Jewelry making basics 8-- two earring designs using circular brick stitch

by Shuang Liu June 11, 2019

View the Product Used in this Project

Most of my jewelry making tutorials are about wire wrapping. However today I want to dive into a different yet fascinating topic -- beading. For today's tutorial, I am going to show you two earring designs using the circular brick stitch.

In the first project, I will explain how to make the basic circular brick stitch. In the second project, I will use the same technique to create a more complicated pattern. If you are a beginner, start with the first project. If you already have the basic knowledge, jump right into the second one.

Material needed (both earrings use the same material)

Beading Thread
Beading Needle
Miyuki Delica Beads - Opaque Matte Rainbow Grey (1.6*1.3mm)
Miyuki Delica Beads - Opaque Matte Dark Topaz (1.6*1.3mm)
Miyuki Seed Beads- Galvanized Silver (1.5*2mm)
Faceted Round Terahertz Beads (4mm)
Faceted Round Moonstone Beads (3mm)
Gold Plated Round Metal Connector (20mm)
Gold Crimp Bead (2mm)
Crimping Plier
Ear Wires of your choice ( I made them myself using 20 gauge gold filled wire, you can read the tutorial here. )

Design 1. Basic Circular beaded earrings

Step 1. understanding circular brick stitch

To make these earrings, all you need to know is the circular brick stitch. Although the design has four layers of beads, they are all attached using the same technique.

Since it's difficult to explain a stitch technique using words. I created the step-by-step pictures, as well as a short video, to explain the circular brick stitch. (In the video I used larger beads for a clearer view.)

Step 2. making second, third and fourth layer

Once you master the first layer, you can move onto the next few layers using the same approach. Instead of wrapping around the metal circle to secure the beads as we did in the first row, for the later rows, we'll need to wrap around the exposed thread of the first row to tighten the beads (see picture 3 above).

Another area you need to pay attention to is how to attach the earring hook. Once you finish beading, slide a crimp bead through the thread and connect an earring hook at the end (see picture 8 above). Then wrap the thread a few times inside the crimp bead to secure the ear wire. After 3-4 wraps, you can close the crimp bead using the crimping plier and cut the extra thread.

You can also attach the ear wire without the crimp bead. But the exposed thread is not very appealing.

Design 2. Scallop Pattern Beaded Earrings

Once you mastered the circular brick stitch, you can use it to create more complicated patterns, such as these scallop shaped earrings above. Now let me show you how.

Step 1. Making the first and second layer

As you can see in the pictures above, The first and second layer of this earring is the regular circular brick stitch. Notice however, the second layer of beads only cover about half of the circle. To create the base of the scallop pattern, after every four silver seed beads, we add a 4mm Terahertz bead in the between.

Step 2. making the scallop pattern

After completing the second row, we can start to make the scallop pattern. It is essentially still a brick stitch, but instead of adding one bead at a time, we add three - one silver seed bead and two dark topaz seed beads. Each scallop contains 8 sets of seed beads, 4 on each side of the Terahertz bead.

In addition, I also used 4 moonstone beads to separate the scallop pattern. They can be added using the regular brick stitch.

Finally, attached the ear wires the same way as the first design. Now we got a pair of vintage scallop pattern beaded earrings!

If you like today’s tutorial, please share it with your friends by pining the step-by-step picture instructions below. Thank you!

circular brick stitch beaded hoop earrings tutorial