Tubular Twisted Herringbone Stitch

Tubular Twisted Herringbone Stitch Tutorial

Ingredients

8/0 Miyuki Seed Beads in three colours (we’ll call the colours A, B and C in this pattern)

4lb Fireline Thread

Size 10 Beading Needles

Method

1. Cut a long length of Fireline thread (at least 1.5 meters or as long as you are happy working with – this stitch uses a lot of thread!) and thread it onto your needle.

2. Pick up 2A and leave a tail of approx 15cm. Go back through both beads as shown:

3. Tighten by going back through the next A:

4. Pick up 1B and go back through the A that you just exited and then back through the B you just added:

5. Pick up 1B and go back through the first B added, then go back through the B you just threaded:

6. Now repeat step 5 with the C beads and you will have a ladder:

7. To join both sides of the ladder together thread your needle up through the first A in the pattern and back through the C that you just exited:

8. Now go back through the first A, pick up two more A and go back through the 2nd A in the pattern:

9. Now thread your needle up through the next B in the pattern:

10. Pick up 2 B and go back through the next B (as in step 8). Repeat this with colour C and you will have this:

Don’t worry it will look a little bit of a mess at the moment and will seem very loose but it will all come together once you’ve got the next few rows beaded up!

11. Now go back up through the first 2 rows of A, pick up two more A and sew back down through the next A in the pattern:

12. Sew up through the next 1B in the pattern, pick up two more B and sew back down through the next B in the pattern:

13. Sew up through the next C in the pattern and repeat step 12 but for colour C:

14. Now you will be back round to colour A again and will have two rows of each colour of bead. “Step up” by stitching up through the next two A in the pattern:

15. Repeat steps 11-13 to add another row of beadwork and you should have something like this:

16. Everything will still be a little bit loose and it won’t seem much like a tube right now but don’t give up – it will all come together very shortly! If you continued in the same way you would make a lovely neat herringbone tube in three colours, however we want this herringbone tube to twist so now we need to change what we’re doing a little bit.

17. Pick up 2 A and sew back down throuigh the next A in the pattern, now sew back up through the next 2 B in the pattern – sewing back up through 2 beads instead of 1 as in the previous steps will make your tubular herringbone begin to spiral:

18. Pick up 2 B and sew back down through the next B in the pattern, once again sew back up through the next 2 C in the pattern:

19. Pick up 2C and sew back down through the next C in the pattern.

20. Now you’re back round to colour A again. Now “step up” by sewing back up through the next 3 A in the pattern:

21. Repeat steps 17-20 until your beadwork is the desired lengtH – you’ll find that the spiral will begin to grow quite fast and everything will begin to tighten up and form a nice neat tube. Don’t pull your beadwork too tight or you’ll find that your spiral won’t have much flexibility – you need it to be a bit flexibile so that it can bend around your wrist to make a pretty bracelet.

Always remember to sew back up through 2 of colour B and C and then step up by sewing up through 3 of colour A

Finishing your tubular twisted herringbone bracelet or necklace:

1. Once your beadwork is the desired length you will need to close up the open end of the tube.

2. To do this take your needle and stitch through the top two rows of beadwork so that you join the spiral together at the top:

3. When you have gone around the whole tube and joined the beads together you’re ready to add your clasp.

4. Take either a 6mm round bead or a bead cone, thread it onto your needle and then take your needle through the loop on one half of your clasp, then back down through the 6mm bead or bead cone and through one of the 8/0 on the other side of the tube:

5. To secure and centre the bead and casp onto the end of the spiral continue around the top of the tube exiting an 8/0 and going through the 6mm bead or bead cone, the clasp and back down through the 6mm bead or bead cone. This will centre the clasp onto the tube and add a lot of strength.

6. When you’re done simply sew back down into your beadwork and secure your thread by tying a few half hitch knots around the thread in the beadwork before trimming.

7. Repeat steps 4-5 for the other end of the tube and you’re done!

1 thought on “Tubular Twisted Herringbone Stitch

  1. Would have loved to have had approx amount of beads needed to make necklace and bracelets. Want to order beads at same time but not sure how many 🙂