Beading Tutorial: Triangle Weave

Beading techniques that offer naturally occurring geometric patterns can make for wonderfully intricate and deceptively simple beadwork. One of the most interesting - but unfortunately lesser used - techniques is triangle weave. Similar in many ways to right angle weave, this stitch can be worked with a variety of bead combinations - from a single bead in each segment to multiple seed beads and everything in between.

Just like RAW, triangle weave uses a lot of thread, and requires multiple passes through each bead or segment. It also incorporates a looping thread path, but with three segments per grouping, instead of four. For this tutorial, I’ve used 4 seed beads for each segment, alternating from blue to yellow for clarity.

How to Stitch Triangle Weave

Attach a stop bead to a comfortable length of thread, and pick up 12 seed beads. You can also knot your thread, if preferred, after sliding the beads down to the end. Pass through the first 4 seed beads again and pull snug.

Pass through the following 4 beads. Pick up 8 seed beads, and pass through the same 4 beads again to form the next triangle. Pass through all of the beads just added.

Pick up 8 seed beads, and stitch through the same 4 bead segment that your thread is exiting. Pass through all of the beads just added. Repeat to create a chain of the desired length.

To add a new layer to the beadwork, exit from the first segment at the bottom of the triangle chain. Pick up 8 beads and pass through the same segment again. Pass through all of the beads just added.

At this point, it may feel natural to weave into the next segment of the upper chain, as you would with right angle weave. However, you will need to add a new triangle to complete the pattern. As you work and get used to the pattern, refer to the chain above for help.

Pick up 8 seed beads, and pass through the segment that your thread is exiting. Pass through the next 4 beads.

Pick up 4 seed beads, and pass through the closest segment in the chain above, and the segment that your thread is exiting. Pass through the 4 beads just added.

Continue adding new triangles to your chain as desired. You can increase or decrease to create interesting geometric shapes, and add additional triangles in any direction from an existing one.

The structure of triangle weave is ideal for floral patterns. You can even work it in rounds - instead of adding segments in a straight line, move in a circle pattern and connect the first and last stitches together. Think of it like a pie with six slices.

Have you tried triangle weave? How do you like to use it?

Copyright 2014 Inspirational Beading
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Evening Couture and Necklace Twenty Four

Say what you will about the fashion industry, it is certainly hard not to look at all of the amazing designs that grace the runway each season. Whether the clothes are avant garde or ready to wear, the colors, silhouettes and textures are always intriguing.

I think if money were no object, I’d fill my closet with one of a kind designs from my fellow handmade artists, but I still love to gawk at high end fashion and get a glimpse of what the upcoming trends are. Recently I was mesmerized by a spot about Zac Posen on Fashion Television.

Although the designer’s Spring 2011 line didn’t enchant all of the critics, I couldn’t take my eyes away. The colors and shapes are stunning, with lots of oranges and reds with black, and smart angles stunningly paired with soft fabrics. And the feathers? Not too much, and not to little!

I’m not often inspired to create a piece of jewelry after seeing runway clips, but this evening wear really got my attention. I wanted to transport some of the colors and shapes into a necklace right away.

I started with some wood beads with a fun flower pattern in red and brown, then added some tan Picasso finish E beads. I used these to stitch a triangle weave wedge, then added straps with modified right angle weave.

Once again, the finished piece doesn’t have the slightest resemblance to my inspiration, but I’m still really happy with the way it turned out. The beads and the stitches together have this ugly-pretty quality that I really like. Plus working with larger beads is such a nice change of pace. You get twice the texture in about half the time.

Copyright 2010 Inspirational Beading and Zac Posen

Underwater Garden Necklace

Photo Credit: takau99

This month, the theme for the Etsy BeadWeavers challenge is “Secret Garden”. This topic was chosen by Ileana of Enchanted Beads, who encouraged participants to create their own real or imaginary garden. It’s a great theme for summer, with absolutely endless possibilities. There are so many ways to interpret the word garden, that choosing just one would be a challenge in itself.

The Inspiration:

Although I adore nature, I’ve never been a green thumb, and landscaping sort of baffles me. So there would be no realistic gardens in my piece. I started thinking about more magical, fantastic gardens. It occurred to me that the most secret of gardens would be one that humans could never reach.

I had already started seeing some possible shapes and designs in my mind’s eye, and I was most drawn to one with flat, six petal flowers. I thought it would be fun to turn all of my oval dyed shells into flower petals, so then an aquatic theme started to emerge. If the city of Atlantis had had a garden, what would it look like now, at the bottom of the sea?

The Beads:

Using the green shells for petals meant that I would have to be careful about choosing the rest of the palette. I wanted to be certain that the flowers would look as such. I finally decided on salmon pink, which is not only a very flowery color, but also reminds me of anemones and starfish, which one might find in an underwater garden.

For the background, I chose transparent cobalt - an excellent deep sea blue. I also selected some pink cat’s eyes, and 15/o seed beads to match the green and chartreuse shell coins.

The Beadwork:

To make the flowers I had imagined take shape, I used wide triangle weave stitches, with each wedge supporting a petal and a bit of the pink center. To fill in the spaces between the shell flowers, I made a few beaded flowers with matching pink centers and green petals.

Atlantis Garden Necklace

Choosing a technique for the necklace straps was a challenge. I wanted them to have body, but not distract from the flowery bib. Eventually I took the simple approach and created several strands of cobalt blue with assorted accents, including some blue and green pressed glass clam shells.

Voting for the Etsy BeadWeavers July challenge opens today. Stop by the EBW Team blog to see all of the amazing entries, and vote for your favorite! The challenge closes on July 15th.

Copyright 2010 Inspirational Beading and The Sage's Cupboard