Learn to Peyote Stitch!
This past weekend, I led a workshop at Wave Pool in Cincinnati. This event complements the exhibition "I Work Hard For My Money". And it was a lot of fun! While enjoying spiked cider and pumpkin cake, we learned how to use the peyote stitch bead weaving technique to make little cameo / cabochon items — great for jewelry pendants, stocking stuffers, tree ornaments, sun-catchers, worry stone alternatives, or even gifts from the tooth fairy.
I say "cameo", because the face of each U.S. 1-dollar coin in the center of our cabochons is framed nicely by a ring of gleaming beads, not unlike glass and porcelain portrait cameos of old. Sort of fancy and romantic. I say "cabochon", because this project was inspired by similar projects that use beadwork / beadweaving to frame and secure precious stones in place as pendants, brooches, and other ornaments or jewelry.
To make our little coin cameos, we were working in the round with a precisely even-count, to ensure symmetry. We also used two different size beads, taking advantage of the resulting change in diameter to ensure our cabochons would hold each coin in place securely. Specifically, we used a total of (48) size 6/0 seed beads, and (80) size 8/0 seed beads per coin. We did not, however, learn how to follow a typical peyote stitch design pattern, or how to make bracelets, bead tubes, or other peyote stitch objects. But many, many Youtube videos demonstrate how to follow both even-count and odd-count peyote stitch patterns — to create a variety of things, like bracelets, bookmarks, pins, ornaments, tube beads, etcetera! Just do a quick search, and you'll see what I mean...
If you want to try following a pattern to make your very own peyote stitch creations, I drew up some diagrams to help you get started:
Check out the exhibition at Wave Pool, now through January 3rd: wavepoolgallery.org