Three-Drop Peyote Stitch

THREE-DROP PEYOTE:

Three-drop is another Peyote stitch.  I'm only dealing with even-count, three-drop Peyote here.  If you don't know anything about simple, flat, even-count Peyote, you should click this link to read about that first.

I'm not going to do a full tutorial for the three-drop Peyote stitch because it's so similar to the two-drop Peyote stitch.  See the two-drop Peyote tutorial here. 

If you know how to do the two-drop Peyote stitch and you understand the differences between the two-drop and three-drop Peyote stitches, that's all you need to know.

 


This is a swatch of 10 rows of the three-drop Peyote stitch.  In case you were wondering, the black and white beads are 8/0 Japanese seed beads and are very consistent in size and shape.  The pink beads, although also 8/0 seed beads, are not Japanese.  You can see the inconsistencies in the shapes and sizes of those pink seed beads.


There are really only two differences between two-drop Peyote and three-drop Peyote:

1. The number of beads picked up at the start to create rows 1 and 2.
2. The number of beads that are picked up, skipped, and run through with the needle in the stitching pattern, starting with row 3.

FIRST:  How many stitches do you pick up at the beginning to create rows 1 and 2?

• Two-drop Peyote—you initially pick up an even number of beads that is divisible by 4.  So you can use 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, etc.


• Three-drop Peyote—you initially pick up an even number of beads that is divisible by 3.  Another way to say this is that the number of beads you pick up must be a multiple of 6.  So that would mean 6, 12, 18, 24, etc.



This photo shows the first two rows of even-count, three-drop Peyote.  You can see that I picked up the stop bead first.  Then I picked up 3 white beads, 3 black beads, 3 white beads, and 3 black beads, for a total of 12 beads in rows 1 and 2.  Before I can begin row 3, I need to turn my work.

  

  SECOND:  Once you begin row 3, everything in the stitching pattern is done in multiples.

• Two-drop Peyote—starting with  row 3, you pick up 2 beads, skip 2 beads, and run the needle through 2 beads.
• Three-drop Peyote—starting with row 3, you pick up 3 beads, skip 3 beads, and run the needle through 3 beads. 

In this photo, you can see that I have turned my work.  The first row is black and the second row is white.  You can see by looking at the needle that I picked up 3 pink beads for row three, I skipped the first 3 beads, and I ran the needle through the next 3 beads.  I continue to pick up 3, skip 3, and go through 3 until the row is complete. 

Once you complete row 3, you'll see the beads in row 3 will stick up like zipper teeth.  Those are called the "up beads."

NOTE:  The beads in row 1 will also look like zipper teeth.  When you turn your work, be careful to keep row 1 on the bottom and row 3 on the top.  You don't want to accidentally start stitching into row 1 when you begin your 4th row.  This is another good reason to use a different color bead for each row, at least for the first 3 rows.

From row 4 on, you can continue to count as you stitch:  Pick up 3, skip 3, run the needle through 3. 

OR you can simply pick up 3 beads and run your needle through the next group of 3 "up beads."  You're doing the same thing, it's just easier to see which beads are which once you get to the fourth row and beyond.

© Copyright 2011 Linda's Art Barn. All rights reserved.

Tutorial: Two-Drop Peyote Stitch

  
TWO-DROP PEYOTE:

There are some who say that two-drop Peyote stitch is easier for beginners and I agree—BUT, I think a beginner should understand the concepts of the simple, flat Peyote stitch first.  If you aren't familiar with the simple Peyote stitch, click here to see my "Tutorial:  Beadweaving the Peyote Stitch."

I believe that this is called "two-drop" because within the stitching pattern you skip 2 beads instead of 1.  If you're a knitter, don't be confused by the word "drop."  It has a totally different meaning here.

I recommend that anytime you're learning a new bead stitch you make several practice swatches.
  
One of the benefits of the two-drop Peyote stitch is that it works up faster than the simple Peyote stitch.
         
In these photos below, I've used three colors, alternating the colors by row.  I don't need to use different colors for this stitch—I'm doing so to make it easier for you to see the rows.  When you practice, you'll find it easier to learn if you do the same.

Color A = white
Color B = black
Color C = pink

1. black (B) for row 1
2. white (A) for row 2
3. pink  (C) for row 3
4. black (B) for row 4
5. white (A) for row 5
6. pink (C) for row 6, etc.  

Two-drop Peyote is a form of even-count Peyote.  However, it isn't only sufficient to pick up an even number of beads to start—in this variation of the Peyote stitch, you must pick up an even number of beads that is divisible by 4.  That's why I picked up 12 beads to start my swatch rather than 10 beads. Another difference is that everything you do involves 2 beads.  When I pick up the beads for the first two rows, I pick up 2 beads of one color, then 2 beads of the other color in an alternating pattern.


ROWS 1 and 2:



Pick up the"stop bead" first, then pick up the beads for rows 1 and 2.  Notice that there are 2 beads of each color.

• First, pick up a "stop bead" and run the thread through it a second time.  Leave a 6-inch tail and snug up the thread around the stop bead.
• Now pick up the beads for the first two rows, alternating colors so that you can see the rows more easily.  With two-drop Peyote, you need to pick up 2 beads of each color.   Pick up:
• 2 color A beads
• 2 color B beads
• 2 color A beads
• 2 color B beads
• 2 color A beads
• 2 color B beads for a total of 12 beads across in this swatch.
• Snug them up against the "stop bead."
• Now turn your work in preparation for the next row.

*If you're right-handed, you'll pick up beads from right to left.  Note that the photos are from the perspective of a right-handed person.

*If you're left-handed, you'll pick up beads from left to right. 


ROW 3:

I'm now adding row 3.  Look at the needle and you can see that I picked up 2 pink beads, skipped 2 black beads, and ran the needle through 2 white beads.



• Pick up 2 color C beads, skip 2 color B beads, run the needle through 2 color A beads.
• Repeat until row 3 is complete (pick up 2, skip 2, go through 2).
• Turn your work in preparation for the next row.




Row 3 is complete.    See how the new pink beads stand out?  They are the "up beads."  Don't forget to turn your work so that you're ready to start row 4.

 
NOTE:  Do you see how the black beads in row 1 also look like zipper teeth?  When you turn your work, be careful to keep row 1 on the bottom and row 3 on the top. You don't want to accidentally start stitching into row 1 when you begin your 4th row. This is another good reason to use a different color bead for each row, at least for the first 3 rows.



ROW 4:

This is row 4.  Pick up 2 black beads and run the needle through the 2 pink "up beads" until the row is complete.  See how easy it is now--pick up 2 beads and you really don't even need to put any more thought into the fact that you're  skipping 2 and running the needle through the next 2. 

• Pick up 2 color B beads, skip 2 color A beads, and run the needle through 2 color C beads.
• Repeat until row 4 is complete.
• Turn your work in preparation for the next row.
  
  
    

ROW 5:

This is row 5.  For this row you're picking up white beads and running the needle through the black "up beads."  Remember, the "up beads" are the beads from the most-recently completed row.

• Pick up 2 color A beads, skip 2 color C beads, and run the needle through 2 color B beads.
• Repeat until row 5 is complete.
• Turn your work in preparation for the next row.

Continue to follow the pattern, alternating the colors for each row until done.
  

COMPLETED SWATCH:

This swatch has 10 rows. 

FINISHING THE THREADS:

• When you're finished with your swatch, run the thread through the beads in a zig-zag pattern several times to secure it.  Snip the thread close to your work, but be careful not to cut into the working thread.
• Slide the "stop bead" off of the thread on the other end and put the needle onto that thread.
• Run the thread through the beads in a zig-zag pattern several times to secure the it. Snip the thread close to your work, but be careful not to cut into the working thread.

I kind of like this airy, uneven look--the black and white beads are very uniform in size because they're round Japanese seed beads, while the pink beads are a little larger and a little unevenly shaped.  The pink beads also seem to be more cylindrical.  I'm not sure where the pink beads are from, but I'm sure that they are not Japanese because of the inconsistencies.  Despite the size and shape discrepancies, all the beads are size 8/0. 
 
If my pink beads had also been round Japanese seed beads, they would have fit together more tightly.  If I had used smaller beads, the swatch will appear to be more tightly stitched.  Japanese Delica beads, because they are cylindrical in shape, will fit very closely together.

© Copyright 2011 Linda's Art Barn. All rights reserved.

Tutorial: Beadweaving the Peyote Stitch

What I'm writing about today is an off-loom beadweaving stitch called the Peyote stitch.  The Peyote stitch is only one of many off-loom stitches.  Off-loom beadweaving simply means that you are stitching beads together in a repetitious pattern without using a loom.
         
The Peyote stitch, which can also be called the Gourd stitch,  has some variations:  It can be flat, shaped, or tubular; it can be even-count or odd-count; it can be simple Peyote, two-drop Peyote, or three-drop Peyote.  The simplest form is the flat, even-count Peyote stitch and that's what I'm going to focus on here.
   
  
STOP BEAD

Before, I begin I want to address the "stop bead."  Whenever you are doing a beadweaving stitch you need to load some beads onto a thread and something needs to keep those beads from falling off the other end of the thread.  We call that a "stop bead."  It's ideal to use a bead that is a different color, shape, and size from the beads in your project, but if that's not possible, at least make it a different color.    


This stop bead is a red, 5mm triangle.  It is larger than the the beads in my project, as well as a different shape and color.   I've used black thread here so that you could see it more easily.

  

1. Start by running the thread through the "stop bead," leaving about a 6-inch tail.
2. Then run the thread through the "stop bead" again in the same direction as the first time. Here you can see the loop that was created when I ran my thread through the bead a second time.
3. Now, simply pull on both ends of the thread so that the loop snugs up against the "stop bead" and you're ready to begin your project.  Don't forget that 6-inch tail.

OVERVIEW OF THE PEYOTE STITCH
     
Beginning the Peyote stitch can be confusing because the beads that you pick up on your thread when you start are actually the first 2 rows—you pick up both rows at the same time. What makes that more confusing (at least to me) is that although they are 2 different rows, together they make the full width of your project in a staggered design, which looks a bit like zipper teeth once you get a few rows stitched.

I laid out the beads on my bead mat to show you how 2 rows are actually created out of the first beads you pick up.  You won't really see this happen until you've finished the third row.  Remember, you are looking at rows 1 and 2.  Also, these beads are on their sides.  If they were already on the thread, you wouldn't be able to see the holes.

         
Because I'm doing even-count Peyote, I picked up an even number of beads.  That's it.  Even-count Peyote is simpler than odd-count.

To make it easier for you to see the rows, I'll be working with 3 different colors.  To start, I'm using 2 colors, which represent the first 2 rows.

For the longest time, I thought that if I picked up 10 beads (rows 1 and 2) my project would be 5 beads wide. That is NOT the case, as you can see in the photo above. Because the rows become staggered, the beads in the second row act like spacers between the beads in the first row. The bottom line is that your project will be exactly as wide as the number of beads that you pick up on your thread at the beginning. In other words, it will be as wide as your first two rows combined. It was a huge “aha” for me when I finally figured that out.


 PICKING UP ROWS 1 and 2:

As you can see in this photo, I've picked up the 10 beads on my needle.   Because I'm right-handed I pick up beads from right to left.  If you're a leftie, work from left to right.  I'm going to pull the beads all the way up the thread and and snug them up against the "stop bead," which you can't see, but is on the right.  After that, I'll turn my work so that I am ready to begin the next row.



In this photo, you see that the beads are on the thread and up against the stop bead.  Notice that I've turned my work around--you can't see it, but the needle is now on the right, so that I can again pick up beads from right to left with my right hand.  This means that the white beads are going to be row 1 and the black beads are going to be row 2.

        

ROW 3:
  
When you start to work on your third row (which feels like it should be row 2, but truly is row 3), you’ll stitch into every other bead, picking up a new bead between them.  The beads that you’re stitching into are technically the second row. This third row is the most difficult to stitch, but it gets much easier after that.


This is the start of row 3.  I used pink beads for row 3.  The pattern is:  pick up 1, skip 1, run the needle through 1. 

     

1. Pick up 1 pink bead for row 3.
2. Skip the first white bead.  This is a row 1 bead.
3. Run the needle through the (next bead) first black bead.  This is a row 2 bead.
4. Continue until the row is complete.
5. Turn your work around in preparation for row 4.

Repeat these steps until you have the number of rows that you want.



Here you see 3 rows are complete.  Row 1 is white, row 2 is black, and row 3 is pink.  The pink beads are the "up beads."  Notice that the thread is coming out of a bead on the left.  That tells me that the work needs to be turned around so that I can begin row 4.

NOTE:  Do you see how the white beads in row 1 look like zipper teeth, too?. When you turn your work, be careful to keep row 1 on the bottom and row 3 on the top. You don't want to accidentally start stitching into row 1 when you begin your 4th row. This is another good reason to use a different color bead for each row, at least for the first 3 rows.



ROW 4 and BEYOND:

After you finish the first 3 rows, stitching even-Count Peyote is a breeze. The piece will be large enough for you to hold onto with your non-dominant hand and the zipper-shaped edge becomes well-defined, which allows you to easily see where your next stitch goes. The row most recently stitched looks like zipper teeth and those beads that stick out are the newest row.  They're called “up beads.” You simply pick up a new bead, and then run your thread through the next “up bead” in the row. When the current row is finished, you turn your work around and start the next row.  Don't worry about the curve in your piece at this point.  It will straighten out as you add more rows.





You're looking at 6 completed rows here. 

 
Notice that the black and white beads are the same size and shape, but that the pink beads are a little wonky.  If the pink beads were more uniform in shape, all these beads would fit together better.  I'm not bothered by this as it gives it a little bit more of an open look.  Another thing to consider is that size 11/0 beads, which are smaller, would fit together more tightly because of their small size.



This piece has 10 completed rows. 

      
The thing that complicates the Peyote stitch, or any other beadweaving stitch for that matter, is when you have a distinct design that is made up of different colors. For example, you’re stitching a cuff bracelet that has pink hearts along its length on a background of white. That’s when you’ll need to pay attention to which row you’re on and you’ll need a graph to help you choose the right-colored bead for each stitch. Wait until you’re comfortable with the Peyote stitch before you attempt to use a pattern.
    
    


PRACTICE THE PEYOTE STITCH

Before you begin a real project in Peyote stitch you should:

1. Practice with larger-size seed beads to make it easier to see what you're doing, like 8/0 or 6/0.  Remember that 8/0 beads are smaller than 6/0 beads.
2. You must use the same size beads throughout or you’ll get a 3-dimensional piece that will be difficult for a beginner to work with.
3. Make a few small swatches—10 stitches wide by 10 rows long. You can always take the swatches apart and re-use the beads later.
4. Use three different colors (A, B, and C) and use a different color for each row. That means that you’ll pick up alternating colors (colors A and B) onto your thread when you start. That will help you to see the difference between rows 1 and 2.   Make row 3 in color C, row 4 in color A, row 5 in color B, row 6 in color C, etc.

You'll need:

• Seed beads in 3 different colors.
• 1 stop bead.   
• A beading needle.  With larger seed beads, a size 10 needle should be fine, but a (smaller) size 12 needle would be OK here.
• Beading thread.  I would probably use 6 lb. Fireline, but there are other good beading threads. 
  *Click here and go to the bottom of the May 31, 2011 blog for a list of some of other threads. 
          

1. Start by threading the needle with about 2 feet of thread. Pick up your "stop bead" and leave a 6-inch tail.  Secure the "stop bead" by running the needle through it again. 
2. Pick up an even number of beads—10 is a good number to start with—in alternating colors A and B.
3. Pick up a bead in color C, skip the first already-strung bead (color B) and run the needle through the second already-strung bead (color A).  Repeat until the row is finished.  This row will be difficult to manipulate.  Take your time and make sure that your stitches are snug.  The rest of the rows will be much easier.
4. Turn your piece so that the needle is back on the right if you're right-handed or on the left if you're left-handed.  You should now see the "up beads," which look like zipper teeth.  Pick up a color A bead, run the needle through the first "up bead," and repeat until the row is finished.
5. Turn your piece so that the needle is back at the beginning.  Add color B beads between the "up beads" in this row (repeat step 4).
6. Continue, alternating colors, until you have done about 10 rows.
7. Weave the thread in a zig-zag pattern through the stitched beads several times to secure it and cut the thread close to the beads.  Be very careful not to cut into the thread that is holding the beads in place.
8. Remove the stop bead and thread the needle with the 6-inch tail you saved at the beginning.  Weave that thread through the beads in a zig-zag pattern several times to secure it and cut the thread.

Save this swatch as a reference and make several more swatches until you feel comfortable with this stitch.  After you've done it a couple of swatches with a different color in each row, try to stittch a swatch using all the same color beads.  Once you can do that, you're ready to tackle a project with an actual design on it.

© Copyright 2011 Linda's Art Barn. All rights reserved.