How to Peyote Stitch

Let's start at the beginning.  If you don't know how to peyote stitch, then all the patterns and designs are useless.  If you love to make jewelry, then you will be fascinated by the endless possibilities created with peyote.  Peyote is so easy to learn, you'll be making beautiful jewelry pieces in no time!

There are 2 ways to do basic peyote: even count and odd count.  Even count is when you start with an even number of beads and, yes, you guessed it, odd count is when you start with an odd number of beads. Why does it matter? One peyote stitch uses 2 beads, so even count peyote finishes the row without any extra beads.  Odd count peyote has an extra bead at the end of the row.  This requires adding the next bead in a very roundabout way.  The alternative when a pattern calls for a odd number of rows, as in my Hexagon Bracelet, you can add the last row using brick stitch.  We'll save that for another tutorial.

For now, let's learn the basics of how to do even count peyote.  Once that's mastered, you can start learning all the other types of stitches.  After you learn even count peyote, then it's on to odd-count peyote.  It's not as hard as it looks, check out my quick tutorial in this post.

Check out the free even count peyote tutorial and video on my Bead Vault Page.  Once you have the knack of it, try one of my free bracelet patterns.  The Purple Ombre bracelet or Crossing the Line would be a great place to start.

Another place to check out for free patterns is allfreejewelrymaking.com.  They have loads and loads of free patterns.  Free patterns are great when you are learning.  You can try different types of jewelry to see what you like best.  When I first started, I was making all sorts of fancy necklaces.  They are so pretty, but not very practical.  I don't think I wore any of them.  Then I learned peyote stitch and I've been hooked ever since.