In my new Eye Pendant tutorial I show how to encase a cabochon with beads using peyote stitch. But another way to secure the cabochon is to use two rows of a simple bead embroidery technique called back stitch. Below is an excerpt from my Black Eyed Susan tutorial which shows how to do this, although for the glass eye cabochons I would suggest using size 8 beads for the base row and size 11 for the upper row to give a little more height.
Thread a needle with about a metre of thread and tie a knot in the end. Stitch through the fabric from back to front, very close to the edge of the cabochon. Make a small stitch to ensure that the thread is secure and bring the needle up a couple of millimetres away from the cab.
Pick up two beads and stitch down through the fabric two bead width’s away (figure 1).
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Bring the needle back up through the fabric between the two beads (figure 2) taking care not to split the thread and then pass it through the second bead.
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Continue in this way (figures 3 & 4) until you come full circle.
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Stitch the final two beads as usual (or one bead if there’s not enough room for two as in figure 5, bring the needle up behind this bead and then pass the needle back through it) and then pass the needle through all of the beads a couple of times to stabilize them (figure 6).
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Make a couple of stitches in the fabric and then bring the needle up between the cab and the beads. Repeat as for the first row, again picking up two beads at a time, bringing the needle up between them and passing them through the second bead (figures 7 & 8). Don’t pull the thread too tight, you want these beads to sit neatly on top.
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When this row is complete, stitch through all the beads a couple of times, pulling the thread taut to bring the beads together.
Stitch through to the back of the work then knot and trim the thread. Figure 9 shows both rows completed.
