I finished this piece of silk ribbon embroidery by adding tiny seed beads to the centers of the flowers instead of French knots. Here are a few lessons I learned while working on this practice piece:

Nancy Eha’s tip about sewing beads straight up and down through the fabric (90 degree angle) is a good one. It makes the beads, “sit on edge.”

Sewing through each bead twice for extra security is another of her good tips.

A number 9 “between” needle will fit through the tiny opening in a seed bead.

Long braided collapsible eye beading needles ARE NOT good for sewing beads to fabric. They are good for threading the tiny eye of a tiny #9 between needle.

YLI’s gold metallic thread does not shred and unravel like DMC.

I need something more than my finger to hold the “curl” of silk ribbon. I think a pencil or similar sized crochet hook might work well.

I got my pattern from this book, and if I had to give up all my craft books except one, this would be the one I’d keep: