Supplies
- Seed beads size 11: 1-2 colors (recommend beads with largish center holes)
- Beading thread in white or accent color (I used a couple different shades of blues)
- Optional
- Bugle beads
- Size 6 or 8 accent beads
- Clear disk beads
Circle 1: String a circle of 5-7 beads leaving a six” tail. (The beading thread should be as long as you’re comfortable with, or about 36-45” long). Stitch through the first couple of beads again.
Circle 2: Add 1 bead between each of the original circle beads. Use an accent bead (change color) for clarity.
Circle 3: Add 3 beads between each of the second circle. The three beads should form a triangle, with the middle bead as the outer point. You will work from these points in circle four.
During the first few circles, your stitching won't want to lie flat, especially if you started with six or seven beads. Ihold the snowflake pinched firmly between the index finger and thumb of my left hand to force it into a flat plane. Most of the snowflake is hidden while I'm stitching, but it makes a huge difference in the final product. Take a moment at the end of each round to tighten up your beading thread and realign any beads that aren't laying just right.
Circle 4: Working from the middle beads from the last step, add 5 beads connecting the points (or middle beads) from the third circle. Bead three (the middle bead) could be an accent bead.
Circle 5: Here’s where I start playing with variations.
Simplest: Add 7 beads between each midpoint or accent bead.
Small Finial (Right Angle Weave or RAW): Add three beads, then loop back through the original accent bead. Circle through all four beads once more before stitching around the circle to the next accent bead. These four beads make a single RAW unit.
Bugle Bead:
- Add 2 seed beads, bugle, 4 seed beads adding 7 beads total.
- Coming back, loop stitch through beads 4, 3 and 2 (the seed bead before the bugle, the bugle, and the bead after).
- Add 1 more seed bead.
- Stitch back through the accent bead, finishing the original circle so that you’re continuing to stitch around the snowflake in a clockwise direction.
- Stitch to the next center point, and repeat.
Circle 6: Add 7 beads, stitching in and out through the finial beads. From the clockwise direction, stitch down through the rightmost bead of the four-bead finial, through the bottom bead, then up and out through the left bead. See circle six diagram.
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