The daisy effect

The technique that I call the Daisy stitch, or "daisy effect", is one I learned ages ago from local elders. I have learned quite a few traditional stitches, and I am always amazed at the interesting effects that they make. This is one of them. The idea behind the daisy stitch it to position your beads in a way that utilizes the thread as part of the design. In this case, you use the stitch holding down the bead to make a directional look to the pattern. You'll see what I mean in the pictures :)

My supplies:

• Big spool nymo in white - about an armspan or a little less. You can use pretty much anything you want to sew with that has a good contrast with the bead colour you choose. I personally prefer this effect in black, but I decided on white for the tutorial.
• Your beading surface of choice - I like stiff stuff, and I used one of the scraps I keep just for this reason
• A bead, cabochon, sew on crystal, or something of the sort, for the center of the flower. I used a cultured pearl that has a domed side and a flat side. You could even do a bead bezel around something for the center.. the options are endless.
• A beading needle - I used a size 10 long beading needle
• Seed beads - I used size 11 czech beads, in an ab matte purple. You can use any size, but the thread effect is easier to see and control with smaller beads.
• Something to cut the thread - I have a thread burner for this, but scissors work too

This scrap of stiff stuff was more than enough for this small pearl. I actually ended up making two of these.

I figured about about the rough shape I was going to do, and when I did that, I put the pearl, flat side down, where the center of that would be. I secured the pearl with a metallic mint green 1-cut.

The 1-cut is a charlotte, and is even smaller than a 15!
When coming back up, I got my needle as close to the pearl as possible without scratching the nacre.

 I then grabbed an 11, and went back down away from the pearl, instead of along it. If you get your positioning right, when you pull your bead to the backing to secure, it should sit with the hole against the pearl. This is essential for the correct look of the thread in the later steps.

The next bead needs to go just as close to the pearl, as I am creating a ring around it. Spacing is important here. You don't want to crowd your beads.





 With all of the beads nestled hole to the pearl, it should look somewhat even and without gaps. Once they are all of the way around the center, you basically fold them down. The idea is to sit them on their sides, hole up. If you've sat them correctly, the line that the thread makes should point at the pearl.

The second row can get a little bit hairy for spacing, but once you get one or two on, it tends to get easier. You can do as many rows as you like, but I chose to do two. It's easier to figure out the correct placement if you're doing all rows after the first one, with the beads folded down.

I also put on extra bead opposite of each other to create an interesting silhouette. From here you would either add more rows, or trim and back and edge.

Thanks for reading! I hope that this helps you to create a daisy effect creation of your own!

PS. If you really want to get the daisy effect to pop, use an even more high contrast bead colour, thread colour, and backing combination than I did in this tutorial. I just did these ones up in copper and turquoise on black and they look amazing!