Another pattern to play with. I used honeycomb for the filling with two twists throughout the ground. You could work this without the twists around the pin, and add sequins or larger beads. I used a thicker thread and made the passives quite tight to make the edges stiffer. Using a neutral ecru thread for the two pair edge to avoid interfering with the ombre effect of the three green shades of the passives.
Option 1 is to start at the top with a plaited rope using two pairs, these can then be used as workers or passives as they enter the top of the tree, adding more pairs as described in the 'Beaded Bracelet' or the 'Charity Ribbon' patterns.
Option 2 is to start with the bottom, widest edge. This means you will be adding all the pairs to start with, throwing out pairs as you work up to the top. At the top, throw out all but the last two pairs and make the plait loop as the last thing. The ends to be sewn and knotted into the top of the tree.
The honeycomb pairs are added from the sides, these two diagrams show the pairs added, and the second shows how they 'bounce' off the sides and some get carried along with the passives for a pin or two.
The little red square can be added afterwards by sewing in some new pairs.
