and sew through the next green bead.
Tighten the thread. In the last round, you only add 1 golden bead at a time around the egdes.
Continue adding 1 golden bead at a time all the way around. After that, you sew up the thread ends.
Sew a second square in the same way ... but without the last round with golden beads.
Sew on 1 golden bead.
Now you are about to sew the first two tips together.
Sew through the first golden bead on the first tip (the golden bead that sticks out).
Then you sew through the first light-coloured bead in the second square (the bead that sticks out)...
.. and then through the second golden bead that sicks out in the first square.
Continue sewing together the two squares in this way ... zigzagging between the beads that stick out.
At the tip, you sew through the upper green bead and ...
... continue through the upper golden-bead in the first square...
... and the 2. green bead in the 2. square (see picture).
Continue sewing like this on the other side.
When the two squares are fastened to each other, you sew on golden beads in the same way as before - 1 golden bead at a time...
... all the way along the edge.
The two squares are now fastened to each other and form the first 2 tips of the star.
Sew up the ends.
Sew 1 more square. Then you sew this new square to the first 2 squares in the same way.
Zig-zag between the beads that stick out.
Continue in the same way: Sew a square... and sew it to the other squares. The star consists of a total of 5 squares that are sewn together.
Here you see how the 5th and last square is sewn on (see picture).
Remember to always sew 1 golden bead to each tip of the star for this pattern...
...i order to form a centre with 5 golden beads in a circle.
Tighten the thread. If necessary, sew an extra round in the circle before you continue ...
On the other side, you also sew an extra round in the circle.
Secure the end of the thread.
Congratulations! Your star is now finished :-)
Stjernerne her er på 7 omgange (inkl. guldomgangen), og måler ca. 3 cm. i bredden og er knapt 1,5 cm i tykkelsen. Stjerner laves større ved at sy flere omgange, før den sidste omgang med guldperlerne sys. Der er ikke fyldt vat i denne stjerne, da den godt kan holde formen uden. Hvis stjernen laves større, vil den holde formen bedre, hvis den fyldes ud med vat.
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