This heart is more than stitches, it feels like fire captured in beads. Every red bead pulses like a heartbeat, and each golden ray shines as if the sun itself is protecting it.
When light hits the finished piece, it seems to spark with energy, as though you’re wearing your own little emblem of love and resilience.
Adding it to your jacket or bag turns the ordinary into something radiant, like carrying a glowing talisman close to you.
Materials Needed
- Seed beads in deep red (size 11/0, 10-12 grams)
- Gold bugle beads (size 6–7 mm, about 20-30 pieces)
- Gold seed beads (size 11/0, 5 grams, for accents)
- Beading needle (size 10 or 12)
- Strong beading thread (red or clear, 2-3 yards)
- Felt backing fabric (3”×3” piece)
- Embroidery hoop (optional)
- Scissors
Step-by-step Guide
Step 1: First, cut a piece of felt slightly larger than your heart design. Then sketch a simple heart outline with a fabric pen, and place the felt into an embroidery hoop for stability.
Step 2: Next, bring your needle up at the center of the heart. Add a few red beads, then stitch them down in a curved row, following the shape of the heart.
Step 3: After that, keep working outward row by row with red beads until the entire heart is filled.
Make sure each row hugs the previous one closely so the shape looks solid and smooth.
Step 4: Then, begin adding the rays. Pick up one gold bugle bead, one gold seed bead, and pass your needle back through the bugle bead only. Stitch it down just outside the heart outline to create a ray.
Step 5: Continue placing rays evenly around the heart until it looks like sunshine bursting outward.
Of course, you can mix in different lengths for a more organic effect if you like.
Step 6: Finally, secure your thread neatly at the back. You can trim the felt around the design, or leave extra fabric to sew it onto jackets, jeans, or bags.
Notes:
If you want a softer look, alternate bugle beads with round gold seed beads for a shorter, twinkling effect.
For more drama, add extra rows of rays in different lengths to create a 3D sunburst.