Calling all knitters, embroiderers, cross-stitchers, and crochet & textile craft enthusiasts – we’re here to inspire you this Valentine’s Day. Have you thought about bringing the bling to your artwork? It’s really easy to glue non hotfix rhinestones onto fabric – see our recent article on ‘How to attach rhinestones to fabric’. Or another simple and durable technique is to sew on beads and large rhinestones to your textile project, to give that extra bespoke feel. We have many craft customers who glue rhinestones onto canvas, sew beads to soft furnishings and clothing, and decorate leather accessories with sew on stones – the options are endless!
Try our simple but effective textile project idea
With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, we want to share a quick and easy way of adding a touch of sparkle to your textiles to give as a gift. In this example we’re looking at crochet but you could do the same with knitted or embroidered pieces. Our wonderful Jen, who works at Crystal Parade HQ, is a crochet Queen and loves to give her work the extra sparkly touch by adding some crystals. Jen has shown us how she transformed a simple greeting card by adding a handmade crochet heart with Crystal Parade sparkle:
A quick guide
You will need:
- Wool in your favourite colour (we’re using love heart red for Valentine’s)
- Crochet needles
- Heart shape pattern
- Simple Valentine’s card
- Zodiac red sew on stone
- Preciosa red bicone beads
- Gem Tac glue
Jen made her heart using a gorgeous hot red wool, perfect for the occasion. You may have your own pattern or you can find some simple ones online, Jen made it big enough to cover the heart in the design of her card.
Once the heart was complete, Jen used matching coloured thread to sewn the red Rivoli crystal to the centre. Sewing, rather than gluing, offers more security and is mess-free. She then sewed Preciosa bicone beads around the edge, Jen used Siam to match the colour of the wool but you can choose from many different colours here. Why not use a contrasting colour to make the sparkle stand out? Or hot pink to add to the sexy Valentine’s look.
Once the crystals are in place, simply glue the finished heart to your card using Gem Tac glue and voila! There you have a creative hand made card with an extra sparkly twist!
