Valentine’s Day is coming up!
So today I want to share with you how I made this heart shaped beaded applique. It’s perfect for Valentine’s Day theme costume decorations or just make one as an accent piece like a hair accessory or Valentine’s Day decor or DIY gift. If you stick to neutral colours like I did here, you can use this as a wedding accessory too. Let’s get started!
Click here to get the free Heart Applique Pattern!
To make this heart shaped beaded applique, you need:
Felt – to use as a base. The base shows through, so match the colour with your beads.
Your favourite heart pattern – you can download my patterns in different sizes here .
Any decoration items you like – I used size 10 gold seed beads, larger beads in pink and clear, white pearls, light pink and gold sequins and rhinestones.
Hand sewing needle and matching colour thread
DIY Beaded Heart Applique for dance costumes, wedding, & decor
First, trace a heart pattern on your felt base. Again you can download heart applique patterns from here.
Trace outline with seed beads using the single line technique. You can find the beading technique tutorial here 🙂
Key to creating a nice clean outline is to follow the line accurately. This step really affects how the finished applique looks, so take your time and make a clean outline.
Follow the outline with sequins and beads. This is what I call the twist line technique.
Place the sequins by the outline you just created so that they rest on the seed beads but they don’t hide the seed beads at the same time. This creates a little dimension in your applique.
Add large pieces. Place your large stones and beads randomly.
Then fill in with medium size pieces like sequins and beads. You can also layer sequins and beads for interesting colours and textures. For example, if you have sequins of different shapes and sizes, try placing them on top of each other.
As long as you stick with a certain colour palette, you can’t go wrong with this type of design. My colour palette for this one is light pink and gold. So I picked out everything in this colour palette from my stash for this project. It’s a great way to clean up your stash and create something beautiful! I also used clear colour and white pearls for more texture.
Fill in with smallest pieces. This applique is easy because once you create a clean outline, you can sew the rest randomly. But go for organized randomness. “Organized” and “random” are complete opposites, but what I mean is, mix different pieces in all areas, so every section has a little bit of all elements.
As you fill in with small pieces, of course you can mix in a little larger pieces too as you see fit. Placing larger pieces first helps you create that organized randomness, so you can fill the rest more easily.
And that’s it! Cut along the outline and be careful not to cut any threads on the back.
If you use it on a costume, you can simply sew around the applique to attach it. If you make an accessory with it, glue on another layer of felt or leather on the back to protect the stitches.
Hope you liked this heart shaped beaded applique DIY, and in my next post, you’ll see how to make a beaded paisley applique. So stay tuned!
If you enjoyed this DIY, please share it with your costumer, dancer or bride-to-be friends who might enjoy it! 😀 And sign up for my newsletter from the link below to get the free heart applique patterns.
Click here to get the free Heart Applique Pattern!
Thanks for reading, and keep sparkling!
P.S. Pin this image for future reference 🙂
Like what you read? Want to make more costuming bits yourself?
Sign up for my newsletter here and get my free course, Belly Dance Costume Making 101!