How to make Native American Inspired earrings - Earrings with beaded tassels tutorial

Prepare a long piece of thread – about 1.5m long.

String 11 TOHO beads and slide them down leaving about a 50cm tail.

Stitch using the basis of the brick stitch – pass down through the first bead so that we have a loop on one side of the bead.

Take the second bead and pass down through it. Repeat with the rest of the beads.

Half of the most difficult part done.

Thread the shorter part of the thread (the tail thread).

String 1 TOHO bead.

Pass under the threads that connect the first bead with the second one.

As you pass under the threads, snug the bead down.

Pass the thread up through the new bead, so that the thread comes out of the top of the bead.

The first bead of the second row added.

String 1 TOHO bead and pass under the threads between the beads in the first row.

Pass down through the bead.

Continue until you have 10 beads added in this row.

The second row should look like this.

Nothing changes in the next rows except for the number of the beads added in each row. So that there are 9 beads in the 3^rd row.

Add one bead less in each of the following rows.

The 4th row. 

The 5^th row

The 6^th row.

The 7^th row.

The 8^th row.

The 9^th row.

The 10^th row.

Now, add the beads that help you attach the earring. String 4 TOHO beads. Pass down through the top bead (the one without the thread).

Without adding any beads pass through to the very first bead (the one the shorter thread comes out of). Don’t pull this thread too tight – this may cause the rhombus roll to the middle (though, it looks pretty good as well).

Now, continue making the rhombus. As we did it before, add 10 TOHO according to the beginning of the tutorial.

The 2^nd row.

The 3^rd row.

The 4^th row.

The 5^th row.

The 6^th row.

The 7^th row.

The 8^th row.

The 9^th row.

The 10^th row.

The 11th row. Add 1 TOHO bead. To make this bead “stable” pass through the bead in the previous row.

Without adding any beads pass through 3 sides of the rhombus (don’t pull the thread too tight). This makes our work and the place for the earring more solid. The thread should come out of the other side of the work (opposite the side with the shorter thread).

Now it’s time to make our 'feathers'.

String 2 x TOHO → 1 x Firepolish → 4 x TOHO → 1 x Dagger → 3 x TOHO

Then go through with the needle into the bead that was right behind the FP bead. Pass the thread back through the bead right behind the Firepolish bead.

Pass down through the nearest TOHO bead and the very next one – so pass through two nearest TOHO beads.

The first feather is done!

Repeat the steps to make 4 more feathers.

While adding the top feather (the middle one) pass through the bead which the thread comes out of and the nearest TOHO bead.

Add another feather the same way as you added the first five ones (make a feather and pass through two nearest TOHO beads).

Nearly finished. While adding the last feather pass the thread down through two sides of the rhombus. Secure the working thread and trim.

Repeat that with the shorter thread.

Now, you just need to add the ear wire, make the second earring and enjoy your new jewellery.

Here you can see how the earrings may look if you pull the side threads tight.

Let us know if you like the native American style earrings. If the tutorial inspires you to work, make sure you share your version on our Facebook Group!