How to make a beaded necklace - A TOHO beaded triangle – jewellery making tutorial

We start with 48 beads. We will create the sides of the triangle above the light beads and the corners above the brown ones.

Prepare about 150cm length of thread. String 3 sequences – 16 beads each - according to the pattern below.

Pass through all of the beads strung and once again through the 1st brown bead of the 2nd sequence to make a circle. Leave about 10cm tail thread which will be used to close up our work, so that it won’t unweave.

Now we need to stitch a base for our triangle. Working with Peyote Stitch, add 1 bead between the beads previously strung. Pass the needle through every other bead. Since there are 3 Navajo White beads before the brown bead, we start from adding a Navajo White bead. Then, we add the bead in the colour of the bead the thread exits. We will work this way until we have finished our work.

Add the beads the same way until you have completed the whole row. IMPORTANT! As you finish the row pass the needle through two beads: the last one of the previous row and the 1^stone of the new row.

Our work doesn’t look like a triangle yet, but it will change . In this step we start making the sides of the triangle. As we did previously, add 1 bead between the beads of the previous row, until the thread comes out of the last bead before the brown one.

We will make a corner above the brown bead. String 2 beads and pass the needle through the 1^st bead right behind the brown one.

Make the 2 following sides and corners the same way. Remember, while adding the last bead of the row pass the needle through 2 beads - the last one of the previous row and the 1^st one of the new row.

Our work starts to look like a triangle and it should look like this.

Step up the next row. As it was done previously, add 1 bead between the beads of the previous row.

As the thread comes out of the 1^st brown bead, string 2 brown beads and pass the needle through the 2^nd brown bead.

Make the 2 following sides and corners the same way. While finishing the row, pass through 2 beads.

Our work should look like his.

We will repeat the 9^th and 10^th steps until we have completed the whole work.

Our triangle grows as we add the following rows.

If there are 2 brown beads jetting out right behind the brown beads it means we need to string a bead in the 2^nd colour, so that the stripes will be of the same width.

The size and the thickness of the triangle is up to you. Continue adding the following rows until you have reached the desired size. 

You can check the number of rows by counting the pairs of the beads in the corners.

I’ve made 9 rows and this is how my triangle looks like from the front

And from behind.

To make the 2^nd part of the triangle pass the needle through the beads towards the tail thread, as shown in the pictures.

Tie a double knot using the working and the tail threads right before the 1^st brown bead. Don’t cut out the tail thread – we will do it after the 1^st row.

We start making the 2^nd part of the triangle. String 2 brown beads and pass the needle through the 1^st bead right behind the brown one, as we did in the 6^th and 7^th step.

Repeat the 5^th and 6^th steps until you have completed the whole row. Remember to pass through 2 beads while adding the last one.

Don’t cut out the tail thread close to the knot (it may unweave). Thread in the tail thread, pass through several beads, secure the thread and trim.

Thread in the working thread. Make the following rows the same way as we did while making the 1^st part of the triangle.

If you run out of thread, just tie a new thread and hide a knot between the beads.

Repeat the 9^th and 10^th steps until you have reached the desired size of the triangle (the same as the 1^st part).

 Now we need to make the last row which will be used to close up our work. Add only 1 bead on the corners, and make the sides as we did previously.

I recommend to fill in the triangle inside before you close it up to make it look better and to prevent it from getting flat. I used cling film.  Wrap the central part of 2-3 times.

As the triangle is filled in we need to close it up. Both sided of the triangle look like a zipper together. Pass the needle through the beads jetting out alternately. Close up both parts of the triangle. Tie a knot, pass the needle between the beads, secure the thread and trim.

This is how the triangle should look like.

Cut out 3 x 50cm lengths of cord. With a small amount of glue stick them into the clasp.

We will stitch the bail using the Odd Count Peyote Stitch.

I’ve designed the bail so that it matches the triangle and the 3 cords can pass through it with ease.

Prepare about 80cm length of thread. String 11 beads (they make the 1st and the 2nd rows) in the sequence shown in the picture. Leave about 10cm tail thread which will be used to close up our work, so that it won’t unweave.

Add 1 bead between the beads previously strung. Add the beads according to the pattern (the beads will be in reverse order), which is: 1 brown bead (Montana Blue), 1 x Navajo White, 2 x Pastel-Frosted/Apricot and 1 x Navajo White.

Since this is the Odd Count Peyote Stitch, while adding the last bead of the row (1 Montana Blue) we need to go back to place the bead and step up to the next row, as shown in the pictures.

Make the next row according to the pattern. Add 1 bead between the beads jetting out of the previous row: 1 x Montana Blue; 1 x Navajo White, 2 x Pastel-Frosted/Apricot and 1 x Montana Blue.

Step up to next row as it is done in the Even Count Peyote Stitch. Keep to the pattern and add: 1 x Montana Blue, 2 x Pastel-Frosted/Apricot and 2 x Navajo White.

To add the last Montana Blue bead, we need to go back and pass the needle through the beads, as shown in the pictures.

Continue making the following rows the same way, and remember to go back every other row, as shown in the pictures above. As you finish, your work should look like this.

Put the cord inside.

It’s time to close up the bail.

Similar to the triangle, the sides of the bail looks like a zipper. Pass the needle through the beads jetting out alternately. The bail looks like a tube.

Both threads come out of the same bead, so we need to go back, so that one thread comes out of the nearby bead.

Tie a double knot, pass the needle with the tail thread between the beads, secure the thread and trim.

Now we need to stitch the bail to the triangle. Pass the working thread from the bail between the beads, so that it comes out of the Montana Blue bead marked in red in the picture.

 String 1 x 11/0 TOHO bead.

Put the bail on the central part of the triangle’s side and pass the needle through the bead on the same level as 11/0 TOHO bead, as shown in the pictures.

Pass the needle up through the same 11/0 TOHO bead.

 Pass the needle through the bail bead on the same level as the brown bead (marked in red) which the thread exits from, as shown in the pictures. Pull the thread, so that the linking won’t be too loose.

Pass the needle between the beads towards the bead on the same level as the brown bead and the beads the thread exits from, as shown in the picture.

String 1 x 11/0 bead and pass the needle through the bead on the same level as the bead the 11/0 TR is attached to.

Make sure that both 11/0 TR are attached at the same distance from the corners of the triangle. You can check it by counting the beads – marked in blue in the picture.

Pass the needle up through the same 11/0 TOHO bead.

Pass the needle through the brown bead on the same level as the bead the thread exits from, marked in green in the picture. Pull the thread.

 Tie a knot between the beads on the outside, pass the needle through several beads (so that the knot won’t unweave) and trim.

It’s done!