French Marigolds

To make beaded French Marigolds we need:
- size 11 seed beads of orange, yellow and green colors,
- wire 0.2 mm thick,
- green thread for winding leaves and stems,
- a vase into which we’ll place the flowers.


As a sample for making French Marigolds I used these flowers that bloom in our yard.

Each flower bud consists of 4 rows of petals. The 1st row contains the smallest petals. To make them, take a wire of 35 cm in length and at first string onto it 5 yellow beads.

Place these beads on the middle of the wire, then fold the wire to make a loop of beads and twist the wires under this beaded loop 2 or 3 times.

Then we should make two more such beaded loops close to the first one. Choose either end of the wire, string 5 yellow beads onto it

and twist a beaded loop out of them close to the first beaded loop.

After that make the third beaded loop of 5 yellow beads on the other end of the wire.

Then twist together both ends of the wire. We’ve got the 1st row of petals for the bud.

To make the 2nd row of petals, take a wire of 60 cm in length. String onto it 5 orange beads and twist a beaded loop out of them placing it about 15 cm from one of the wire’s ends.

For further beading use only the longer end of the wire. String 12 yellow beads onto it,

fold the second loop over the first one

and twist the wires. We’ve got the first petal of the 2nd row.

After that close to the first petal on the same end of the wire we should make 5 more such petals of two loops each. For the first loop of the second petal string onto the wire 5 orange beads

and twist a loop out of them at about 5-7 mm from the first petal.

Then string onto the wire 12 yellow beads,

fold these beads into the second loop over the first loop of the second petal and twist the wires. The second petal is finished.

Continue making petals in the same manner.

Please note: since the beads may vary slightly in size, the actual quantity of beads in the each upper loop may differ from the indicated quantity, and it's not bad. Take as many beads as you need to make a nice loop that lies close to the previous loop and is completely filled with beads.

Please also note that the each subsequent petal slightly overlaps the previous one. It is an ordinary matter and such a disposition of petals helps us to assemble the flower bud.

So make 6 petals for the 2nd row of petals.

Then connect two finished rows of petals together. Take the 1st row of petals and insert it into the middle of the 2nd row of petals.

Twist together all the wires under the petals. Dispose the petals of the 2nd row at an equal distance from each other.

Leave the flower bud for a while and make the 3rd row of petals. This row consists of 6 petals of three beaded loops each. Use the same beading technique as for the 2nd row of petals, except the quantity of loops in the each petal.

Take a wire of 80 cm in length and string 5 orange beads onto it. Twist the loop out of these beads placing it about 15 cm from one of the wire’s ends.

For further beading use only the longer end of the wire.

Make the second loop over the first one out of 12 orange beads.

Then make the third loop out of 19 yellow beads.

All the other petals in this row make in the same way. Place the first loop of the each next petal (of 5 orange beads) about 7-9 mm from the previous petal.

Make the second loop in the each petal out of orange beads

and the third loop - out of yellow beads.

So make 6 petals for the 3rd row in the bud.

After that attach this row of petals to the bud. Take the bud and insert it into the middle of the 3rd row of petals.

Twist together all the wires under the bud. Dispose the petals of the 3rd row at an equal distance from each other.

Side view of the bud at this stage:

Then make the 4th row of petals. All the petals in this row are identical too but are made on separate segments of wire. So for the each petal in this row take a wire of 40 cm in length.

The petals of the 4th row are very similar to the petals of the 3rd row, with a very small difference.

At the beginning make the first loop of 5 orange beads. As we make the each petal on a separate segment of wire, place this first beaded loop on the middle of the wire.

For the second loop string 12 orange beads onto either end of the wire (if they are of different length, choose the shorter one).

Fold these beads into a loop over the first loop

and twist the wires 2 or 3 times.

For the third loop choose the longer end of the wire and string 19 yellow beads onto it.

Fold this end of the wire over the second loop

and pass the other end of the wire through the last added bead.

Pull the wires so that the beads form the third loop,

and after that twist together both ends of the wire. The petal is finished.

In this manner make 8 petals (including this first one) for the 4th row in the bud.

After that collect all the petals of the 4th row together. Take an additional piece of wire of 30 cm in length and pass it through the yellow beads that lie in the base of the each petal.

Place the petals on the middle of this wire, gather them into a tight circle and twist together both ends of the additional wire. Do not twist together all the wires under the petals at the moment!

After that take the bud and insert it into the middle of the 4th row of petals.

Place the bud on the worktop so that the upper side of petals was directed to the worktop. Straighten the wires of the petals of the 4th row sidewards.

String 8 green seed beads onto the each pair of wires of the petals of the 4th row. String the same quantity of green seed beads onto the additional wire that was used for gathering these petals into a circle.

Gather all the wires together and move the green beads close to the petals.

Make sure that the 4th row of petals is close to the bud and after that twist together all the wires under the bud.

The bud is finished. Leave it alone for a while and start making leaves of the flower.

Every leaf of French Marigold consists of numerous narrow leaflets and is very similar to a leaf of rowan. As we already have the tutorial of rowan at our site, now we will use the pattern of rowan leaf.

So learn this tutorial (it opens in a new browser tab) and make as many leaves as you need for your flowers. The quantity of leaves depends on your desire. I recommend to make 3 or 4 leaves for the each flower.

After that proceed with the final assembling of the flower.
Take a green thread and wind it round the leafstalk of the each leaf between the leaflets and a few centimeters below the leaf.

Then wind a green thread round the stem of the flower below the bud for a length of about 3 cm.

Next, take a leaf and attach it to the stem using the same green thread.

Continue winding the stem by a green thread for a length of about 2-3 cm and after that attach another leaf to the stem.

In this manner attach all the other leaves to the stem, placing them around the stem at some distance from each other. Continue winding the stem by a green thread at its full length.
Then tie a knot to fix the thread and trim the excess wires if needed.

A beaded French Marigold flower is finished!

To get a bouquet of marigolds I made 3 such flowers and put them into a vase.

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