French beaded flowers technique: Continuous Cross-Over Loops

Level: Beginner

The Continuous Cross-over loops French beading technique is usually used for making petals all on one continuous wire.

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Practice petals – 11/0 seed beads/24 gauge wire
Pattern: Seven 20-bead CCL

Prepare: String approx. 30 inches (76.2 cm) beads onto a spool of 24-gauge wire.

1. Leave a 3-inch (7.6 cm) tail. Make a 20-bead loop. Pinch the loop so that it’s a long oval.
2. Move the working-wire so that it is up in between the loop. Photo 1.
   

   Photo 1

3. Feed enough beads so that it covers the wire and then bend the bare wire over the top of the loop and go down the backside. Photo 2.
   

   Photo 2

4. Feed and push (Photo 3) more beads up the wire until it covers the wire. There will be a small amount of wire peeking through at the top and that’s okay. Tip: Using the same color wire as your beads will make the wire less noticeable.
   

   Photo 3

5. Wrap the bare wire around the base twice to secure. Photo 4.
   

   Photo 4

   You now have one (1) cross-over loop (CCL).

6. Start another loop next to the first petal leaving about 1/8 inch (.31 cm) of space in between. Photo 5.
   

   Photo 5

7.  When finishing the wrap for the subsequent cross-over loops, make the wrap on the bare wire in between the petals. Continue making the cross-over loops until you’ve reached your desired number of petals.
8. 8. Re-positioning Tail Wires: Take one of the tail wires and wrap it around the base of a petal across it. Photo 6.
   

   Photo 6

   See final Practice Petals in Photo 7 with the front view and side view.

   

   Photo 7