Welcome back the Right Angle Weave Basics. In the Intro, we defined the stitch and talked about the versatility and variations of the stitch.
In RAW Basics Part 1, we looked at creating the base units with single seed beads, in a single row.
Today, I will show you how to use multiple beads on each side of the units.
And we will learn how to add multiple rows to the bead work.
I will be using two colors of the same size seed beads for the written tutorial, so you can clearly see the structure and the thread path. And I will include the bugle bead video at the end, as it contains the steps for adding an additional row as well.
Tools and Materials
- 2 colors of seed beads in the same size
- 1 or 2 colors of bugle beads in the same size
- 3 feet beading thread
- 1 beading needle
For this lesson, you can use any color or size seed beads that you have. But they do need to be the same size. The same holds true for the bugle beads.
When you design using this technique, you can vary the sizes of the beads to add variety, contrast and shape to your bead work.
Multiple Bead Technique
The technique for using multiple beads is basically the same as the single bead technique.
In the single bead technique, each side of the unit is one bead.
In the multiple bead technique, each side has multiple beads.
First you need to decide how many beads you will choose for each side of the unit.
The more beads per side, the larger the empty space in the center will be.
To make things a little easier to understand, alternate between the two colors as shown.
In this lesson I will be using three beads per side.
Pick up 3 Color A – 3 Color B – 3 Color A and 3 Color B.
Pass back through all the beads again to form a loop.
You can either tie two overhand knots between the working and tail threads or simply pass through the next three beads. In this case pass through the first 3 Color A again to close the loop.
If you have difficulty maintaining tension, you can use a Stop Bead.
Reinforcing the units is very important to the structure and look of your bead work.
When working with multiple beads, pass the needle through all the bead on each side, one side at a time. This helps to shape the unit into the characteristic square shape.
Pass through all the beads again, to reinforce the unit.
Get into position to add the next unit, by passing through through the side and top beads once more.
As we talked about in Part 1, each additional unit, builds upon the beads of the previous unit.
The top beads of the first unit, will double as the bottom beads of the next unit.
We only need to pick up the beads for the two sides and the top walls of the new unit.
Pick up 3 Color B – 3 Color A – 3 Color B
Pass back through the three beads on the base from the side opposite the from the working thread to form a loop.
Pull the thread all the way through.
Now we need to reinforce the new unit.
Pass up through the 3 Color B beads on the side.
Pass through the 3 Color A beads on the top.
Pass down through the 3 Color B beads on the side.
Pass through the 3 Color A beads on the bottom.
Next we going to add another row to the right of these two units.
Get into position for the next unit by repeating Steps 1 through 3.
Row Two
The first new unit of each additional row begins the same way. We have one side of the new unit in place.
However since we are beginning on the side rather than the top or bottom, the pick up order changes.
Pick up 3 Color A – 3 Color B and 3 Color A.
Pass back through the 3 beads again from the opposite side to form the loop.
Now we need to reinforce the new unit.
Pass up through the beads on the side.
Pass over through the beads at the top.
Pass down the three beads on the other side.
Pass through the bottom three beads again.
Get into position, by passing up the three beads on the side again.
Looking at our sample, we see that for the next unit, we now have two sides already in place.
We have the left side beads (the beads on the right side of the next unit on the base.)
And we have the top beads (the three beads on the bottom of the first unit of this row.)
Our working thread is positioned in such a way that we need to sew back through the beads on the base from right to left.
Pick up 3 Color B and 3 Color A.
Pass back through the 3 beads on the base from the opposite side to form the loop.
Pull the beads into place.
Reinforce by passing through all four sides of the new unit.
From here, you can continue to add rows, in either direction you choose.
In most projects, the base row is made horizontally, to a certain length.
Each additional row is then added vertically, one at a time.
But you can just as easily start the base vertically and add the additional rows horizontally.
You simply adjust the way that you pick of the Color A and Color B beads.
Video Recap
Right Angle Weave can also be stitched in the tubular form.
There are a couple of different techniques you can use to create tubular bead work with RAW.
In the next post, I will show you the first option.
Stay tuned for my upcoming posts in this series and learn more about the variations and versatility of Right Angle Weave.