Enchanted by Margaret Lee

Enchanted is such a beautiful word. It is primarily used as an adjective to describe something that is filled with, or characterised by, a magical quality or charm.

The project Enchanted by Margaret Lee from her new book The Art of Bead Embroidery Japanese-Style 2, is indeed both filled with, and characterised by, a magical quality and charm.

If Enchanted feels a little familiar to you, it’s probably because you’ve seen it’s antecedent, Treasure, which was released as part of our Handpicked Collection in February 2023.

You can read all about Margaret’s first card file wallet design and how she sourced a premium quality insert and zip in the review of Treasure HERE.

These design and colour choices result in a piece that really pops against a dramatic, dark background.

This is a fun piece with simple stitches and cheerful colours, not to mention the benefit of being compact in size. As the finished wallet measures only 8.5cm x 12cm wide (3 3⁄8″ x 4 3⁄4″), it’s entirely possible to complete over a weekend or two.

To help further demonstrate the impact an alternate colourway can make to a design, in the book The Art of Bead Embroidery Japanese-Style 2, Margaret has also included a case study where she stitches an identical version of Enchanted using completely different coloured beads.

Ready-to-Stitch kits for Enchanted are now available and include the premium quality card insert and luxury designer zip that makes re-creating this piece even more of a pleasure when all the hard work of sourcing each element is done for you.

Or perhaps you want to learn all the design and colour principles Margaret teaches in her book The Art of Bead Embroidery Japanese-Style 2, and then, armed with your new-found confidence, blaze your own trail and invent a brand-new colourway for Enchanted.

Either way, this is one project that is sure to delight all who stitch it and all who use it.

All the materials you need to re-create this project have been sourced for you in our Ready-to-Stitch kit, with the instructions available separately in the book The Art of Bead Embroidery Japanese-Style 2.