Sequins in Action: Spot Stitch

"Magic Hand"A simple application of spot-stitched sequins.
I used large cupped dark green iris sequins

attached with glass seed beads of the same color,

and scattered them around this Artist Trading

Card, overlapping the stitches in some places.

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One of my favorite applications of spot stitching with sequins is found in those colorful Haitian Voudou Flags. There are books devoted to them, and many websites with flags for sale, though closeups showing the stitching were hard to find for this post. Here's an awesome fully covered flag, held up by its maker:

Erzulie, the Virgin Mary
from Niger Bend, an online gift shop

• The flags typically are divided into color areas that are either completely filled with overlapping, spot stitched sequins, or partially filled in with sequins that match the fabric color behind it.
• Sometimes the key imagery is completely filled with sequins but in the background, spaces are left between the sequins (which takes a lot less time but still looks cool!).
• Usually, the seed beads are the same color as the sequins, but not always. Sometimes a contrasting color is used.
• Sometimes, seed beads are embroidered (running or back stitch) in lines around the borders of things, with the sequins filling up the shapes. Or vice versa. In any case, total coverage takes time!

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