Free Beading Tutorial – Right Angle Weave

Don’t let the name put you off, this unique little stitch is really fun and honestly, not that hard to learn. I have to admit, the whole ‘right angle’ thing put me off for a long time. You see in my opinion:

Right Angles = Maths and Maths = Yuk.  

So after much prolonging and procrastinating, and finally realising that peyote stitch wasn’t going to keep me entertained forever, I finally decided to face the dreaded and you know what? This stitch is really not that mathematical at all. Okay, so you do have to stitch your beads at right angles, but it’s not like you have to be a maths whizz to work that out, and you certainly don’t need to know any pi, square, geometry, mathvomity stuff.   The way I like to think of it is…well…if beading was a dance and the thread was the dancer…then the right angle weave is like the dosado. So what does that make you as the beader? The choreographer of course!

That’s right, you’ve got to swing those little beadies round and round. Well not exactly. They just have to move at right angles with one another. Let’s see:

Right?

Right (I hear you say)

So let’s begin…

Tools

• Beads (I generally like to use Japanese seed beads with weaving, but the great thing about this stitch is that you can pretty much use anything. You can try pearls, gems, lampwork beads for a different look. If you’re a beginner it may be easier using uniform-sized beads.
• Needle
• Nymo Thread (depending on your bead size you may like to use powerpro instead)

Step 1

Get ready to dosado…

NB: You can either use a stop bead or tie your thread during step one to secure your work.

Pick up four beads and pass back through the first (if not using stop bead, tie the knot here) second and third bead again.

Keep in mind with the diagrams that the unbroken line indicates the first time the thread passes through a bead. The broken lines show the second or third time a thread passes through a bead.

Step 2

Swing your partner round and round…

Pick up three more beads and pass your thread back through the last bead you exited from in step one (bead 3 in step 1) and the first two beads you picked up in this step (beads 5 and 6).

Step 3

And keep on swinging…

Once again, pick up three more beads and pass back through the last bead you exited from the previous step (bead 6 in step 2) and the first two beads you picked up in this step. (beads 8 and 9).

Continue with step two and three – Your thread should alternate between moving clockwise to anti-clockwise with each new step.

Remember, during your first row, you will always need to pick up three beads (other than the very first step where you pick up four).

Adding a Row

Now turn the other way…

Okay, so you’ve mastered the basics. Now when it comes to adding rows, it may seem a little daunting at first, but all you have to do is change the direction of your movement.

Finishing Row one.

To finish a row and begin a new one you will need to exit from the bead facing east. If you’re confused – go take another look at the diagram in step 1. Normally you exit from bead 3. However, to start a new row you will need to exit from where bead 2 is positioned.

Next, pick up three new beads (blue beads in the diagram above) and pass back through the last bead you exited in the previous step and back through the three beads from this step.

Now you’re ready to continue your row. This time you will only need to pick up two beads (the pink ones above) and then you will pass back through the last bead you exited in the previous step and then through the last bead you exited from the first row. Continue picking up two beads to complete your row, alternating from clockwise to anti-clockwise with each new step.

Just keep moving your thread around and around, maintain your beads at right angles with one another, alternate each stitch from clockwise to anti-clockwise, and you shouldn’t go wrong.