Peyote: The Beading Stitch Not The Other Kind

Yes, there is really a beading stitch called “Peyote.” First of all there are several peyote stitch variations. There is tubular peyote, even count peyote, odd count peyote, two drop peyote, circular peyote, and probably 2 or 3 more other variations of the stitch that I have forgotten.

Peyote stitch is probably the most popular of all the beading stitches. Two of the most popular beaders in the beading community Charlene Hughes, a.k.a BeadyBoop, and Suzanne Cooper have many lovely peyote patterns for sale on their websites. And there are many more beaders who sell peyote patterns that they have created. You can also find many, many, free peyote patterns on the internet.

Although peyote stitch is very popular, when I first learning how to bead, it was the bane of my existence. For about 3 years off and on I struggled to learn peyote stitch. For some unexplainable reason, peyote stitch just seemed to elude me. I must have downloaded every free tutorial on the internet that was available. But, I still could not make the beads come together, but instead I created a tangled mess of thread and beads. The needle too would end up looking like a twisted mangled piece of wire.

One day after a particular frustrating day trying to learn peyote stitch, I logged on to the about.com beadwork forum and vented out all of my frustration with the stitch. On that day, I was ready to give up beading forever. But the kind and wonderful beaders on the forum gave me encouragement and much needed solace. I was directed to “Ann Benson’s” website and her peyote stitch tutorial. So with some trepidation, I downloaded her tutorial and put it in my beading bible were it stayed untouched and unlooked at.

Shortly afterward, Charlene Hughes created her own peyote stitch beading tutorial. She offered it free on her website. The title of the tutorial was called “Peyote Kindergarten.” I thought it was a perfect title for me and took it as a sign that this was a tutorial worth looking at. After all, some of the most important things that we learn in life, we have learned in Kindergarten. So I downloaded this tutorial also. And I am happy to report that between Ann Benson’s peyote tutorial and Charlene Hughes’ Peyote Kindergarten tutorial; I can now manipulate my beads and thread to form the peyote bead weaving stitch.

Ann Benson still has her peyote stitch tutorial on her website and it is still free. Unfortunately, Charlene Hughes no longer offers the Peyote Kindergarten tutorial on her website. So my copy of that tutorial is in my beading bible where it is kept safe and secure incase I need to refer to it. And even though I do not design or create my jewelry with peyote stitch very often, I owe a debt of thanks to these women for creating these tutorials. Without these tutorials, I probably would have given up learning how to bead entirely.


Please visit my website, "Bead Between The Lines." You just might find something that you like or something that inspires you.

http://www.picturetrail.com/bead_between_the_lines

Charlene Hughes a.ka. BeadyBoop; http://www.beadyboop.com/
Ann Benson; http://www.annbenson.com/
Suzanne Cooper; http://www.suzannecooper.com/