Make a beaded Cabochon Pendant

A cabochon is a dome shaped polished stone with a flat back. It can be glued on to any surface. Beads forming a bezel around the cabochon is a very pretty sight. It is very easy to make a pendant with some seed beads and your precious cabochon stone. Here is the easy way to do it.

How to make your beaded cabochon pendant

Cut out the base for the pendant
You can decide on the shape of the pendant – it need not be in the shape of your stone. I have cut it in the shape of the stone but it can be oval, rectangle or whatever shape you want. I have decided to use felt from an old hat for this. Felt is a very good backing for your pendant. You can use wool scraps, even upholstery fabric as your base. You will need to cut 2 pieces of this – one as an immediate backing and another as an outer backing (The outer backing is used after the bead stitching is done)
If the base felt is of a different color than your beads or your overall color scheme, you may want to color the felt; this will avoid the base color showing through. I painted black fabric paint on the base felt. Do this for both the backing pieces – and the sides too.
Decide on the beads
You can choose the color of the seed beads you want around your cabochon. If you have differently sized seed beads a commonly used pattern is to use 11 size and 15 size beads next to each other – the size difference makes a nice contrast effect. The smaller beads are used next to the cabochon and then the bigger beads form a frame around this. I have used the same sized beads throughout. The color scheme can follow the colors of the cabochon or a contrasting scheme or the color of your chain, based on your personal preference.
Glue the cabochon to the backing
You can use a good glue to attach the cabochon on your felt /backing piece. Allow to dry before starting the beading.
Start beading a bezel around your cabochon
Use a beading needle and thread – a beading needle is thin enough to thread the smallest seed bead. You will be making a back stitch to attach beads along the edge of the stone forming a bezel around the stone. You can learn more about Bead Embroidery Basics here.
Knot the thread. Bring up the needle along the edge of the stone. Thread 4 or 5 seed beads on your needle
Bring down the needle
Take the needle down through the backing.
Come up with the needle 2 beads behind
Take up the needle behind from where you went down, after 2 beads
Thread the needle through the 2 beads
Now thread the needle through the 2 beads ahead – this anchors your seed beads thoroughly on your backing. (Just threading the seed beads without this back stitching will make your beading work weak)
Repeat the beading steps
You can now continue threading 4 beads on your needle. Make a back stitch. Come back through the 2 beads. Repeat again till you have created a rim/bezel around the cabochon stone
Make a hanging loop
You need a loop for hanging your pendant on your chain. An easy way is to use the metal bails available just for this purpose. But another method is to make a loop with seed beads. For this attach the needle at the top of the pendant and thread 8 -9 seed beads on the needle and make a loop. Stitch it thoroughly on your backing. Do not worry about the stitches which are visible – they will be hidden under the outerbacking you will be attaching shortly.
Now you have to attach the outer backing
The outerbacking is cut in the same shape as your pendant base. You can glue it to the back.
Edge beading
Edge beading along the outer edge of your pendant fastens the outerbacking and creates a nice outline for the pendant.
Thread 3 beads on the needle
Bring the needle along the outer edge catching the backing and the outer backing together. Take up 3 seed beads on your needle.
Insert the needle back
Bring the needle back to the backing, just one bead after where you came up initially.
This creates a nice 3 bead edge
Thread through a chain
Continue doing the above steps till you have a nice beaded edge all around the pendant. After the edge beading is finished, thread your pendant through your chain.

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