Peyote stitch and Chickadee revisited

I have a meter on this site that tells me I have a 10-fold increase in weekly viewership since my Chickadee necklace was mentioned in Beading Daily. Thanks for peeking!

Because some of you asked nicely, I’d like to share some information about peyote stitch, and then discuss in detail how I finished the Chickadee necklace.

Peyote Stitch

I’m far from an expert at beadweaving techniques, but I’d like to share what I’ve learned about peyote stitch. It comes in many varieties, all done with needle, thread, and either seed beads or Delicas. I use Silamide thread. I use a fine #12 beading needle for finishing, but usually like a stouter, shorter needle for weaving, e.g., #10 appliqué.

Flat peyote stitch can be even-or odd-count, and is worked back and forth to produce a flat piece. Flat peyote stitch should be done with Delicas – the regular, cylindrical shapes nestle well into place. Even-count flat is easier to do. And if you will be rolling your piece up into a little tube as in this necklace and earrings, even-count is the way to go.

For pieces that finish flat, I prefer odd-count for its symmetry. Most of my quilt-block Christmas ornaments are done using odd-count flat peyote stitch.

Circular peyote stitch starts in the center and works outward to form a flat circle. It is done with seed beads. I haven’t tried this one yet.

Tubular peyote stitch forms a soft, flexible, hollow tube that I refer to as a rope. It is also done with seed beads. Odd-count tubular is easier to do than even-count tubular: the beads form a spiral, you can stop any time, and you don’t lose your place. Even-count may be more amenable to color patterning. If you start with too many beads, the rope won’t support itself, and you’ll have to put a cord of some kind in the middle.

Chickadee revisited

Here’s the Chickadee necklace again.

The green of the necklace is 7-count tubular peyote stitch, thus odd-count [it began with a circle of 7 beads]. For this necklace I made two lengths of rope, joined in the middle. I tapered the ends of each rope so they fit into the end caps, by running the thread through the 3 “up” beads at each end. Using a piece of beading wire, I strung a piece of rope, an end cap, two crystals, another end cap, and the other piece of rope. I joined the two inner ends of the rope (near the focal bead) to each other by passing the thread several times through the crystals and end caps, catching all 3 “up” beads on each end.

For each toggle end, I made a wrapped loop on a piece of 22-gauge wire. Onto that loop I crimped the beading wire; then I slid the end of the rope up over the crimp and attached the rope to the same wrapped loop, again catching all the “up” beads. That short wire goes through a cone-shaped bead cap, gets a couple of silver balls and another crystal, and finishes with a wrapped loop that attaches to a jump ring. One piece of the toggle then attaches to that jump ring. Finally, I attached the focal bead with another jump ring, to rest between the two crystals.

In the past, I’ve made herringbone rope, so I know it doesn’t have any “up” beads. But you could reduce the number of beads on the end if you wanted to by picking up only one bead for each two that you pass through.

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4 Responses to Peyote stitch and Chickadee revisited

  1. Pearl says:

    Thank you so much for answering about 7-count tubular peyote,(Now if I had a pretty chickadee bead I would have it made).Thanks again .Pearl

  2. Sandra says:

    Thanks so much for your prompt response to my questions about the tubular peyote. I plan to practice until I get it right!

  3. Pearl says:

    This is Pearl again ,do have any idea where i can get a chicakadee bead. Iv’e just got to have one. Pearl

  4. Kath says:

    I can’t wait to start playing with this. I love to bead with peyote stitch and you can do so much with it. I also like the quilt square idea. thanks for posting!

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