Yaya-
It probably depends on how the garment will be laundered, etc.

My DD is a figure skater, and I've done about everything I suppose, except sequins. (Sequins are considered a faux pas in the skating world right now.) Most of the time when she wanted beads, I would hand sew them, making sure to put a knot in the thread after each one. Beads on the ice is a big danger to tiny skate blades, and you'd want to make sure if the thread broke that the whole thing wouldn't come apart. This was very time consuming and luckily she didn't ask for beads very often.

Most of the time we used Swarovski crystals, which we applied with a bit of a white glue that dries clear. I think it's called Gem-tack or something similar. It went very quickly, can be washed and we never had one fall off. I'm sure you could use this with beads as well.

Good luck!

Depending on what sort of bead you want to use...you can buy some pearls or other beads by the yard from places like JoAnn's & Wal Mart. There is a special foot that you can buy for most machines that will quickly & easily sew the beads on and you wouldn't have to do them by hand or one at a time.

Pat

Thanks, gals! I'll look into that bead foot for my bernina.
Yaya