Peyote Stitch Beaded Sleeves - Why besides the Esthetics?

Occasionally I step out of my comfort zone, technically speaking… Away from techniques I am familiar with to meander into new territories. That is exactly what happened after releasing a new kumihimo bracelet kit using a magnetic clasp. Originally I designed the bracelet with a sterling silver clasp, but it added too much to the cost of the kit… So to keep the price of the kit low, I went with the magnetic clasp.

Then... Several of my customers told me of having problems with the gold finish getting removed due to their skin types. They planned on spraying a lacquer finish… Others including myself found the magnetic clasps preferred to attach themselves to various metal objects.

Finally after losing a bracelet for several days only to find it under my desk attached to a metal leg and metal set of drawers, I knew I had to do something to improve the bracelet.

So after searching for new clasps, I found new European magnetic clasps with strong magnets and advanced designs. These clasps are fabulous but their inside diameters are 10 mm by 7 mm, not the 4 to 6mm inside diameter needed for the bracelets. I look forward to designing new projects with these clasps. So keep posted.

Next, I decided to cover the clasps with beads, creating a tubular sleeve that would prevent the magnet from moving sideways. I remembered seeing tubular cylinders used a spacers made with Peyote Stitch at one of the show I attended. So I spent a weekend learning Peyote Stitch, creating rectangles and zipping them into tubes. hey I made my first beaded sleeves for the magnetic clasps. These beaded tubes are inserted right over the clasp, either left loose, so they can be interchanged, or stitched to one side.

Since adding the beaded sleeves over the magnetic clasps, I have not lost a single bracelet, and if the metal reacts to my skin, the bead sleeve will act as a barrier. Hey - Problems solved!

New designs or design improvements sometimes come in unexpected ways… And Peyote Stitch is easy to learn and very addictive. So try it.

Over the few next few posts or so, I will go over what's involved in making these Peyote Stitch Beaded Sleeves, show you a few versions of the Peyote Sleeve, show several methods of starting the peyote stitch and of doing the rows, and talk a bit about the history of Peyote Stitch and the origin of its name.

References

Peyote Stitch Tutorials
Even-Count Peyote Sleeves with Delicas Size 11
Even-Count Peyote Sleeves with Seed Beads Size 11

Odd-Count Peyote Sleeves with Delicas Size 10 & Seed Beads Size 11

2 Needle Start - An Alternative Method to Start Peyote

2 Needle Method for Odd-Count Peyote

The FAST Peyote Method - An Alternative Peyote Stitch Method

Get Kits, Materials & Tools
Peyote Beaded Sleeves
Kumihimo Bracelet with Long Magatamas & C-Lon Tex 400 Bead Cord
Magnetic End Clasps in Gold or Silver Tone
European Magnetic End Clasps

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C-Lon Bead Cord - Comparing Sizes

C-Lon Bead Cord - 4 Sizes in Orchid

C-Lon Bead Cord comes in 4 sizes. All the spools are 4 cm tall (1.57 inch) other than the Tex 400 spool a bit shorter at 3.8mm tall. Actual diameters of the spools vary a bit depending on how tightly the spooling machine is winding the cord onto the spool. The spools are measured by actual yardage, not by weight nor by the diameter of the spool. 

C-Lon Tex 400 Bead Cord - Ø 0.9 mm - The heaviest size, thickest cord. 108 colors.

C-Lon Bead Cord - Tex 210 - Ø 0.5 mm - 108 colors. The standard size called plain C-Lon Bead Cord, with no attributes. Often referred as Macrame Nylon #18, an appellation of older brands of upholstery bonded nylon such as Conso Nylon #18, Robinson Nylon #18, Mastex Nylon #18 and Macraworld Nylon #18 which used to be the standard size of bonded nylon used for macrame for jewelry making and for upholstery all the way back to the 1970's. Now the standard size for micro- macrame. 

C-Lon Fine Weight Bead Cord - Tex 135 - Ø 0.4 mm - In between the standard size and the micro size. 44 colors.

C-Lon Micro Bead Cord - Tex 70 - Ø 0.115 mm - The finest weight. 32 colors.

The Tex 400 spools are easy to identify as they are shorter than the other ones. You can identify your spools by looking at the crossing of the cord on the spool and by feeling the cord diameter. 

Not sure what you'd like… Contact Marion & ask for a sample! 

The sample card will have a piece of each cord size about 1/2 a meter/yard long:

Micro - Oyster

Fine - Teal

C-Lon Bead Cord - Black

Tex 400 - Orchid

If you want a thinner cord than the C-Lon Micro Cord, several mono cords are available, C-Lon Bead Thread Size D, C-Lon Bead Thread Size AA and KO Beading Cord. These are 1 ply threads with filaments that are parallel, not twisted into 2-ply or 3-ply cords such as the C-Lon Bead Cords.