Time for a New Stitch
Welcome back to Bead Weaving 101.
We wrapped up our exploration of Brick Stitch and now we are going to move on to another of my personal favorites, Herringbone Stitch.
In this portion of the series, we will delve into the lovely variations of this stitch and learn a few tricks along the way.
Herringbone Stitch is also known as Ndebele stitch, has been used by beaders for centuries.
It is highly recognizable as it stacks the beads, into V shape pairs.
The arrangement consists of columns of parallel lines, with all the lines in one column sloping one way and all the lines in the next column sloping the other way so as to resemble the bones in a fish, used especially in the weave of cloth or the placing of bricks.
Herringbone can be started using the traditional method, in which the first row of beads is stacked into the v shape, as you work the second row.
The stitch can also be started from a Ladder Stitch base, in which case the first row of beads are straight and not V shaped.
There are several variations of Herringbone Stitch and we will cover several throughout this portion of Bead Weaving 101.
I have several projects planned along the way and quite a few patterns and guides available in my Shop as well.
- Flat Herringbone
- Flat Circular Herringbone
- Tubular Herringbone
- Twisted Tubular Herringbone
- Increasing and Decreasing
- Bead Variations
Herringbone works well with most all seed beads, round, cylinder, triangles, even bugles.
In it’s flat form, the stitch creates a beautiful drape to the bead work that feels almost like fabric.
Herringbone Stitch can also be started from a Brick Stitch row, or any row in which the bead hole faces outwards and is free.
I have used it to create lovely bead work on a frame or component, with this technique.
So get your beads and needles ready, we will be diving into Flat Herringbone Basics in the next post.
Bead Weaving 101 is a series based on my review of the Bead & Button 2019 Bead Stitching Handbook.
Read my book review here.
Read the Intro post to this series, here.
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