After seeing a sample of Caymanite, sent to me by Dr. Joe Jackman of the Cayman Islands, I knew I wanted to create a special project that would highlight the beautiful colors of this stone. This teardrop piece does not have a hole in it, so at first I thought about making a metal bale. However, I remembered I had some Champagne colored Delica beads that almost matched perfectly with the creams and tans of the Caymanite. This lead me to develop this peyote bale. A super quick project, you only need a minimum amount of peyote experience to make your own.
a few grams of Delica beads
a stone teardrop
beading needle and thread
scissors
glue (such as E6000)
toothpick
Important Note:
First, if you do not know how to do peyote stitch, I recommend my Beaded Bead project. It’s a good way to learn peyote, and I’ve included some a number of graphics on this project to help you learn the stitch as well as make a bead from beads. If you already know peyote, then great. However, keep in mind that the number of beads I use for this beaded bale may differ from the number you need depending on the size of your teardrop and where you want your bale to go on the teardrop. I had to pull out and rework my bale about three times before I found a size I liked. Of course, this project is so quick, it wasn’t a big deal for me to do that.
1. Start by threading your needle with your choice of beading thread. You don’t need much. A yard is plenty.
2. Add a stop bead onto the end of your thread.
3. Next, string on your first row of beads which should be about double the amount you need to go around the top of your teardrop. Remember that with peyote your first row will eventually turn into two rows half the size of your first row. For example, I strung on about 9 beads, and then I used it like a tape measure around the top of my teardrop. So, I doubled this amount and added 9 more beads. Eventually, after doing a few rows of peyote, I decided that 16 (not 18) Delicas worked best for my teardrop. As the note above explains, you’ll have to play with this because your teardrop may vary in size.
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