Beading.Beadwork.Beads

Campin' 'n' Beadin'

My DH and I went camping this past weekend. As we drove farther into the countryside, he noticed that the Gs at the ends of my words were disappearin'.

This is what I brought with me:

It's Josephine's Button Bracelet by Melanie L. Doerman in the February/March 2008 issue of Beadwork. It's great to work in sunlight! I'll post more photos of the project as soon as I get it finished. I have some gorgeous vintage buttons, and this is a good project for them as it doesn't require that the shank be removed. Also, it's a good exercise in odd-count flat peyote.

Here's the view from the campsite:

I love autumn.

Bezelling a Rivoli

Here's a great way to make use of even-count tubular peyote stitch. Swarovski rivolis and fancy stones have become very popular, mostly due to the fantastic work of Laura McCabe. The photo below is my Ice Queen Pendant, which features a Swarovski rivoli in the center.

 

Before you begin your bezel, coat the back of your rivoli (if it's foiled) with clear fingernail polish. Do this because skin oils, lotions, and perfumes and interact with the foil and cause it to come off the crystal. Without the foil on the back of the rivoli, you'll lose the color and sparkly effect. And do it first so the polish is dry by the time you're ready to hold onto the rivoli.

Use about a yard of conditioned thread and cylinder beads (Aikos, Delicas, or Treasures). In the photos shown below, I'm using a 16mm rivoli. String on the number of cylinder beads necessary to go around the rivoli. You can find a chart that tells you how many you are likely to need here. The number can vary due to your tension and the specific beads you're using.

For my 16mm rivoli, I'm using 42 Aikos. String your cylinders and double/triple count to be sure you have the correct number. Now we have to form a circle. I like to circle back through about half of the beads, leaving a 6–8” tail. The other way to do it is to tie your thread into a circle, being sure you leave a bit (about a bead's width) of room, i.e., don't make your circle too tight.

I prefer to circle back through beads for two reasons: First, as long as I don't split my thread with my needle (which should never happen anyway), I can adjust the tension in the first row of peyote. Second, if I make a mistake and have to pull stitches out, I don't have a knot with which to argue.

So, once you have a circle of beads, stitch one row of tubular peyote, continuing to use the same cylinder beads. Be sure to step up at the end of the row. You now have three rows of peyote (see how to count rows of peyote here, scroll down to step 8). 

Now stitch two rows of peyote with size 15 rounds. The photo below shows three rows of peyote complete and the first row of 15s started. Notice the beads are forming a tube, not a doily, i.e., the beads are lying flat on my finger.

Set the rivoli inside the bezel to see how it fits. The circle of beads should be slightly larger than the rivoli, i.e., the cylinders should appear all around the edge of the rivoli.

This is the back of the work. You might have to add a row or two of 15 charlottes to snug the bezel around the rivoli (I added one row of charlottes to this side of the bezel). The charlottes can tighten up your bezel a bit, but sometimes they are there just to add detail. If you stitch into the back of the bezel with the rivoli in place, be very careful not to scratch the foil with your needle.

Move working thread to front side of bezel and stitch one row of peyote with size 15 rounds. Now hold the rivoli inside the bezel, being careful not to scratch the crystal with your needle.

Stitch one more row of peyote with 15 rounds (a total of two rows). Check the fit and add a row or two of 15 charlottes, as needed. End threads. Et voila, you have caputred your rivoli!

Even-Count Tubular Peyote

Most bezelling techniques call for even-count tubular peyote. It also takes less thought and planning if you want to make symmetrical decreases and/or increases and you use even-count peyote. Let's load up our needles and give even-count tubular peyote a try.

1. Start with a comfortable length of thread. Wax or condition your thread as needed. Thread your needle.

I don't use a stopper bead. I keep the tail wrapped around the index finger on my nondominant hand to keep the beads from falling off as I'm getting started.

2. String on 8 beads in alternating colors (notice that the colors alternate all the way around the circle). Move the beads to within about 6 inches of the tail end of the thread. Stitch through all 8 beads again to form a circle (i.e., go through the beads again from the tail end). Take your needle through one more bead so that the tail and the working threads are exiting the same bead but in opposite directions. See the photo below.

 

2. Begin peyote stitch (remember that peyote stitch is pick up a bead, skip a bead, pass through the next bead). My color pattern is that I'm picking up the same color bead as the bead I'm skipping. In the photo below, I've made four stitches with four black beads, stitching through the silver beads. I'm back to the beginning of the circle, i.e., the tail and working threads are coming out of the same bead in opposite directions again.

In the photo above, there are three rows of peyote (click here for a refresher on how to count rows of peyote).  There are now up-beads (black) and down-beads (silver), right? Here's the catch the even-count tubular peyote: you have to reposition your needle to be able to stitch the next row.

There are several stitches and/or patterns that require you to reposition your needle. In peyote stitch, the act of repositioning is called a "step-up" or "step-down." This just means that you need to move your needle into the next up-bead (for a step-up) or the next down-bead (for a step-down).

Check out this next photo to see where the next stitch is supposed to be.

3. End row 3 by stepping up, i.e., by passing your needle through the next up-bead. See the photo below.

In even-count tubular peyote, there is always a step-up at the end of every row. In the photo below, I'm ready to stitch row 4 (with four silver beads).

4. In the next photo, I'm finishing up row 4 by adding the fourth silver bead (which stitches into a black bead) and stepping up through the next up-bead, which is a silver bead (and the first bead added in row 4).

Notice also that I've got the tube on a stick (in this case a knitting needle--what a surprise). Sometimes it's easier to get your tube started if you stitch around something. Just be certain to use something that won't interfere with your tension (don't use a stick that's too fat).

In the photo above, I'm ending row 4 (with the step-up), and row 5 will be stitched with black beads.

Most intermediate or advanced peyote patterns and classes require that you have a good understanding of even-count tubular peyote and/or of the step-up and step-down. In my intro classes, students use two colors of beads so they can more easily see the stitches and dissect the process. Give it a try, and then give it a try in a single color until you're able to consistently see the step-up.

Odd-Count Tubular Peyote

Sometimes you want to stitch peyote in the round or in a tube. Here's how you do it with an odd number of beads. I'm using two colors of size 8 round seed beads to demonstrate.

1. Start with a comfortable length of thread. Wax or condition your thread as needed. Thread your needle.

I don't use a stopper bead. I keep the tail wrapped around the index finger on my nondominant hand to keep the beads from falling off as I'm getting started.

2. String on 9 beads in alternating colors (notice that there are two of the same color next to each other). Move the beads to within about 6 inches of the tail end of the thread. Stitch through all 9 beads again to form a circle (i.e., go through the beads again from the tail end). Take your needle through one more bead so that the tail and the working threads are exiting the same bead but in opposite directions. See the photo below.

 
 

2. Begin peyote stitch (remember that peyote stitch is pick up a bead, skip a bead, pass through the next bead). My color pattern is that I'm picking up the same color bead as the bead I'm skipping. In the photo below, I've made four stitches with four white beads, stitching through the black beads. The next stitch will be picking up a black bead and stitching through a white bead.

     

3. Continue around and around the circle. After you've stitched a couple of rounds, if you want to create a tube, adjust your tension (snug it up) so the beads begin to form a tube. See the photos below.

   

There's nothing too special about odd-count tubular peyote. If you want to make a flat, circular piece of peyote (sometimes called "circular peyote"), you have to make increases generally in every other row. But more on that later.

Another Odd-Count Flat Peyote Technique

Last month, I showed you how to stitch odd-count flat peyote stitch two different ways. Today I'll show you another. This technique comes from beadwork master Cynthia Rutledge, who has kindly given me permission to blog about it.

In the photos that follow, I'm using a different color bead in each row. For example, row 1 is orange, row 2 is matte turquoise, row 3 is black, etc.

1. Start with a comfortable length of thread. Wax or condition your thread as needed. Thread your needle.

2. To keep the beads from falling off the end of the thread as you begin peyote, add a stopper bead.

3. To begin odd-count flat peyote, string an odd number of beads (I'm using 11) onto the threaded needle, and push the beads down to the stopper bead. Start odd-count flat peyote stitch just as you do even-count flat peyote, that is, you pick up a bead (bead number 12 in this case), skip the next bead (bead number 11), and go into the next bead (bead number 10). This is the first stitch in row 3, and each stitch passes through a row 2 bead (the turquoise beads in the photo below). Make four more stitches (there are a total of six stitches in row 3).

After making a total of five peyote stitches in row 3, you of course don't have another row 2 bead to stitch into. So instead, pick up another row 3 bead and pass through a row 1 bead from the outside (look at what the needle is doing in the photo below--the working thread is exiting a row 2 bead and the needle is going into the last row 1 bead from the side the bead stopper is on).

   

Here's how your three rows should look after finishing row 3. Note that the working thread and the tail thread are both exiting the same bead (a row 1 bead), but in opposite directions.

   

4. Row 4 is going to stitch into row 1, NOT row 3! Tricky, right? I like to flip the piece over, as in the photo below, so the row I'm stitching into is on top. I used white beads for row 4, which is shown completed in the photo below. The turn at the end of row 4 is normal. Notice where the tail and stopper bead are.

   

5. For row 5, I used blue beads. Row 5 has five regular stitches in it, but when you complete the fifth stitch, step down into the first row 1 bead (where your tail is). See the photo below.

 

To finish row 5, pick up a bead and step up through a row 4 and a row 5 bead. See the photo below.

   

This is how your work should look when row 5 is complete.

   

6. Row 6 is stitched with lime green beads (from left to right) in the next photo. Make four stitches in row 6, and at the end of the row, make a normal turn to begin row 7. The photo below shows how your work should look at this point--row 6 is not complete, but we're going to start row 7 anyway!

   

7. I used teal beads for row 7. Make four peyote stitches, and step down (as in the photo below) into a row 5 bead (blue) to end the fourth stitch.

 

If you knit, this part is rather like making short rows in your knitting. We are now going to complete row 6 by picking up a bead (mine is lime green) and stitching through a row 5 bead (mine is blue). See the photo below.

   

Now we're going to finish row 7 by making two peyote stitches (I used teal beads, remember), finishing with a step up through a row 7 bead. The first photo below shows the first of these two stitches. The second photo shows how your work should look at the end of row 7. The working thread is exiting a row 7 bead in the middle of the work.

And look! The odd-count turn is gone!

8. Now we're ready to begin row 8. I stitched row 8 with light yellow beads, and there are three stitches to make in this partial row.

 

9. After making the three row 8 stitches, begin row 9. My color choice for row 9 was red. Make three row 9 stitches, and to complete the third stitch, stitch into a row 8 bead (light yellow) and step down through a row 7 bead (teal), as in the photo below.

 

Now we'll complete row 8 (light yellow beads) with two more stitches. Again, the odd-count turn has been replaced with a regular turn at the end of the row (see the first photo below). Work back across the piece, finishing row 9 (red beads) with three stitches, stepping up through a row 9 bead to finish. The second photo below shows how your work should look at the end of row 9.

10. To start row 10, make two peyote stitches (my row 10 is done with grey beads in the photo below).

 

11. To begin row 11 (I'm using gold beads in row 11), make two stitches and step down into a row 9 bead (red). Finish row 10 (grey beads), and make a regular turn at the end of the row.

   

Complete row 11. The photo below shows how your work should look at the end of row 11, with your working thread exiting the second-to-last row 11 bead.

12. We can only make one stitch to start row 12 (white beads this time), as in the next photo.

 

13. Make a regular turn to begin row 13, in which I'm using some gorgeous green beads. Make one peyote stitch through a row 12 bead (a white bead), and step down to exit a row 11 bead (gold) so you can finish row 12. See the photo below.

 

Now you're ready to finish row 13 (those gorgeous green beads). There are five peyote stitches remaining in this row. To finish the fifth stitch, pass through the row 12 bead as usual, but then step down into a row 11 bead (gold). See the photo below.

 

14. To begin row 14, we first have to reposition the needle to exit the first row 14 bead, as in the photo below.

You're now ready to begin the next row (row 15). It will have five stitches. Row 16 will begin with a regular turn, but you'll begin the "short-row" process all over again (see step 5).

So what we have is a nice peyote band with no wonky turns in it that either alters the way the beads sit (as in Method 1) or leaves a messy thread path along one edge (as in Method 2). Is Cynthia Rutledge a genius or what?!

I made this little swatch using cylinder beads too. You can see how nicely everything lines up.

 

Ah, my assistant is here to let me know it's time for lunch--her lunch that is!

Give Cynthia's method a try. It's pretty cool.

Odd-Count Flat Peyote

Continuing with my favorite stitch, let's practice odd-count peyote. This post assumes you know how to do even-count flat peyote. If you don't, please visit this page. There are at least a couple of methods you can use in odd-count flat peyote.

Method 1

1. Start with a comfortable length of thread. Wax or condition your thread as needed. Thread your needle.

2. To keep the beads from falling off the end of the thread as you begin peyote, add a stopper bead.

3. To begin odd-count flat peyote, string an odd number of beads (how about 11?) onto the threaded needle, and push the beads down to the stopper bead. Be careful not to lose your tail; the stopper bead will move if you push it! Start odd-count flat peyote stitch just as you do even-count flat peyote, that is, you pick up a bead (bead number 12 in this case), skip the next bead (bead number 11), and go into the next bead (bead number 10), as in the photo below.

 

4. Continue across the row, which is row 3. When you reach the end, you'll find you don't have a bead with which to complete the last peyote stitch. Go through the last bead at the end of the row. This is a row 1 bead (going through this bead like this is also called "stepping down").

 

5. Pick up a new bead and go back through the same row 1 bead in the same direction, as in the photo below.

 

6. Go back through the bead you just added, as in the photo below. This completes row 3, and now you're ready to start row 4.

 

Remember, this turn completes the row you just finished. It does not start the next row.  

Method 2

1. Start your peyote the same way as in Method 1 above. When you get to the end of row 3, add the final row-three bead and take your needle under the thread between the stopper bead and the first bead in row 1. See the photo below.

 

2. This is a bit tricky, but it works, so don't give up! Go back through the bead you just added (see the photos below--I changed the color of thread in the second photo so you can see it better). I find it helpful (as always) to keep tension on the tail thread. 

   

3. You'll have to do this at the end of every odd-numbered row. Here's how it looks at the end of row 5.

   

So which method to use? Method 1, I think, is simpler, but the disadvantage is the first two columns of beads are a bit wonky, as in the photo below (sorry, it's not a very good photo). You can see the last column of beads is not sitting evenly with the third column of beads. This is because the path the thread is taking through the beads at the end of odd-numbered rows is different than the thread path going through all the rest of the beads--that last stitch at the the of the odd-numbered rows is actually a square stitch, not a peyote stitch. So no wonder it looks differently!

 

This doesn't happen with method 2, but the edge of your beadwork where you're making the slip knots (the ends of odd-numbered rows), is not very tidy, as shown in the left-hand photo below. The photo on the right is of the other side of the beadwork, for comparison.

   

So you decide which you want to use. I'm often asked why I would stitch odd-count flat peyote rather than even-count. Here's why: First, if you're covering an object with flat peyote, you don't get to choose. The dimensions of what you're covering dictate the number of beads you'll use, and therefore whether you're using even- or odd-count peyote (this is true for tubular peyote too). Second, if you're making a pattern in which the center line is a column of beads, you'll have to use odd-count peyote.

 

A pattern that appeared in February/March 2007 issue of Beadwork magazine made clever use of a slight variation of the second method. The designer, Jennifer VanBenschoten used the slip-knot method to make the top edge of her Back to Byzantium curve to better form a necklace.

Give odd-count flat peyote a try. It will broaden your design capabilities.

Even-Count Flat Peyote

Let's get started with my favorite stitch: peyote. This post is the first in a long series to come about peyote stitch.

1. Start with a comfortable length of thread. Wax or condition your thread as needed. Thread your needle.

2. To keep the beads from falling off the end of the thread as you begin peyote, add a stopper bead.

3. To begin even-count flat peyote, string an even number of beads (say 10, as in the photo) onto the threaded needle, and push the beads down to the stopper bead. Be careful not to lose your tail; the stopper bead will move if you push it!

4. Pick up another bead and stitch back through the bead second from the end (that's bead number nine in the original 10 strung on in the photo below).

 

5. The bead you just added should sit on top of the bead below it (see the two beads at the right end in the photo below). Pick up another bead, skip the next bead, and go into the next bead.

 

6. Repeat across the row, picking up a bead, skipping one bead, and going into the next bead. When you reach the end of the row, work back the opposite direction (see photo below). Work to desired length.

 

7. To count rows in peyote, choose any two columns of beads and count the number of beads in these two columns. That number equals the number of rows you have stitched. After stringing on the original number of beads (in this case 10) and stitching one row of peyote, you have three rows of peyote.

 

8. In the photo below, two columns of beads are selected in the red box. There are 11 beads in these two columns, so that means I have stitched 11 rows of peyote.

   

9. As with all stitching (except maybe freeform techniques), you want to cull your beads as your using them. Those two beads on the needle in the photo below are Bad Beads!

 

Here are some examples of things you can do with peyote stitch: