Doodle Drawings

I can think of so many lovely designs where, for example, you string top-drilled teardrop shaped beads in an alternating up and down facing pattern. I’ve seen similar designs in books etc and it always looks really pretty in the photos but how do you get the pesky things to lay in that position when the piece is being worn???

I can see that laying shapes such as triangles that are both big enough and close enough together would work, in the sense that each bead will keep the next one in place. But has anyone got any ideas for designs where the beads may be further spread out, with other beads of different shapes in between?

(Some background – I have been beading for three years now and consider myself very competent, it’s just this – and my other question about one-sided glitter, one-sided plain beads – that I have a problem with.)

Any help gratefully received, many thanks!