Do you love beaded fringe on your belly dance outfits? Wondering how to make beaded fringe (and how hard it is)? Don’t worry, it’s pretty straightforward!

In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to make beaded fringe in 2 ways!

Let’s get started!

Click here to learn how to make appliques!

To make beaded fringe, you need:

Beads – Seed beads are great for making fringe. You can have some larger beads or sequins as accent pieces at the end of the fringe too!

Needle – Use the thinnest needle you have, or use a beading needle.

Fringe base – You need something to attach the fringe to. You can sew your fringe directly to your garment (then you don’t need any base material), or you can first sew it onto a thin rope, bias tape, or ribbon, then attach it to your garment. 

Thread – I like using button thread or all-purpose thread depending on the technique I’m using and the color availability. Match the color to the color of the beads you’re using.

But let me show you what I’m using as the base of the fringe. You can sew fringe directly to your garment or you can sew it onto a matching color thin rope, bias tape, or ribbon, then attach that to your garment.

A nice thing about attaching the fringe to a tape is that you can remove the fringe and attach it onto something else in the future very easily. I’ll be using this ribbon today.

How to Make Bead Fringe

Technique #1: Egyptian Fringe

The first way is what I call the Egyptian fringe because this is the technique used for the pre-made fringe I ordered from Egypt.

First, double-thread your needle and make a knot at the end. I’m using a thin regular hand sewing needle here.

Take the needle and bring it out to the bottom of the tape.

Then load up the thread with as many seed beads as you like. 

Tip: Put your beads in a small tray or a bowl, and run the needle tip through the beads over and over, and you can pick up the seed beads quite easily. 

Once you reach your desired length, pass your needle through the very last seed bead for the second time, and through the loop of the thread. 

Then gently tag on the thread to see if there’s a little wiggle room for the beads to move, and there should be a millimeter or so of thread at the top. This allows the strung beads to hang softly and creates a soft, flowy fringe instead of a tight, rigid fringe. You can still move this last bead at this point if you need to adjust the wiggle room.

Finally, make a knot, and use your fingertip to make it as close to the last seed bead as possible. Snip the excess thread, leaving a couple of millimeters or 1/8 inch or so of thread. 

And this strand is complete!

Time-saver tip

You can use this method to save time making the beaded fringe. So you make the first strand, then without cutting the thread, tie another knot about 1cm (3/8in) away from the first knot, and reverse the process. 

Take 1 bead, go through it again, and go through the loop. 

Then pick up the rest of the seed beads, and take your needle through the bottom of the tape, out on the wrong side. 

Make a knot and move a couple of millimeters or 1/8in or so, and pass the needle through to the bottom of the tape again. Then just make another strand just as we did earlier. And continue until you run out of thread. This way you don’t have to put the needle down and pick up scissors after every strand.

Finally, cut the connecting thread between the 2 knots.

A little different version (for those who want extra reassurance)

Now here’s a little different version of this technique. This technique can be time-saving, but I personally want to make sure my fringe doesn’t fall apart.

So after I tie a knot at the end of the strand, I like to pass the needle through several beads again and then trim the thread. 

Technique #2: Bottom Up

Here’s another way of making bead fringe. 

First, single-thread your needle. For this technique, I’m using a beading needle.

Take one seed bead.

Then take the loose end of the thread and thread it through your needle, so both ends of the thread are coming out on the other side of the needle eye.

Then pick up the rest of your seed beads.

Once it’s your desired length, pass the needle through the tape, out on the wrong side. 

Make sure the beads have a little wiggle room, then stitch a few times there, just to be sure. And make a good knot.

And this strand is complete!

This technique is great if you want to add a sequin or a teardrop-shaped bead or a charm at the end of the strand. 

But if you want to add a simple large bead at the end of a strand, then take a seed bead first, double up the thread, then add the large bead like this. Then add seed beads. I’m using the second technique here, but in this case, you can use either one of the 2 techniques to make your fringe.

How to apply fringe tape

Once you finish beading, you can attach the fringe tape to your garment.

Here, I covered the rope with more beads, but you can layer more fringe on top or cover the rope with appliques or other types of decorative items. 

Now put on a show to listen to, and keep threading your beads and create a beautiful beaded fringe! 

And if you want to master more beading techniques and elevate your belly dance costume decoration to a new level, check out my Applique Making for Belly Dance Costumes course.

You can learn 11 more beading techniques, and craft your very own sparkly appliques to add to your next outfit!

Click here to check out the Applique Making course!

And next week I’ll share with you another fringe tutorial, and that’s this fabric fringe.

If you’re curious about how to make this super trendy look, subscribe to my newsletter and stay tuned!

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Hope you liked this beaded fringe tutorial, and if you did, please share this tutorial with your dancer friends! 

Thanks for reading, and keep sparkling!

P.S. Pin this on your decoration idea board 😉

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