Stitching Easy Bugle Bead Designs

When we think of beads, the first thing that comes to our mind are those small round seed beads, but bugle beads can do anything the seed beads can – and more. Many bugle beads are small, (starting from 1.5 mm) some even smaller than seed beads, they can be very long too (available to even 35 mm), making them more versatile. And they are stronger, as well as glossier, catching light from everywhere and reflecting it everywhere.

I read it in this article in interweave that a kilogram of size 2 bugle beads contains over 20,000 beads. Nicee.. I can add as many sparkle as I want without the dead weight of other beads. The shop I get beads from has only one generalized kind of bugle beads, but there are many other special ones like Preciosa, Matsuno, Miyuki Bugle Beads, and Toho Bugle Beads.

Bugle beads can also come in many finishes, such as matte or shiny, (silver-lined for extra sparkle, or aurora borealis with a rainbow-like shimmer). Twisted bugle beads have an hexagon-shaped twist along their edges-this means, yes, extra texture and extra sparkle to your designs.

Tips to sew with bugle beads

The bugle bead is long and cylindrical. A lot of common hand sewing needles wouldn’t pass through them. And if you have low quality beads, most would be of different sizes. At first it may appear that your needle will pass through but then one will start cracking, and then the next and you will be frustrated mid way.

needle that would pass through the bugle bead and the one which would

Even if you have the right needle, they can crack if you pull thread too tightly or if they rub against sharp edges. So treat them as such – delicate but beautiful embellishments.

👇This kind of carnage is common when sewing with these shiny tubes.

And because of their sharp edges, they can wear out thread pretty fast. I meant that your thread will literally break – in the middle of the design, of all the places!!! It’s so frustrating to reach the end of your work and then see it all fall apart shortly after some use, because the thread snapped in the middle. So use the best durable thread out there, like a single-ply, bonded nylon thread like Nymo thread. And try to use double thread – if it will go through. You may also go back to anchor it better.

One tip is to use seed beads in between bugle beads as a buffer, to take off the friction and reduce the wear and tear. If you use the same color seed bead it would not be noticeable.

When stitching bugle beads, always use a backing for support under the fabric—fusible interfacing, horsehair netting can all be used. Otherwise, if the work is heavy, the fabric will sag. Another tip is to always use consistent tension as you sew – this will prevent the beads from sagging.

Here are some easy designs you can try with bugle beads:

Bugle bead embroidery design

Bugle bead tassels and fringes

You can simply thread the bugle beads onto different threads and bunch them up into tassels or do some easy bead weaving and make neat little tassels like this. You can use this to make colorful and long dangling earrings, or add to your keychain for a colorful boho look.

The weaving is quite simple : check out this video for the easiest bead weaving technique.

You will be making the base first

And then, you will be adding the fringes to this base one by one.

Make similar fringes on the edge of your scarf and there is no limit to the length you can go with these beads.

A geometric Border design

The long line of the bugle bead gives a clean and crisp geometric designs on your edges.

From a plain top :

To this :

When sewing bugle beads along an edge as a border, string no more than 7 bugles at once, and tack them in place, by going back 3 beads. You can also do couching stitches to anchor them in place.

And after every few beads, pause to check your tension. This keeps the beads straight, secure, and prevents puckering.