Bead embroidery

Bead embroidery is an embellishment that does not form an essential part of a textile's structure.

When used with hard surfaces, bead patterns are measured and planned with seam allowances and attached after embroidery by means of glue or epoxy.

Long before the last major ice age, people were making beads from seashells, seeds, and any other materials they could find.

Dating to 2500 BC, the tombs of Ur in Iraq contain beadwork made from Lapis Lazuli beads.

When archeologists excavated Neolithic burial mounds in Europe they found drawings of crude bone needles.

With the violence of Europeans colonizing America, beading became a way for Native Americans to hold on to their cultural identity.

There are multiple YouTube videos examples demonstrating Arri/Zari stitching, and numerous books which instruct on Tambour or Luneville work.