I’m so proud of myself.  I experimented with week two’s TAST stitch – the buttonhole stitch earlier this week.  In fact, the only reason I didn’t post earlier was because my pictures came out too dark.  We had a snow storm yesterday and it was hard to get a decent photo.

Here is this week’s sample:

/dianem.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/tast-2.jpg?w=147" target="_blank">https://dianem.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/tast-2.jpg?w=147 147w" style="padding: 0px; max-width: 100%; border: none;" title="Tast 2" />

 
For some reason, I was thinking about spirals, so decided to draw one on my fabric and follow around the line with the buttonhole stitch.  I wanted the spiral drawn line to stand out, so added dimension and strength to the line by adding glass seed beads (Mill Hill Color # 330).

And for those of you who would like to see how I added them, I took some additional photos of the stitching in progress.

Even though this is in the middle of my stitching, imagine this first picture is the start of your buttonhole stitch.  The needle thread is coming up from the back – on the drawn line – and this is the time to add a bead to the needle:

/dianem.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/beaded-buttonhole-1.jpg?w=150" target="_blank">https://dianem.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/beaded-buttonhole-1.jpg?w=150 150w, https://dianem.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/beaded-buttonhole-1.jpg?w=298 298w" style="padding: 0px; max-width: 100%; border: none;" title="beaded buttonhole 1" />
Slide the bead down the thread:

/dianem.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/beaded-buttonhole-2.jpg?w=150&h=142" target="_blank">https://dianem.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/beaded-buttonhole-2.jpg?w=150&h=142 150w, https://dianem.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/beaded-buttonhole-2.jpg?w=300&h=284 300w, https://dianem.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/beaded-buttonhole-2.jpg 646w" style="padding: 0px; max-width: 100%; border: none;" title="beaded buttonhole 2" width="450" />
Make a the buttonhole stitch with the needle, and nestle the bead into place with the needle tip:

/dianem.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/beaded-buttonhole-3.jpg?w=143&h=150" target="_blank">https://dianem.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/beaded-buttonhole-3.jpg?w=143&h=150 143w, https://dianem.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/beaded-buttonhole-3.jpg?w=286&h=300 286w, https://dianem.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/beaded-buttonhole-3.jpg 525w" style="padding: 0px; max-width: 100%; border: none;" title="beaded buttonhole 3" width="450" />
If you like, you can hold the bead in place with your thumb:

/dianem.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/beaded-buttonhole-4.jpg?w=144" target="_blank">https://dianem.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/beaded-buttonhole-4.jpg?w=144 144w, https://dianem.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/beaded-buttonhole-4.jpg?w=288 288w" style="padding: 0px; max-width: 100%; border: none;" title="beaded buttonhole 4" />
Pull the needle through the fabric, and that’s all there is to it.  Add another bead on the needle, slide it into place, take another stitch and before you know it, you have a beautifully embroidered spiral design. 

I hope you enjoyed seeing what I did with the buttonhole stitch, and my little mini tutorial is helpful.

Hugs…