Description
Square Stitch
I always think of square stitch as one of the ‘Cinderella’ stitches of bead-weaving. It is much less often used than something like Peyote stitch or Right Angle Weave. It is mostly used in its flat form although there is no reason not to make three dimensional shapes with square stitch. The way the beads are linked together makes the stitch harder to shape in three dimensions, but you can create great shapes in the flat stitch. The thread path also means that this stitch has quite a rigid feel to it. You can easily create graphs for square stitch, which means it lends itself to creating flat pictures – a bit like painting with beads. I first learned square stitch as an alternative to loom-work – the effect is the same, but it saves a lot of time relative to threading up a beading loom!
I developed this tutorial when one of my students had found a pattern for a square stitch bracelet and asked me how to do the stitch. I use it as one of my introductory tutorials when I am teaching this technique. You will learn how the stitch is structured, how to start it and how to create a strip of square stitch, as well as how to read and create a pattern in square stitch.
I believe that the basic beading techniques are the fundamentals to all beadwork and you should be able to learn them for free. These techniques are not copyrighted, so I wanted to make sure that everyone has access to well-thought out materials for learning these building blocks. If you find my style of teaching and writing works for you, then I hope you will return to sample some of the patterns on this website. Or, if you live nearby, do please book for one of my classes. You can find an up-to-date list of my teaching schedule on the beading classes page.
