French Beaded Flowers bead-along

November 2022 – beaded Willow  

Level: Beginner

Update: PDF is now available for sale >> French Beaded Willow PDF 

For the free video lessons, scroll to the bottom.

Last month, for our French beaded flower bead-along we worked on beaded ruscus. Next month, join me in the Learn How to Make French Beaded Flowers facebook group to bead along with me for the month of November! We will be beading willow branches to use as filler. The beaded willow looks fabulous displayed in a tall vase or can be used as additional filler for other branches.

Willow branches are so versatile. There are many varieties of willow trees and colors of the leaves can vary from light to dark green. Moreover, even the stems are interesting in that the stems can vary from gray, mustard yellow, light green, and even red.  Depending on the variety, leaf placements can also vary, however, leaf shapes are generally the same. So, by learning this one leaf shape, you can recreate any willow varieties by varying bead colors, stem colors, and leaf sizes.

Starting November 1st, we will be starting our lessons in the group. Alternatively, if you’d prefer to receive emails to your inbox when each lesson is uploaded, sign up for my newsletter. If you’re already on my newsletter, you don’t need to do anything. Each lesson will go straight to your inbox.

French beaded willow materials:

• 100 to 150 grams 11/0 green seed beads (color A)
•  25 to 40 grams 11/0 contrasting green seed beads (color B)
• 24 gauge green copper core wire
• 30 gauge green copper-core wire
• 3 lengths of 16 gauge stem wire (15, 18, and 24 inch)
• Floral tape (light green, red, or mustard yellow)

Beads:

As you already know, you can use whatever beads you wish but for your information, these are the beads I used (source: Fire Mountain Gems)

• 11/0 Matsuno Dynamite transparent emerald green
• 11/0 Matusno Dynamite matte peacock green

Additionally, we will be using a color mix for the body of the leaves.
For Color A mix: Mix in 2 grams of Color B to every 20 grams of color A.

While this French beaded willow is a beginner project, you do need to know French beading terminology. This is a great time to learn a new technique. I’ve included some free pdfs and videos so that you can prepare:

• Basic Frame
• Lacing

Lastly, I will be updating the videos to this bead-along will also be updated here.  Please sign up for my newsletter to get the video lessons straight to your inbox. Only those in the facebook group or my newsletter will receive the corresponding pdf.

French beaded willow, Part one

French beaded willow, part 2