Floral Hair Band

Step 1

To make the large Pip flower:

Thread your needle with 1.25 m of thread and pick up 1x R and 1x EP 6 times. Leaving a 50 cm tail, pass your needle through the first R again to form a ring and then pass through all the beads again. Figure 1.

Step 3

Add 1x R between each middle R added in the previous step. Figure 3. Complete the row by passing through the new R and the connecting R a second time.

Step 5

Pick up 2x R and pass your needle down the second R added in the previous row, through the next 3x R added in step 2 and up the next 1x R added in step 4. Using the same method, add 2x R onto each pair added in step 4. Complete the row by stepping up through the first R only of this row. Figure 5.

Step 7

Following the same thread path, add 1x R on top of each pair added in step 6. Figure 7a. Figure 7b shows the front of the flower and Figure 7c shows the back. Tie off and trim the working thread.

Step 9

Add 1x R between each existing EP and step up through the first R of this row. Figure 9. The new R should sit on top of the R added in step 1. Retrace the thread path.

Step 11

Add 1x R between each middle R added in the previous step. Figure 11. Complete the row by passing through the new R and the connecting R a second time.

Step 13

To make the Dagger flowers:

Thread your needle with 40 cm of thread and pick up 1x D and 1x P 5 times. Figure 13a. Leaving a 20 cm tail, pass your needle through the first D again to form a ring and then pass through all the beads again. Figure 13b. Travel through all the beads again, tying a knot between every second bead. Repeat with the tail thread and trim both threads. Figure 13c.

Step 15

To make the small Pip flowers:

Thread your needle with 30 cm of thread and pick up 6x P. Figure 15a. Leaving a 15 cm tail, pass your needle through the first P again to form a ring and then pass through all the beads again. Figure 15b. Travel through all the P again, tying a knot between each bead. Repeat with the tail thread and trim both threads. Figure 15c.

Step 17

To assemble the hair band:

Thread your needle with a comfortable length of sewing thread and tie a knot at the end. Find the central point of the ribbon and hold the large Pip flower in place, pass the needle through the back of the ribbon and through the hole in the centre of the flower. Pick up 1x FP and 1x R and pass back through the FP, flower and ribbon. Retrace the thread path several times. Figure 17a.

Secure the flower in place by carefully sewing the 6 middle R’s added in step 12 to the ribbon. Repeat this a second time. Figure 17b. Pass through the underside of the ribbon several times and tie off and trim the thread. Figure 17c.

Step 19

To wear, place the finished hair band around the head and tie a large bow at the back of the neck. Hair grips may be helpful to keep the band in place. Alternatively, tie the ribbon around the waist to wear as a sash.