How to: Beadweaving with thread

Last week beading daily issue had lots of pictures of intricately woven seed bead jewellery. Though I have seen loads of bead woven designs before I never attempted it as I felt it was too complicated (I have tried beadweaving with wire though..remember square ring??). But last week after seeing that particular issue I thought, ‘what sort of a beader (jewellery enthusiast) am I, if I dont know beadweaving with thread?’. After some brainstorming I turned to my omnipresent savior “Google” and decided to learn the basics of beadweaving. I found a helpful video teaching on Peyote stitch and I attempted it.

Here is my first attempt at beadweaving – a cubism inspired peyote cuff. It is a little loose but I guess I’ll make better ones with pratice. I got the idea for the clasp from a tutorial in Beading gem. Thanks Pearl !! Peyote stitch is an off-loom technique where beads are woven in a staggered pattern, creating a textured surface. It is suitable for making tubular designs, flat pieces, and three-dimensional shapes. Variations includes even-count, odd-count, and circular peyote stitch.

My second attempt was a peyote bangle. Though it was definitely better than the first, it turned out to be a lot bigger for a bangle. But using a strong and durable stringing material like nylon ensured that the finished piece was both resilient and flexible. In both cases I used 6/o or larger beads making the process easier.

Would I want to beadweaving with smaller beads in the future, I do not think so!

Cheers