Start your first Red River Métis beadwork project this I Love to Bead Month

_{Beadwork artist Coutu uses pen on Pellon to trace the blueberry design.}

The design template is what you will follow for the creation of the project. Some beaders will draw a pattern straight on the Pellon; others use tracing paper to draw a template, then stitch the paper directly on to the Pellon, securing the guide.

Forr the flat-stich blueberry, Coutu created their own template using a real-world reference, she then traced the design onto Pellon then cut the Pellon out of the larger sheet of fabric.

"I will take a pre-existing piece [and] I will put it on a piece of Pellon and trace it," said Coutu. "Alternatively, you can use (Microsoft) Word preset shapes to make your own template so that they're super round or straight, but I like asymmetrical patterns when it comes to real life vegetables and fruits."

Before moving onto beading, make sure you cut out your piece of Pellon to allow room to work, but not so much that it becomes difficult to handle in your hands. Leave roughly an inch between the edge of the Pellon and where the template is traced.

_{Coutu doubles and knots her thread for the two-needle method.}

Before we begin to bead, we need to prepare our beads and thread. Pour out some of your beads onto your beading mat - a tool used to prevent the beads from rolling away while also making it easier to pick up with your needle.

For the flat-stitch blueberry, Coutu begins with the blue beads to make the circle and body of the berry.

Finally, prepare your needles and thread. It's easy to snap your needles, so it's a good idea to have a few extras on hand. Prepare your beading thread by coating it in beeswax - this will help prevent it from knotting.

Coutu uses the two-needle method of beading.

_{Coutu carefully prepares her thread for the two-needle method and begins counting out beads added to her thread.}

For you first needle and thread: you will put your thread through the eye of the needle and pull until both ends of the thread meet and tie those ends together, creating a doubled thread; this is used to add beads to the piece.

For the second needle and thread: pull the thread through the eye of the needle but do not have the ends meet. Tie the single end of the thread into a knot; this will be used to tack down and secure your beads.

"We just need to tie one end [of the thread] and tie it a couple times, just in case, because it can go all the way through the material," said Coutu.

Coutu uses a lighter to burn the end of the thread, ensuring the knot is secure.

_{Coutu demonstrates the 29-bead circle outline of the patchwork blueberry.}

Coutu begins the beadwork by starting her needle from the back of the piece to the front (where the template is drawn), through the Pellon, at the base of the blueberry template.

For the outline of the blueberry, she loads 29 beads onto the doubled needle and thread. This line of beads will create the circle outline of the blueberry. The number of beads will vary based on the size of the design you are creating.

"I always just start a little bit inward from where my lines are," said Coutu. "Keeping in consideration that your template is bigger than your actual piece."

Once you've counted your beads and are ready to secure them, pull your needle through the first 3 beads you loaded on to your thread, this will form the circle shape.

Next, you will work your needle through the Pellon, from the front to the back, next to where you first entered with your needle; this will add your beaded circle onto the piece. Place your doubled needle and thread to the side.

Next, and very importantly, you will tack down your beads to secure them onto the Pellon.

"Since we have our beads on, now you'll use your second needle and you'll begin tacking," said Coutu. "I like to use my thumb, especially when making curved shapes, because you have a natural curve in your thumb or in your fingernail to help you with the curves."

_{Coutu demonstrates how to use the shape of your thumb to help form your beadwork as you tack it in place.}

Using your thumb to guide the shape, pull your single-layered threaded needle from the back of the piece to the front, just on the outside of your beads. You will then take the single-layered thread on the inside of your beads, back through the front of the piece, holding the doubled thread and your beads in place against the Pellon surface.

"What this is doing is it is creating a loop around your string holding the bead so that your bead stays in place," said Coutu. "Some people will tack every two to three beads. I like to tack every single bead because it makes me feel more secure, but everybody is different."

Continue to tack down the entire circle.

_{The Red River Métis beadwork artist begins filling the circle of the blueberry by creating a seven-bead circle and filling it in with a single bead.}

Next, you will fill in the blueberry outline. Beginning at the pit of the blueberry, you will add a small circle to create the pit affect.

"For the next circle, I will go kind of in the middle... that's where I want the centre of my blueberry pit to be," said Coutu. "To get one nice circle, it will take seven beads."

Following the steps to make the circular outline of the blueberry, you'll now create a smaller circle, using seven beads.

Once the small circle has been added; you will tack the beads down with the single-layered thread. To finish off the pit, you will take a single bead and fill in the centre of the pit.

Then, you will fill in the rest of the blueberry with rows of blue beads following the curve of the outline inward to meet the blueberry pit.

While you want to ensure the space is full, you also don't want to add too many beads and cause bunching.

"When you're filling in a space on the side, instead of adding all of your beads onto your string, I'm just going to add one [at] a different angle," Coutu advised. "A sideways piece will fit better in some spaces than your line that you've been doing already."

After every line, place your doubled thread and needle to the side without pulling it through your piece, and tack the beads down with your second needle and thread.

_{After completing the blueberry, Coutu will bead the outline of the leaves before filling them in.}

Once the body of the blueberry is done, you can use the same methods with different bead colours to create the outlines of the leaves, then fill them in. The number of beads used will vary depending on your design, you can add and take away beads as needed to ensure your outline is complete.

"Instead of just going around in a circle ,you're just kind of following the outlines until you make your way to the middle," said Coutu.

The very middle of each leaf is then filled with a single line.

When you're done outlining and filling your entire piece, you can cut your excess fabric off your piece of Pellon. Leave a small border of space around your piece to ensure you don't cut your tacking thread and undo your hard work.

_{Using E600 multi-purpose glue, Coutu adheres the cardboard to the Pellon, and then the leather backing as the third and final layer.}

You'll need to add materials to the back of your piece to hide and protect the thread on the back of the Pellon; this will bring us one step closer to a finished piece.

Coutu uses cardboard and leather to back the piece, but there are many options a beader can explore.

"We are going to trace out our blueberry onto some backing," said Coutu.

Coutu uses a thin sheet of cardboard between the Pellon and the leather backing to create stability in the piece. But you must cut it out smaller than the Pellon and the leather, so you won't need to work your needle through a tough surface in the final step.

"Now you glue them all together. You'll glue your cardboard down, then your leather on top of them, and you'll let that dry," said Coutu.

Once the glue is dry and everything is secured together, you can use your leather scissors to trim the leather to the size of the beaded piece.

_{Coutu displays how the edging will look once completed.}

To secure the three layers of the piece together, you'll need to add edging along the sides of the entire piece.

The edging Coutu uses is the one bead method: creating a small, beaded border around the edge.

Using a single layered thread on a needle, weave through just the Pellon fabric, hiding the knot between the layers of your piece.

"We're going to want to now go through both layers close to [the point we just came through and] pull [your thread] all the way through," said Coutu, as she went from the back of her piece with her needle, to the front.

"This is where the pliers might come in handy if you're not very dexterous or you don't have much strength in your hands," she said. "When it's going through the leather, you can grab close to the end and then pull."

_{Coutu feeds her needle from the back of the piece to the front, preparing to add another bead to the edging.}

Once you've gone through the layers of Pellon and leather backing entirely, your needle and thread should be coming out of the front of your piece. You can then add a bead to your thread and go back through the layers once more, from front to back and you will now have one bead secured to the edge.

Next, you will put your needle through the middle of the bead so that it is taught to the side your piece and the hole of the bead facing outward.

You will then continue repeating those steps all the way around; taking your needle and thread through the back of the piece to the front, adding a bead, going through the front of your piece to the back, and then weaving your thread through the bead you just added.

When you've gone all the way around the edge to where you started, you will tack through the first bead you started with and go through the backing layer. Then you can tie off and cut your thread, before burning the end of your thread to secure the knot.

Now you have completed your first flat-stich piece!