Brick Stitch Beaded Circle Link Necklace

Brick stitch is a versatile beadwork stitch that can be used to make a variety of shaped beadwork.  You can use it to make diamond shapes by increasing and decreasing on the edges of brick stitch, triangle shapes that make great foundations for beaded fringe earrings and circular shapes by beading around the outstide of a round bead or beading around the inside and outside of a metal frame like this tutorial..

This beaded necklace has a metal link between layers of brick stitched beads.  It is deceptively easy to make, stitching a row of brick stitch on the inside of the ring and then adding a second layer of brick stitch, this time to the outside of the frame.  The only trick is to remember to stitch between the row of beads after you add them to the inside of the ring.

If you are new to brick stitch, you may want to familiarize yourself with how to  brick stitch inside of a hoop or ring since this is the techniques that will help get you started with this project.

 The materials you need for this project are:

• metal link circle connector
• seed beads
• beading thread 
• beading needle
• thread burner or embroidery scissors.  

This pendant uses a brass metal link that is about 15mm diameter.  There are 8/0 Miyuki seed beads on the inside  and 11/0 Toho beads on the outside of the link.  The thread is black DandyLine by Beadalon in .008 (.20) mm.  

You don't need to use the exact same materials I use though.  Any thread that you like to use for bead stitching, such as FireLine, Wildfire, Nymo, C-Lon, etc should work.  The same is true for the beads, but consistent sized seed beads like those manufactured by Miyuki or Toho will work best.

Attach your thread with a square knot and proceed to do a single layer of brick stitch on the inside of the ring.  For the first stitch, pick up two beads and press them to the inside of the ring. Make sure your thread goes around the outside of the ring. Then stitch through the second bead from the outside from the ring to the inside to complete the stitch.

Continue stitching one bead at a time until you reach the first bead.

To complete the round of beads inside the pendant, stitch through the first bead you added, go over the outside of the ring and back through the bead to end with your thread on the inside of the ring. 

If you need more step by step to do this, refer to the tutorial on how to brick stitch on the inside of a hoop.

When the inner row of brick stitch is complete, your thread will still be pointing towards the center of the circle link.  To start the brick stitch on the outside of the link, stitch through the next bead to move your thread so it is pointing to the outside.

You are now positioned to start a row of brick stitch on the outside of the link.

 Proceed to brick stitch on the outside of the link like you normally would. Pick up two beads to start the row, stitch through the ring but make sure your needle and thread is going in the space between the ring and the beads NOT over the beads in the center of the link.

This is the key difference between the normal brick stitch outside a link is that you must weave between the rows of beads that are already on the inside of the ring.  Continue stitching around the ring, adding one bead at a time.

Before completing the last brick stitch on the outside of the link, I like to add a jump ring to hang the pendant.  I make my last stitch and reinforce the area with the jump ring by doing ladder stitch between the last two beads 3 or 4 more times.  When I am done reinforcing the jump ring, I make sure the thread is exiting a bead on the back side of the link near the tail thread.  The best jump ring to use in this situation is a jump ring that is soldered closed.  That way the thread cannot slip through the small opening for the jump ring.

To finish the necklace, tie a square knot with the tail threads, weave the thread ends in the beads and use the thread burner to cut and seal the ends. Add a drop of glue to the knots and thread ends to keep them in place, if desired.

 I added a gold filled chain to my pendant, but you could also use this design to make earrings or links on a bracelet.  This technique is so verstaile that it can use just about any size or shape link and is suitable for a variety of different size and shape beads.