I am going to make a dozen of these peyote triangle bracelets.
I learned the technique for making these bracelets at toocutebeads. Please contact them for instructions and supplies needed to make one of your very own. Just stunning and well worth the time to make.
I have heard other crafters say Peyote is hard to do. But for some reason it was easy for me to learn. I picked up the stitch in only a few days.
In January 2008, I took two peyote classes. Different instructors. Seven hours total. Both classes gave instructions for making a bracelet. First class was REALLY simple. Nothing but beads lined up in rows. Bead after bead, row after row.
The second class was the one that got my attention. That bracelet had two sizes of seedbeads, Swarovski crystals, and a clasp added with stringing wire. It had top and bottom bead embellishments on top of that!! It was a lot to learn in one session but I made it through the class and left with a bracelet around my wrist.
You are probably thinking, what does that have to do with you??!!
Well, I am going to show you how to get past the first three rows of peyote so you will love it as much as I do.
Here is a step-by-step illustration complete with photos. Pardon my fuzzy pictures. My camera always decides to act ugly when I need it the most. I will have to retake these photos… some day. But hopefully you can make out the direction of the beads. At least try it and see if you are successful, ok?
How to Start 4 Bead Flat Even Count Peyote
Stretch your thread by pulling on it. Pulling helps remove loops and curls created when thread was wound onto the bobbin. After stretching, condition by running it through Thread Heaven, a wax coating. Run thread through your fingers. OK, you should now be able to stitch with little or no tangling.
Step 2.
Thread 1 yard of thread on needle. Fuse a small ball on one end of thread with cigarette lighter or match.
Step 3.
Pick up 4 seed beads. String thread through them and leave about 8″ of thread as a tail. (You will use this thread later to secure that end of the beading when finished.) These 4 beads are Row 1.
Push the head pin through bead # 1 and bead #3. Now the row has changed. Beads 1 and 3 are Row 1. Beads 2 and 4 are Row 2.
Pick up a bead, PUT YOUR LEFT HAND DOWN ON THE 4 BEADS. DO NOT LET THEM MOVE. DO NOT LIFT THEM OFF THE MAT. Sew up through Bead 2. WATCH THE THREAD. DO NOT LET IT TANGLE OR TWIST AROUND THE HEAD PIN. Slowly pull on thread. Pull tight so bead sits in the open slot.
The key to getting the beads to stay put long enough for you to make it to Row 3 is non-movement and fixing thread tangles immediately without lifting the beads from the mat. Repeat Step 5 several more times.
Take the thread tail at the beginning and wrap it around the head pin, getting it out of your way.
Put a small piece of masking tape, top and bottom, on the beginning rows. This gives you something to hold onto and not have to worry about the beads shifting. You can now pick up your work and peyote in your hand.
Now you are ready to do some serious peyoting. Continue adding 2 beads in each pass. I flip my beadwork so I am always sewing UPwards. You do what works best for you. So for me, the process is…. Add 1 bead, add 1 bead, flip. Add 1 bead, add 1 bead, flip. And so on…until I reach the desired length.
Step 9. Left side. This is the side you started on, where you have 8″ of thread under the masking tape. Remove masking tape. Thread the 8″ onto a needle, sew through several beads, exit thread on the underside, cut thread leaving enough to fuse a small ball.
So… that is it. That is how to peyote and make it beyond the first three rows. You can now select a larger project. Maybe you will try something like this.
Go For It!!
Thursday, May 22
Of all the bracelets I have made, this one is absolutely….
MY ALL TIME FAVORITE!! I LOVE this bracelet!!
It fits so perfectly and looks and feels like a bangle. It even stands on its own.
Finished up in class yesterday at toocutebeads with an hour to spare. With the triangles already made, I had no problem sewing the layers together. I guess my “homework” paid off.
I have already started a second one. Started it last night. It is purple, silver and black. It is going to be really pretty, too.
Wednesday, May 21
Around 4pm today, I should be walking out of my beading class at toocutebeads with these parts sewn together and looking mighty pretty around my wrist.
I started this bracelet called Dimensional Peyote in class last Wednesday. I made the bracelet base and three of the tiny triangles.
My instructor (Rose) gave us homework. 10 triangles to make at home. Yuck!! I was immediately thinking about how this would cut into my macrame time, my sewing time and my beading time. Triple YUCK!!
And being the World’s Best Procrastinator that I am… of course I am up now trying to finish up “my homework.” I have 2 triangles left to make. But I will get them finished.
All the triangles will be sewn together in a strip and then sewn on top of the black base bracelet which was made using flat even count peyote plus one row of brick stitch. I tried on a sample bracelet in class and it felt sturdy and stiff, like a bangle.
The triangles weren’t hard to make as long as I followed the directions very closely. Twice I thought I knew the steps and did not look. What a mess!! I dropped a step or two and my triangle was lopsided. Had to remove the beads, rethread and start again. BUT… after making eleven of them, I think I have the process down pat. Ready to fly on my own for the last two!!
BBL to show you the completed bracelet.
Wednesday, May 21
These are the colors I am using for the next macrame purses I will make. I have a pair of purse handles I recently found at JoAnn’s that I want to use and LOTS of buttons to use up.
So.. the handles will go with the brown cord. I am thinking of putting a foldover front flap on this one.
And the buttons will go on the lavender purse. I have some tiny lavender satin flowers I may also use to jazz it up. I am making this one similar to the white purse in the picture.
The knotting for both will be about the same, mostly Square Knots. I don’t usually stray far from basic macrame knots. I have tried some patterns with fancy knots like the Berry Knot but they make my hands ache after awhile.
I will cut the cords for these tomorrow and get started. More details and photos to follow.
Macrame Cord Suppliers
My Related Article (purses are done)
http://thisyearsdozen.wordpress.com/2008/06/10/macrame-purses-before-after/
Wow!! Is this HUGE or what!! I wanted to make a big purse but didn’t think it would make up this large. There are 1520 macrame knots in this purse. I counted them. Well, actually I counted two rows to double check the count and multiplied by the number of rows. 
And the purse used 258 yards of cords. It will hold a lot of stuff. I bet it will hold a laptop. Maybe TWO laptops!!
It took several days working on and off to complete. My hands, fingers and arms ached and got tired so I worked about five rows at a time.
I took frequent breaks to rest them and once pulled out my smelly and stinky Jointritis to rub gently on my right arm. Whenever I use it, I am REALLY in pain. It smells so awful and lingers until my next shower.
This is how much I had knotted after a day and a half.
Purse was made similar to the other cream one I blogged about, just larger and with only one row of wooden beads.
It was tied with the beginning Square Knot Sections, 18 rows of Alternating Square Knots, one beaded section and then 12 more rows of Alternating Square Knots. I could have used an extra pair of knees when closing up the bottom.
Not sure what I will do with it. For now, I am just enjoying looking at it.
Measurements: Length 19 1/2″, Height without straps 14″ and width 2″ at its widest, the bottom. Straps measure 26 1/2″.
Macrame Cord: 6mm Braided in cream
258 Yards Used:
Macrame Cord Suppliers
STEP 1. Cut the following cords.
STEP 2/MAKING THE STRAPS.
You will make the two straps first. Pin the centers of two of the 3 yd cords side by side on knotting board. Pin the centers of two of the 5 yd cords on each side of the 3 yd cords. Cords should be lined up in this order. 5 yd cord, 3 yd cord, 3 yd cord and 5 yd cord. The 3 yard cords are filler cords and the 5 yard cords are the tying cords. Position on the knotting board with 4 ends going up over top of board and the other 4 hanging down the board. Refer to illustration.
Working with these 4 cords, tie a Sinnet of 10 Square Knots (SK). A sinnet is a strip of the same knots tied one after the other with the same tying cords. Refer to illustration. Leave on knotting board.
Continue adding to this SK sinnet by adding a Sinnet of 15 Half Knots (HK). Half Knots will start to twist after about the 3rd Half Knot. That is ok, it is supposed to do this.
Turn strap around and working in the other direction, continue where you “started”. (Note: Tie one HALF KNOT before tying a SK. This completes the knot first tied. ) Now you are ready to start tying knots in this direction.
Repeat making the same 10 knot SK sinnet and 15 knot HK sinnet as you did for the top half of these 4 cords. This completes the 1st Strap. Now repeat the process for the 2nd strap. This is how the two completed straps should look. Set straps aside.
Using the 2 yard 6″ cords, fold 2 cords in half and pin the centers side by side on knotting board. With these 4 cords, tie a Square Knot (SK) bringing knot all the way up to T-pin so no loops will be above knots. Set aside. Repeat this process 17 more times. You will have 18 Square Knot Sections. (Throughout this tutorial, these 18 will be referred to as “Square Knot Sections.”)
Pin 6 of the Square Knot Sections created in the above step to the knotting board side by side. Tie them together with Alternating Square Knots (ASK), starting with the 3rd cord on the left. You will tie 5 SK’s in this row. Leave knotting on the board.
Take one strap and curve it in an upward arc. Pin one end to the left side of the front portion of purse (which is on the knotting board) and the other end of the strap to the right side of the front portion of purse. Tie one Square Knot with cords 3-6 on left and 19-22 on the right. Leave knotting on board. (Numbering of the cords will change as sections are added so when numbering is mentioned in the instructions, just renumber mentally.)
Pin 3 Square Knot Sections on board and tie them together with a row of 2 Alternating Square Knots.
Do the same with 3 more Square Knot Sections. When knotting is completed pin one of these sections on the left of purse strap THAT IS ON THE KNOTTING BOARD and pin the other section on the right side. (Photo is only showing how to add this newly created section to the right side of the strap. Do the same on the left side.) Tie these sections together with one Square Knot, using 2 free cords from Square Knot Section and 2 from strap. Take off board and set aside.
Just as you did for the front… Pin 6 Square Knot Sections to knotting board side by side. Tie them together with one row of Alternating Square Knots, starting with the 3rd cord on the left. You will tie 5 SK’s in this row. Leave knotting on the board. Refer to knotting illustrations in Step 3 if you need help.
Take the 2nd strap and curve it in an upward arc. Pin one end to the left side of the back portion of purse (which is on the knotting board) and the other end of the strap to the right side of the back portion of purse. Note: Make sure this strap measures the same as the 1st strap. If necessary, “push” up on the sinnet to even it out.
Tie one Square Knot with cords 3-6 on left and 19-22 on the right. Leave knotting on board.
Join the back to the side sections with one Square Knot using the 2 free cords from the side and 2 cords from the back portion.
Do the same on the other side.
You now have a one complete row of Square Knots going all around the entire purse.
You will be tying rows of knots in a circular format, a tube. Tie 6 rows of Alternating Square Knots (ASK) in the following order:
Now you will begin adding beads to the front side of the purse. Number the cords from 1-44 beginning with one half of the side knot. Tie a Square Knot (SK) with cords 5-8, 13-16, 21-24, 29-32, 37-40. Under each of these SK’s put a bead on the 2 filler cords, the center cords of the 4 cords. Tie another SK under each bead, using the same 4 cords as for the knot above the bead.
Tie a sinnet of 8 Half Knots with cords 9-12, 17-20, 25-28, 33-36. Repeat these steps of adding beads and tying half knot sinnets to the back side of the purse.
To fill in the sides of the purse opposite where beads were added, tie 4 rows of Alternating Square Knots. First row will have one knot, 2nd row will have 2 knots, 3rd row will have 1 knot and 4th row will have 2 knots. Line these knots up with the bead row. (Note: Don’t get ahead. Stop with those last 2 knots.)
STEP 12/ADD 2ND ROW OF BEADS. Repeat Steps 9 and 10 to add the 2nd row of beads and fill in the knots on the side. Front and back.
STEP 14/CLOSING THE BOTTOM.
To close up the bottom of the purse, first, turn purse wrong side out. Go around the last row of knots and make sure the knots are really tight.
With the purse flat on the surface, locate the sides. You will see ONE SQUARE KNOT on each side that separates the front and the back of the purse. This is where you start tying up the bottom. Ok, ready? Put purse between your knees with the bottom up.
Starting with the farthest (on the side) 6 cords, tie 2 Square Knots, using 4 filler cords and one cord from the left side of the purse and one cord from the right side of the purse.
Continuing closing up the bottom using the next 2 cords from EACH SIDE of the purse and tying ONE Square Knot very tightly.
Continue this process across the bottom of the purse until you reach the other side. There should be 6 cords left. With these 6 cords, tie 2 Square Knots using 4 filler cords and one cord from the left side of the purse and one cord from the right side of the purse. The same as you did for the 6 cords on the opposite side of the purse.
This completes the knot tying. Apply craft glue to each knot. Allow to dry. Cut bottom cords leaving about 1/2″. Melt cut cords with a cigarette lighter or match to keep cords from fraying. Hold fire to the cord ends for just a split second so you won’t burn the cords. Now you are ready to turn purse right side out. Prepare the lining and insert it, if you desire.
Here are pictures of my completed purse.
Purse measurements: 10 3/4″ length, 1 1/2″ width and 9″ height without straps (14 1/2″ height with straps)
Friday, May 16
I cut the cords for this macrame purse this morning and started making it. I have the top section connected to the straps. The sides have been connected to the front and back and I am at the point of adding the wooden beads.
There is plenty of cord so I am going to add a second row of beads. 10 beads front and 10 beads back. Not sure why pattern called for such long cords. The next purse I make like this one, I will adjust the yardage. And it didn’t make up as wide as I wanted, so that’s another thing I am going to adjust. I will increase the knot sections on the front and back. The strap seems to be ok, maybe add a few more Square Knots to make it a bit longer. But so far, I am liking the result.
I called my hubby into my craft room twice for a consult. He gave me some suggestions on bead placement and which color fabric he thought would work best for the lining. I am going to go with his suggestions and hope for the best.
More pictures to follow and a tutorial so you can make one.
Thursday, May 15
This purse will be my next macrame project. The one at the bottom. I have made many purses but not this pattern. I looked over the instructions and it looks easy enough.
I have LOTS of macrame cord in a pretty cream shade. I fell in love with the color so I overbought. I also purchased some beads, in light beige and rust, with this cord in mind. I think they will be perfect together. The cord is a 6mm braid. For purses I prefer braided cord instead of twisted since I don’t have to tape the ends as I cut or worry about it untwisting as I work.
This purse makes up big, about 13″ by 10″. It takes approximately 117 yards of cord. I will be tying Square Knots, Alternating Square Knots, Square Knot Sinnets, Half Knots and Half Knot Sinnets.
For the lining, my plan is to use either a solid color fabric or a tiny print fabric. Probably in brown or a color to match the beads. Once I get to that stage I will search through my fabric stash.
But first… I have to cut the cords. No problem. That is the easy part of macraming.
Macrame Cord Suppliers
Want to learn how to macrame? Then you came to the right place!!
I will show you how to macrame a belt in just a few hours using the following basic macrame knots.
Square Knot (SK)
Alternating Square Knot (ASK)
Reverse Lark’s Head (RLH)
Half Hitch (HH)
Double Half Hitch (DHH)
OK… now go and gather up the supplies and tools you will need to make your macrame belt. I have mine ready.
Supplies & Tools needed to make Macrame Belt
Belt Buckle: Buckle doesn’t have to be exactly like mine but the opening for the cord should be at least 2 1/4″ length if using 3 1/2mm cord. That is the size opening needed to double half hitch all cords to the buckle when finished knotting.
Step 1:
Cut six 7 yard cords (Yardage depends on how long you want belt to be. I used 7 yard cords since I wanted belt to be long. I’m a big girl. )
Find the center of one of the 7 yard cords and Reverse Lark’s Head (RLH) it onto one side of the belt buckle. Follow the illustration in the picture.
Number the cords 1-12 left to right. (Up to this point, I know you only have one cord mounted. That one cord will now be Cord #’s 1 & 2. Label the rest once they are mounted to the belt buckle.)
Step 4:
Tie a Half Hitch (HH) knot with Cord #2. Bring this cord up, over and through the buckle opening.
You have now completed your first Reverse Lark’s Head and Half Hitched both sides of it.
Push knot to the left side of your belt buckle. Continue mounting all cords the same as you did this one.
Now you are ready to begin tying a row of Square Knots (SK) using all 12 cords.
Left Side Row 1: Tie one Square Knot with cords 1- 4. Push knot up close to the top and tighten. Look at the illustrations for help.
This completes Row 1. Pat yourself on the back. You have just mastered the Square Knot. The Square Knot is THE main knot for most macrame projects.
Tie a row of Square Knots using all 12 cords. You will tie these knots the same as you did in Row 1 but with one exception. Don’t push up too close to the knot above. You will drop down slightly (about 1/4″) when tying the knots on the left and right so a little peephole is formed along the edges. This creates an open airy design along the belt edges. Use a ruler until you can judge by sight how much to drop down. Look at the pictures to gauge the distance I used.
Step 8:
Continue tying rows of Alternating Square Knots (ASK) and Square Knots (SK) in the following order until you either reach your desired belt length or you run out of cord.
Leave at least 8-10 inches of cord after tying your last row of knots. You will need about this much cord to “comfortably” double half hitch cords onto the other side of your belt buckle.
Step 9:
Once you are finished tying knots, you are ready to Double Half Hitch (DHH) all 12 cords to the other end of your belt buckle. I apologize but my photo for this step turned out fuzzy and I was way past this step to retake it. So I double half hitched a few cords onto a metal ring so you would have a picture illustration.
This may be a struggle to get all cords on the buckle end but slide the cords down as far left as you can to free up some space along the buckle opening. After double half hitching all cords to the buckle end, pull each cord as tight as you can to create a smooth appearance. (See why I told you what type opening to use.)
Step 10:
Yippee!! You are almost finished. The end is in sight and a new belt will soon be hanging around your waist!! How does your belt look? This is how mine looks after double half hitching the 12 cords to the other side of the belt buckle.
This is the backside showing where the cords will need to be trimmed.
Make sure you are satisfied with the belt length and are indeed finished knotting. Once cords are trimmed there is no turning back. BEFORE TRIMMING CORDS….. Lightly apply craft glue to the underside of the knots on the backside of the knotting. Straighten cords. Press flat with your hands. Set aside and allow to dry.
Step 11:
Ready to trim cords. Leaving about 1/2″ from the top, cut all 12 cords. Look at picture illustration. Melt the CUT cord edges with a cigarette lighter or match to keep cords from fraying. Don’t hold fire very long to the cord, just a split second. Don’t want to ruin or burn your beautiful creation.
Here are pictures of my finished belt. Including the belt buckle, my belt measures 40″ and has 119 rows. It took me 3 hours to complete.
Hope you are happy with your new belt. Feel free to send me photos of your finished belt. Send to don_mae2@yahoo.com. Enjoy!!
Here is your Certificate of Completion.
http://thisyearsdozen.wordpress.com/2008/05/06/how-to-tie-a-macrame-square-knot/
http://thisyearsdozen.wordpress.com/2008/05/18/how-to-macrame-a-purse/
http://thisyearsdozen.wordpress.com/2008/05/09/how-to-macrame-a-basket/
http://thisyearsdozen.wordpress.com/2008/05/02/macrame-sewing-baskets/
http://thisyearsdozen.wordpress.com/2008/05/01/may-is-macrame-month/
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