What does a normal person think of when Valentine Day is approaching?
Chocolate, of course! (Or not?)
Well, maybe flowers, a romantic dinner and a bottle of champagne also come to mind.
However, we, beaders, think of beaded hearts! Not like we don’t bead hearts for the rest of the year, but we definitely busy beading hearts after the New Year celebration.
14 Beaded Hearts – A Lovely Collection of Hearty Designs and Tutorials
There are tons of different designs and variations. In fact, it is enough to keep us busy all year.
Why not?
We seem to be in love with the love symbol. And for a beader, who doesn’t have a Valentine to celebrate with, beads are a good reason to express their love towards such a wonderful hobby.
I selected 14 beaded heart designs for you just to illustrate, how creative it can be to share your love expressing it through bead weaving and embroidery. I hope you will choose one of these ideas, or even come up with a new one, and make your own unique beaded heart.
Bead-woven Hearts
1. Two Sides of One Love
My first idea of a beaded heart was a double-sided pendant.
I made it from the second attempt experimenting with free-form peyote stitch technique and two colors of beads: red and white. The second color, white, I chose only for the reason that I have several tops of solid red, or white, or both colors combined. You may pick a different color for the second side. Any color, that would mean something to you and your heart, of course. If you need help, combining colors, check out my short guide to better color combinations. (link)
2. Peyote Stitched Heart
Although experimenting with new techniques is fun, you don’t have to start with a difficult project if you are a beginner.
One of the most popular stitches for beginners is Peyote.
Here is a good quality video tutorial that explains how to make a beaded heart using peyote stitch in detail.
3. Brick Stitch Heart
Would you be more interested in the brick stitch technique, try this tutorial by Kelly Dale:
It is on my to-do list for Valentine’s Day.
4. Right Angle Weave Stitch Heart
Let the RAW stitch not scare you at all. I love this technique! It is probably, the first one that comes to mind when I want to design something.
Don’t know how to RAW? No problem! Try my step-by-step tutorial and learn it quickly.
Once you get an idea, how to weave using RAW, try this very simple and quick project. The blog article offers color diagrams and the video to help you understand the pattern.
5. Add Dimension To Your Heart
This beaded heart project is for everybody who loves beading and using RAW stitch (see above) or, for those who are comfortable beading with two needles.
Following this tutorial, you will make a dimensional heart shape instead of a flat one.
6. Super-duo Heart
No, it is not another double-sided pendant. It is a heart made with super-duo or twin beads.
Isn’t it nice to know that one cam made a heart using any bead type? Super-duo made their way almost into any beader’s stash. Why not experiment with them, too?
Super-duo or twin bead heart video tutorial:
7. Heart Earrings
Another quick and easy beading project I love is for the earring design! It is super-fast and fun to experiment with.
Bead Embroidery
8. Brooch-pendant heart
One of my hearts was meant to be several things from the moment the idea of it was born.
Creating a bead embroidered illustration for my article about 20 Reasons to Fall in Love with Beading, I made a brooch-pendant in golden tones (with a touch of white pearly seed beads).
The beads and materials for this beaded heart project were chosen randomly. I had no intent to sell it, but to experiment only.
9. Embroidery and Anatomy
Stepping away from love symbolism, one can always try an anatomic interpretation of a heart with some symbolic features.
If you love incorporating fiber into your bead embroidery, you might be interested in some of the hearts presented further in this article.
10. Cool Heart
Not all hearts are ready for love. Some may be grieving, or not warming up for different reasons.
Sometimes it is sad to notice occasional social media notes stating that people dislike the day simply because they have nobody to celebrate it with.
However, I would wear a cool-colored heart-shaped brooch also, if I needed to pair it with my outfit. When it comes to fashion, we can’t only wear colors that are originally assigned to the symbol or idea. What do you think?
11. Heart embroidery applique
Do you think bead embroidery should be limited to beads sawed to the base only?
12. Fiber art Heart
Do you have to stick to beads only? Of course, not! Look at this very cool heart design using beads and fabric. Bead embroidery certainly adds another dimension to this composition. Moreover, it is a pleasure to see the contrast between the two textures: fabric and beads.
13. Two-hands Heart
Did you think of using metal components in addition to beads in your embroidery?
I’ve used them, but not for a beaded heart. When I came across this design I thought it is a good example. Also, I would love to see more such combinations of beads and charms.
14. More Hearts
Why not use leftover beads for a beautiful and creative heart embroidery?
Colorful bead embroidery might reflect the diversity, endless opportunities and, of course, simply love.
Multi-colored or single color heart? What would you choose for your bead embroidery project?
Happy beading!
