Spotlight on Circular Brick Stitch

We all have our favorite bead weaving stitches. Some people love peyote, some RAW (right angle weave) and others brick stitch. As jewelry artists, I think it's natural to develop favorites as we work. For bracelets, I absolutely love RAW and especially a modified RAW with two-hole beads. But if I am making earrings, my absolute favorite is circular brick stitch! I love doing it on the inside as well as on the outside of links, rings, pendants, hoops, and forms. It is so fun and creates a delicate look. My personal favorite is to do circular brick stitch using 11/0 Miyuki Delica seed beads—I love creating multiple rows around a round form. I love how they look so uniform and stack together nicely. I have also enjoyed creating on a larger scale by using 2mm-3mm PRESTIGE crystals or Czech Glass beads for stitching. It's an entirely different look but one that I believe is quite striking. You can even use gemstone beads. 

If you have not tried circular brick stitch before, we have a couple good videos to get you started. The first one is the classic and probably more frequently used technique: creating a circular brick stitch around the outside of a form/ring. In the video, Czech glass beads are used which create a unique, vintage look due to their irregularity. It just shows the variety of beads you can use with this popular stitch! 

Featured Video: How to Bead Weave Circular Brick Stitch Around a Ring

The second video shows how to create a unique look by filling the interior of a form with circular brick stitch. The techniques are very similar but do have slight differences so it's good to view the video if you are looking to learn this skill.

Featured Video: How to Do Circular Brick Stitch on the Interior of a Form

We also have plenty of other circular brick stitch videos showing how to add chain to it, how to add crystals, how to do it around a bead, etc. 

For some project inspiration, I have selected a couple of my favorite projects using this technique: 

If you want to try this technique but are not sure where to start, a great place it to select a form you want to bead around. It can really be anything with a ring or hoop appearance, but it doesn't have to be round. It could also be a bead you want to stitch around. After you have your form, then have fun picking out your beads. Seed beads are a great bead to start with as you are learning this technique. Once you get going with circular brick stitch, the possibilities really become endless! 

For even more inspiration, check out all our circular brick stitch guide and our bead weaving videos!