Long-Haired Portrait Bead Pattern

Materials

Total beads

2,601

Colours

26

Dimensions

51 × 51

Real size

13.3 × 13.3 cm

How to make it

1. 01

   Size and pegboards

   Fused at 2.6 mm per bead this chart finishes at about 13.3 × 13.3 cm, which spans 4 standard 29×29 pegboards. Lay the boards out before you start and keep the seams away from a face or any fine detail — the join is where a piece is most likely to come apart after ironing.

2. 02

   What to count out first

   2,601 beads in 26 colours from MARD 221. G8 alone fills 384 of them (15%), so check you have that much of it before anything else — running out of a background colour halfway is the usual reason a project stalls.

3. 03

   The order that goes fastest

   Place the outline first, then the large flat areas, then the detail inside them. Working outline-first gives you edges to count from, so a bead in the wrong column shows up within a row or two instead of at the very end.

4. 04

   Ironing

   Medium heat, parchment paper on top, and keep the iron moving in small circles for 10 to 20 seconds until the beads just start to merge. Iron the back as well if you want both faces flat, then leave the piece under a book until it is cold — beads keep shrinking as they cool and will curl if you lift them straight off the board.

Questions about this pattern

How many beads does this pattern use?

2,601 in total, across 26 colours. The list above gives the count for each colour, and the chart PNG and PDF carry the same numbers.

Can I make it bigger or smaller?

Yes. Open it in the generator and change the width — the colours are matched again against the new grid, so a smaller version drops colours it can no longer resolve instead of losing detail at random.

Do I have to use MARD 221?

No. The chart stores colours by code, and opening it in the generator lets you switch brands: every colour is rematched to the nearest one the new brand sells.

How do I print it?

Download the chart PNG for a single sheet, or the PDF when the piece spans several pegboards — the PDF splits it into pages that line up, with the colour list on the cover.

Who made this pattern?

1413885637 published it in the public library. Their page lists everything else they have shared.