Learning peyote stitch opened up a whole new dimension in
beadwork for me. I felt like one of
those cartoon characters who suddenly gets superhuman powers, then sits back
and cackles and says, "Now I will RULE THE WORLD!" Maybe peyote stitch wouldn't give me superhuman
powers, but it did give me a way to make a beaded bezel for the dozens and
dozens of cabochons I had been collecting.
As a new beader, I immediately fell in love with cabochons
but had no idea what to do with them. My
first attempts at bead embroidery were completely disastrous, but I still felt
drawn to these lovely little pieces of stone and ceramic with no holes - what's
a beader to do?
So off I went, making peyote-stitch bezels for these
cabochons and then embellishing them to within an inch of their lives. But all the cabochons I worked with were
round or oval, and when I came across some absolutely amazing handmade
triangular and square-shaped cabochons, I had no idea what to do with them.
Then I discovered a way to combine a little bit of
herringbone stitch with a lot of peyote stitch to create easy, fun-shaped
peyote-stitch bezels for these little gems!
Here's a quick rundown on how to make a peyote-stitch bezel for a
triangle cabochon:
Pick
two colors of size 11° cylinder beads, A for the main color and B for the
accent color. Until you're really
familiar with the technique, it helps to use a highly contrasting color so you
can see what you're doing, especially with the first row. It also helps to use a smaller cabochon so
you don't have to use a terribly long piece of thread.
Pick
up an odd number of A and 1B. Your first
set of beads should stretch almost as long as one side of your cabochon. Repeat until you have three sets of A with
three B between each set. Pass through
the first A strung.
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Work in
peyote stitch using A until you get to the first B. Pick up 2B and pass into
the next A. Repeat around until you get
to the step up at the end of the round.
For each round, add 2B in each corner using herringbone stitch and then
peyote down the next side using A.
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This is what your bezel should look like at the end of the first round. It even looks like a triangle!
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| Stitch
your bezel until it just pokes out around the points of your cabochon. For this round (probably your third or
fourth), add just 1B at the corners.
This will set you up for your decreases.
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| As you continue to work around, work decreases at the
corners and pull snugly so that the peyote-stitch sides form a little cup
around the points of your cabochon.
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For the
last row, I always use size 15° seed beads to tighten the peyote-stitch bezel
and add a little more color. You can even flip the cabochon over and add a row of size 15° seed beads to the back to tighten the bezel a little bit more.
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This bezel technique works with square-shaped cabochons,
too. If you use it to make a square
cabochon, make sure you use an odd number of A beads along the sides to get the
best fit for your cabochon.
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Want more great tubular and circular peyote-stitch
projects? Check out the Best of Beadwork: 10 Circular and Tubular
Peyote Projects eBook. Or explore
some great herringbone projects in the Best
of Beadwork: 12 Flat and Tubular Herringbone Projects eBook. Both are full of projects and tips from the
pros!
Bead Happy,
Jennifer
Filed under: Bead Embroidery, Peyote stitch, Beaded Beads, Bead Making, Herringbone Stitch, How To Bead, Seed Bead Patterns, Bead-weaving, Mixed Media Jewelry, Beaded Jewelry Design, Beads, Beaded Jewelry