Welcome to the 3-D beaded rounded heart pattern instructions! If you have any difficulty following this tutorial, please post a comment at the bottom of the page on which you are stuck, and I'll do my best to help!
Step 1 : Now flip your heart upside-down and add the very last bead of the pattern! Add a large blue seed bead to one end of the fishing line (either end) and then cross it with the other end of the fishing line, as shown in the picture.
Step 2 : And this is what it should look like when you pull the ends of fishing line tight! Don't you wish all steps were this easy? Ain't she a beaut! You're so close to finishing!
Step 3 : Now we could stop here (it's already a heart) but it's a bit funny looking with fishing line coming out of its butt. So we want to now take those fishing line ends and string them BACK UP to the top of the model again! (so you can hang it or wear it as a pendant or a key chain or attach a brooch backing to it). It doesn't really matter through which hole you take them back up. Just try to hide them as much as possible.
Step 4 : And here's the finished product!!!!!!!!!! Really really we're actually done! Now if you want to wear it as a pendant, you can go ahead and tie a metal ring onto the top of the heart via making several knots around it with the two ends of the fishing line (the more knots, the more secure). Security is important, because if the fishing line breaks or the knot gets undone at the very end, all the beads in the whole model could eventually unravel since they are all on the same piece of fishing line (or 2 if you had to stop one string and start a new one at some point if you ran out of string). If you ever do run into a potential unravelling problem, where the fishing line breaks (rare but if very old can happen), you can stop the damage by removing the last few beads to get some slack on the fishing line ends, then tie them together several times and string them through several other random beads on the model for security. Then cut off the ends that are left sticking out and start a new piece of fishing line to put back the beads that were lost, then tie off that piece by the same method when you've put back all the missing beads. Your repair piece of fishing line (the fresh one) can be short because you're only adding a few beads to it. But make sure it's long enough to be able to tie a knot as well as string it through some random beads to secure/hide it.
As for the metal ring, after you make your knots to tie it down, do the same thing as above, ie run the ends of the fishing line through random beads on the model to secure/hide them, then cut off the loose ends.
If you want to have a brooch backing, I don't recommend glue (I don't trust it). If you want to use glue, use it in combination with tying the brooch backing to your model using none other than fishing line. It might be a bit messy but who's looking at the back of your model when it's against your clothes? Just make several loops between the holes in the brooch backing and going through random beads on the back of your model and back again to the brooch hole, etc etc. Then add glue as desired for an ultra-secure hold. Okay, now you're done! Enjoy!
Laura's Red Heart :
Your fellow beader Laura made a beautiful beaded red heart from this tutorial, which is quite admirable considering how challenging it is! If you would like to share your design, email it to me at allegra@friendshipbeading.net and I'll be more than happy to post it! Here is Laura's description of her red heart:
Materials : I used approximately 1.5 metres of nylon thread (with plenty to spare at the end which is handy for tightening and tying off), 77x 8/0 red seed beads and 36x 5mm pinky-red round beads. (I'm not sure exactly what the 5mm beads are as I've had them quite a while and they weren't in their original packaging).
Time Spent : Altogether, the heart took me around 2 to 3 hours to make and I made it slightly differently from Allegra's, as the bottom bead is a small bead instead of large.
Inspiration : I've wanted to have a go at making a heart for a while but struggled to get the shape right so I was thrilled to find a pattern on this site. Most of my beads are seed beads and are similar in size but I managed to find a small pack of red 5mm beads which I decided to use along with some red seed beads. I'm also going to buy some charm straps so that I can make it into a keyring or mobile phone charm!
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| Beader Comments: | |||
| Julie on December 10, 2008: | |||
| this is really cool | |||
| jabeen on October 26, 2008: | |||
| laura u did a wonderful job of this 3d heart....excellent instructions a new beginner will be happy....yr instructions are so clear....thanks a lot | |||
| Aghra on August 18, 2008: | |||
| i do hope i'll be able to find a magnet with a hole or 2 to try out, cos tying the fishing line round & round the magnet doesnt appeal to me... =P i'll look ard for the magnet first. maybe i'll try to glue it in place and try if i can pluck it out (security testing)! and yea... first end-product will be placed on my fridge ~ ^o^ it'll be so cool, 3-d heart magnet XD i'll post the pic on the forum if it works (only if it works keke).
Thanks for your reply =) | |||
| Allegra on August 18, 2008: | |||
| Hmm, that is an interesting predicament. I have always just either attached a brooch pin, or a hair clip, or something of the sort that can be tied to the heart using fishing line, rather than glued. Could you by any chance find a magnet that has a small hole in it somewhere? Because if you could, you could tie the heart to the magnet. Or I suppose you could also just tie around and around the magnet (if there are no holes) until there's just no way for it to come out from any direction. LOL! Are you planning to put the heart on your fridge? | |||
| Aghra on August 18, 2008: | |||
| any idea if this 'heart' can be made as a magnet? i've just done one with abt 3mm brown and white 'crystal-like' beads, kinda small lol. and i'm thinking how i can glue on the uneven surface. or would it be easier to glue on the magnet with the beads Laura has used? | |||
| Allegra on June 13, 2008: | |||
| Hi Julie! I had to do a google search for "swarovski puffy heart" to find out which one it is! It's not the same pattern. In fact, from the looks of it, this heart pattern is much more challenging because it features beads of two different sizes in the same heart. Good luck with it! I don't actually know if this beaded heart pattern has an official name because I learned it from a Chinese woman who barely speaks two words of English. Anyways, good luck! I'd love to see your finished product too! | |||
| julie b on June 12, 2008: | |||
| Is this the same pattern used to make the swarovski puffy heart? Your directions are fantastic by the way - and I will be making one of these soon. I am addicted to beads :o) | |||
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