What is a brick stitch in beading?

Brick stitch is a very versatile stitch used in jewelry making. Once you have understood the basics of this technique you can explore a variety of designs and enjoy endless hours of creative beading. Stitch your own cute animal charms or follow patterns to create beautiful flowers and geometric shapes that make unique, amazing jewelry pieces. You can also use circular brick stitch around a center bead or around a hoop to make pendants, charms, earrings or as part of a larger beading project.

I love playing with seed beads using brick stitch or variations of this basic bead weaving technique. I simply like stitching beads onto a ring because it adds diversity to any project just by changing the sizes and types of beads! A brick stitch works very well with cylindrical beads, such as Miyuki or Toho, but round-shaped seed beads are also a good choice to make handmade beaded jewelry using a circular metal component in the middle of your designs.

The below projects are a great introduction to both classic brick stitch and circular brick stitch. Because of their brick-like shape, 11/0 Miyuki Delicas are preferred for brick stitch, but I’ve also made some earring designs using 15/0 Toho round, 11/0 Toho round and 10/0 Preciosa Ornela Czech seed beads.

Flat brick stitch

Circular brick stitch

Brick stitch vs peyote

Although a brick stitch appears to be similar to a horizontal peyote, these two techniques are distinct beading patterns. Both peyote and brick stitch will have that basic design that looks like a brick wall, with the beads lined up next to one another. But what is the difference and how can you tell if you’re looking at a project that was created using brick stitch or peyote stitch?

Peyote stitch earrings

Brick stitch earrings

First, you need to look at where the thread is visible. The peyote stitch should be easy to spot… you are going to notice that the thread is on the edge of the stitch, linking one bead to another when the beads are sitting on the side. When you look at the brick stitch, you won't notice thread along the side, instead, you'll see the beads. The thread on the side is not passing from one bead to another, it is going back into the same bead from which it came. As a result, when looking at the pattern, you will not notice the thread line along the side of the stitch.

For peyote, the thread goes horizontally through the bead (the beads are sitting on their side so that the thread runs from right to left or left to right), but for brick stitch, the thread sits vertically (the thread is going up and down through the bead).

Second, think about what you want to achieve with your beading before choosing your stitch. Peyote stitch works faster if you are doing a simple design, while brick stitch allows you to quickly increase and decrease the number of beads sitting on a row, making it a more versatile stitch for irregular shapes.

Also, peyote stitch tends to be softer and more flexible. The brick stitch technique creates more tension in the pattern, being the perfect choice for earring designs.

What is a brick stitch pattern?

Graphical patterns are very helpful and easy to follow. You can create an image using a computer program or purchase one online. There are many beautiful patterns to choose from!

Complex patterns may be challenging and you need to decide how to approach them. The first step is to figure out where to start your brick stitch pattern. My advice is to look at the overall shape of the piece you want to create and this will help you make the best decision. Many designs allow you to simply start at the bottom of the shape and continue upwards, row by row. The below diamond shaped pattern is a good example of this practice.

However, there are cases when this is not the best place to start. If I come across designs that have irregular edges or designs with an uneven or unusual sequence of increases and decreases, I usually start with the widest row and work outwards as needed. Another approach is to begin with the middle row (a ladder stitch row) and work first one side, then return to the other.

But there is no right or wrong way to do this. You will see that following patterns is actually a pretty simple and useful skill to master and during the learning process, you will create unique and amazing pieces of jewelry.

Brick stitch increase and decrease

The brick stitch beadwork starts with a ladder stitch base row. Layers are added to this base row by sewing through the thread bridges that hold the layer underneath together. You have the option to change the shape and size of your bead weaving by increasing and decreasing the number of beads in a row.

How to increase in brick stitch at the start of a row

Always start by picking up two beads and go through the first thread bridge, moving from back to front, and then go up through the second bead that you just added. To stitch the row, pick up a new bead, go under the next thread bridge and then go back through the same bead. Repeat this step until you reach the end of the row. The only difference is what you do at the ends of the rows in order to follow your pattern.

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How to decrease in brick stitch at the start of a row

You still need to start this row with two beads, but before picking up the beads make sure your thread is exiting out of the second bead. To do this take your needle down through the second bead of the last row and the second bead from the layer underneath. Then take it up diagonally through another two beads: the first bead of the second row and the second bead of the last row, where the thread should be… just like following a triangle shape with your thread. Next, add two beads and move the needle under the first exposed threat bridge, moving from back to front, and go up through the second added bead.

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