Monday, April 11, 2011

The Perfect Picot

I don't tend to use a lot of embellishment stitches in my jewelry, for the simple fact that I think too much embellishment can be overkill.
However, I have recently started using the picot edging in my projects to give a little extra pop of color around the edge of the piece.
The one-bead picot is my favorite, and I think it looks good without being too over-the-top.


To create a picot edge...
1. After you've finished your embroidered piece (or even a woven piece), string three beads onto your thread.
2. Pass through all layers of your embroidery, and back up through the third bead.
Doing this will cause the second bead to pop, causing the picot edging.

Now, one thing that I noticed is that the picot beads started to lie down and get scrunched together when I was creating the edging.

Dark Nebula Ring (Sold)

So, I kind of figured out a method to create a picot which kept this from happening.
If you'd like to see the video of my explanation, you can see it here.
(Sorry, I couldn't get it to embed!)



Here's a close-up of my Jungle Palm pendant using an 8-15-8 picot edging.
Modern Millie above uses an 8-11-8 picot edging,
while the Dark Nebula Ring uses an 11-15-11 edge.

I hope this information is useful to you, and that you like the cleaner results that you get using this method.
Oh, you can also try doing the picot edging on every other bead instead of every bead.
I like this also, because it's an even cleaner version of picot edging.
Here's an example of what that would look like:


I hope this information is helpful!
Enjoy your Monday!


7 comments:

  1. Hehehehe I just watched your video Marcie, and you are SO adorable...I LOVE your accent :-D What a fabulous idea, I hope you'll make more!! Great tip about picots too, my friend ;-)

    B.
    -xo-

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  2. I'm so glad you posted this idea. I have never been able to get good picot's and now see I've been doing them wrong. No wonder they never looked good! LOL

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  3. Very pretty and nice final effect!

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  4. Such a great little touch! I love the way it looks. And I like that it allows space between it for my eye to rest. You are a master, Miss Marcie!
    Enjoy the day!
    Erin

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  5. Marcie, you know I adore your work! But alas, the instructions are lost on someone like me. I'd love to learn more, but this is a bit too adanced. I'll leave it to you - the master. You continue to inspire us!

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  6. Great tip! I used picots alot but have only ever used the same size bead for all three. Can't wait to try your version!

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  7. Your jewellery is amazing! You've a talent to mix the colours.

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