Odd Count Flat Peyote Stitch Instructions
About peyote in general - This is how flat peyote looks as you are working on it, row by row:
The beads of each row are not in horizontal alignment. The nature of the stitch, makes them a little bit zig-zaggy, so it is necessary to know how to count rows. Not only to know when you have completed the work piece and are ready to do the seam, but also to be able to follow a peyote stitch pattern.
This is how you count completed rows:
When the work piece is completely finished, you will be turning it 90 degrees:
This will become
the Top of the work piece. Now the Top and Bottom have horizontally aligned
edges that will fit on the brass tubes. When you shape the work piece around
the brass tube, the ‘bead notches' ) those ‘half-like pieces of a bead' that
are showing on the left and right of the work piece, will go together like
teeth in a zipper. You will thread through them. It will be an unnoticeable
seam.
The difference between Odd Count and Even Count Flat Peyote IS NOT the number of completed rows in the pattern/project. The difference is designated by the Number of Beads within EACH of the individual Rows. The length of some of the brass tubes in these project require an odd number of beads per row to completely cover the tube. If you did even count on a project that called for Odd count, about 1/16" of the brass tube would be left showing.
Additional point - On any of these projects, you will always complete an even number of Rows, whether or not the number of beads in Each row is odd or even. Having an even number of complete rows is the only way to make an invisible seam for a ‘bead tube'.
Another difference between Odd and Even. In even count, at the end of each row, there is a bead to anchor to, and a natural pocket is left at the beginning of the next row to insert the first bead. In Odd count, every other row does not have this natural anchor and pocket. We will have to do a loop through some existing beads to have an anchor and pocket. Test your needle and thread to make sure you can go through a single bead three times without the needle getting stuck in the bead, or cracking the bead. There are different diameter of beading needles and threads.
Cut 3 feet of thread. Like every other stitch, you begin by tying a different color and/or size bead (this gets called the ‘Stop Bead') onto the thread, leaving about a 4 inch tail. Don't tie too tight,(just a couple of overhand knots), you will need to undo this when the project is completed, in order to anchor this thread and finish the ‘seam' in the bead tube.
First, you String On the number of beads that the Pattern calls for. In this example, 7. For this practice it is best to use a different color of bead for each row, to help visually distinguish the rows.
At this point, ‘flip' the work piece 90 degrees to the right. The ‘Stop Bead' is now on the left-hand side of the work. In Odd Count Flat Peyote, the thread tail is to your left, and the numbering of the beads starts on the left.You then string on another (8th) bead. It will become the first bead of the next row, Row #2.
Skip over bead number 7, and take the needle and thread through bead number 6.
With the number ‘8' it is hard to show it, but this 8th bead is automatically being flipped upside down to land on top of bead #7, when you pull the thread through bead # 6. You may have to manipulate it with your fingers now, and maybe again later, a little. Beading does not usually look correct until you have finished a couple of rows, and have pulled the thread to an even tension through all the beads. (Some of these diagrams will have spaces just for clarity, so you can see where the thread goes through.) But if it were pulled correctly now, it would look like this:
For this small example, the 8th bead starts the second row. In your real project, you will, of course, be using more beads per row. Similar to how you strung on bead #8:
String on bead #9, skip bead #5, take needle/thread through bead # 4.
String on bead #10, skip bead #3, take needle/thread through bead # 2.
Pull thread to tighten a little. You may have to manually push bead number 8 into its place atop bead # 7 to get it to ‘sit' correctly. When tightened you should now look like this:
NOTE: On the first 3 rows of peyote stitch, due to the nature of the stitch, the Thread becomes an ‘axis' around which the beads try to turn/twist. If you are doing a project in a solid color, then this doesn't really matter. But if you are doing a multi-colored pattern, it is essential to manually keep the beads in their proper place on the 3 beginning rows, so they directly match the pattern you are using.
Now we need to learn how to count the rows in peyote stitch. You started by stringing on 7 beads in a nice horizontal row. When you did beads 8, 9, and 10, the original horizontal row did a' jumping bean act'. This is the nature of Peyote stitch. You actually now have 3 Rows of Peyote stitch.
But we're not quite done with finishing Row 3 (R3). Take the needle/thread, (without a bead on it), on through bead #1, and exit from bead #1.
Flip work piece horizontally:
You will now string on bead #11. Even though we have flipped the work piece, we are still finishing Row #3 . Bead #11 is the LAST bead of Row 3. We will be putting on bead #11 and looping the thread back through some previous beads to secure bead #11 in the right place. The ‘triple looping' you do this time is the only time this ‘triple looping' is done. Later, on each odd numbered row, you will do a ‘double loop' to secure the last bead of a row in place.
After stringing on Bead #11, Skip bead # 1, and take the needle/thread through bead #2, shown below. (Bead #11 is automatically flipped over). . .and lands in it's correct place atop bead # 1.
Then, continue taking needle/thread on down, through bead #3. When tightened, it will look like this:
To begin Row #4, you need to do another loop to get the thread back up into the start of Row 3 (bead #11). After exiting bead # 3, take the needle/thread upward, and back into bead #10 from bead #10's left side. Go through bead # 10, then down a little, and back through bead # 2 from it's left side, and on through bead #1 from it's left side, exiting on it's right side. Pull the thread tight, and it will ‘disappear' between the beads. Go upward, then into bead #11 from it's right side and on through bead #11, exiting bead # 11 on it's left side.
%%%You are now in a position to start filling in the beads of Row #4. String on bead #12 and then go through bead # 10. String on Bead #13 and then go through bead #9, string on bead #14 and go on through bead # 8.
When Row #4 (beads 12 through 14) are finished and pulled tight, they look like this:
Flip the work piece horizontally:
After exiting bead #8, string on bead # 15, (which is the First bead of Row #5), go through bead # 14. String on bead #16, go through bead #13, string on bead # 17, go through bead # 12. Then continue with the needle/thread down through bead # 11.
Flip work horizontally:
We will now anchor the next bead, bead # 18. It is the LAST bead of Row #5. String on bead #18. We will be doing a ‘double loop' to anchor it.
Take needle/thread through bead #12, (while doing this step, bead #18 will automatically be flipped upside down), then move downward and take the needle/thread through bead # 2, then upward through bead # 11, and then through bead # 18 again. Bead # 18 of Row 5 is now anchored.
Bead #18 is now anchored, and that completes Row # 5.
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Now you keep repeating the steps shown between the %%%, and the above -------------------------------- until you have complete the pattern for the project. Of course, the bead #'s and the Rows #'s will be different.
If you are doing a multi-color pattern, pay attention to which bead color to use with each bead you string on.
Inst. for Closing the seam are on the previous page
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All content (c) Toika Bridges 2000