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I think I have always liked frogs in needlework. When I first saw
the cute bullion frog in Country Bumpkin's A-Z of Bullions, I knew he
would become a part of my repertoire. I have used him to decorate
dozens of shirts and other clothing items. When I started working
up beaded motifs for a class I was teaching, I knew that there would have to
be a frog among the various designs.
The design is very simple, done mostly using the lazy stitch.
Materials:
- Size 12 Delicas or Japanese seed beads
- Green
- Red, pink, purple or other color for the eyes
- Green DMC 6-stranded floss
- Nylon beading thread (optional)
- Beading needle, sharp or between, Size 10-12 depending on the
bead.
Directions:
- Refer to the diagram above for bead count placement.
- You can use nylon beading thread for the body, but since the toes are
stitched with DMC floss, I find it easier to just use two strands of floss
for the whole project.
- Start with the body and use the
lazy
stitch, to attach all four rows of beads. After you complete the
fourth row of beads, bring your needle up through the fabric just between
the bottom of row 1 and row 2. Run your thread through row 1 of
beads and then run it back down through row 2 and repeat. This draws
the two rows together. After you finish, go back through the fabric
close to where you began. Come up between the bottom of row 3 and
row 4 and repeat. (See diagram at the bottom of the page.)
- Next, use the same method to create the head. At this point,
your motif will look more like a cactus than a frog, but have faith. This
time, when you come up and pass through row 1 the first time, add a single
red bead, then continue the same as for the body. This is an easy
way to attach the eye. Repeat for rows 3 and 4, again adding a red bead on
your first pass.
- The legs are done in two sections, so that there is a bend.
Start your back legs at the bottom of the body, between the two segments
you created above. The front legs should start somewhere around the
section between the head and body. Experiment with placement and
bend of the legs if you make more than one frog.
- The last step is to make three little straight stitches at the ends of
each leg, using two strands of DMC floss.
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