Free Patriotic Beaded Ring Pattern Using 2-Drop Peyote Stitch with Miyuki Delicas
 |
| American flag stars and stripes peyote ring by Lisa Yang Jewelry |
This beaded ring is a fun and festive way to celebrate the 4th of July, honor a service member, or show your colors during international events like the Olympics or World Cup. It stitches up quickly using even-count 2-drop peyote and features an American flag design made with size 11 Miyuki Delica beads.
What is 2-Drop Peyote Stitch?
This ring uses 2-drop even-count peyote stitch, a variation where you pick up 2 beads at a time instead of one. Each stitch still follows the same peyote pattern—skip a pair of beads and stitch into the next—but the result is faster to make a wide column of beadwork.
2-drop peyote can also improve how certain patterns align visually. For this American flag design, the alternating rows of red and white and the block of stars sit more evenly using this technique.
Want to see the difference?
Check out my 2-drop peyote heart ring tutorial, which compares the same design motif stitched in both regular peyote and 2-drop peyote for a side-by-side look.
Materials:
 |
| American flag peyote stitch ring materials |
Miyuki delica beads - I used the following colors:
- opaque matte brick red
- opaque luster pearl
- opaque matte cobalt blue
- opaque luster gray (for the stars, silver also looks great!)
size 11 Tulip beading needle
thread burner (I use the Berkley hot line cutter)
Tip: Why FireLine? I tried both FireLine and nylon thread. Over time, nylon makes the ring stretch too much and it slips off. FireLine holds its shape better—essential for rings.
For more information on choosing thread, check out this article What is the Best Thread for Beading? Nymo, FireLine or Something Else?
2-Drop Peyote Stitch Ring Instructions
Before You Start: Sizing for a Beaded Ring
 |
| Use a strip of paper to size your ring and plan the pattern layout |
To figure out how long your peyote beaded band should be, use a simple paper strip as a sizing guide:
-
Cut a strip of paper about 1/2 inch wide and wrap it around the finger where you plan to wear the ring.
-
Mark the spot where the paper overlaps—this gives you an approximate length for the finished ring band.
-
As you bead, you can periodically wrap the beadwork around your finger or line it up with the paper strip to check your progress and make sure the ends will meet cleanly.
You can also use the paper strip to help plan your flag layout.
For example, I wanted the stars to go halfway around the ring so that no matter how the ring rotates, you’ll always see part of the star section. To do this, I simply folded the paper strip in half and used that as a guide—beading the stars and stripes pattern up to the fold before switching to beading the red and white stripes section.
Step 1: String Beads for the First 2 Rows
Begin by adding a stop bead to your thread. This bead keeps your rows from sliding off as you begin stitching. You can use a different color or size—like I did—to make it easy to spot and remove later when you zip the ring closed.
 |
| String a stop bead and beads for the first 2 rows of 2-drop peyote stitch |
Once your stop bead is in place, pick up the beads for the first two rows of the pattern.
New to stop beads? Check out this video to understand what is a stop bead and why you need one.
Step 2: Start 2-Drop Peyote Stitch
 |
| Pick up 2 beads, skip 2 beads and stitch through 2 beads |
To start 2-drop peyote, pick up 2 new beads, skip the last 2 beads you added (from your initial row), and stitch through the next 2 beads on the base row.
Repeat this step:
Pick up 2 beads, skip 2, and stitch through the next 2 - continue until you reach the end of the row.
 |
| The first row of 2-drop peyote can be tricky to hold and align, but it gets much easier as you go. |
As you go, pull the thread tight and use your fingers to gently nudge the beads into alignment. You should see pairs of beads stacking evenly side by side. It often helps to use your needle to ease the beads into place, especially in the first few rows.
Step 3: Continue 2-Drop Peyote, Follow the Pattern or Bead Diagram
Continue working in 2-drop peyote stitch, following the beading pattern or diagram (at the bottom of this article).
 |
| Understanding the bead pattern makes stitching quicker and easier. |
The stripe section is simple—just alternate red and white beads in each row. The stars section is a bit more complex. Once you've added the first row of blue beads for the star area, look for this pattern:
Each silver star bead is surrounded on all sides by blue beads before the next silver bead is added. Keeping that structure in mind will help you follow the design more easily.
Step 4: Join the Two Ends of the Peyote Ring
Once your beadwork matches your paper template and wraps snugly around your finger, it’s time to join the ends to form the ring.
Before stitching the ends together, check that they are properly aligned to zip together. This means one edge should end with a high (up) bead pair and the other with a low (down) space between bead pairs. The two edges should interlock like the teeth of a zipper, which is why this technique is called zipping the beadwork closed.
 |
| Stitch through the beads on either side to join the strip into a ring |
To join the ring:
Fold the beadwork into a circle, bringing the two ends together.
Stitch through two beads at a time, alternating from one side to the other, connecting the high beads across the seam.
This stitching will pull the sides together and complete the ring.
Step 5: Knot and Weave In Thread Ends
After you've zipped the two ends of the ring together, your tail thread and working thread should be side by side. While I don’t always add knots to my beadwork, this is one of the few places where I strongly recommend it.
 |
| Tie the two thread ends into a square knot and weave in thread ends |
Tie a secure square knot with the two threads. In my experience, rings tend to stretch and can eventually pull apart without this extra reinforcement—so don't skip it.
Tip: Not sure how to tie a square knot?
- Check out 4 Knots Every Jewelry Maker Needs for step-by-step instructions and when to use each one.
-
Continue stitching through the beadwork, going two beads at a time in peyote stitch.
-
Focus on reinforcing the area around the join by stit
After knotting:ching through several rows on each side.
-
I usually pass through the center rows for 4 or 5 rows before reversing direction and weaving off my thread.
This extra stitching helps the ring hold its shape and prevents stress at the join from loosening over time.
 |
| A thread burner reaches tight spots the scissors and snips can't |
When you're ready to end the thread, weave it toward the inside of the ring, keeping your path as hidden as possible. Once you've passed through a few rows, use a thread burner to trim the thread as close to the beadwork as you can.
A thread burner helps prevent any short thread ends from poking out between beads on the outside of the ring.
Next, remove the needle from your working thread and thread it onto the tail thread. Weave the tail in the same way, but in the opposite direction along the beadwork. Follow the same process: weave, trim close, and you're done.
Styling the Finished Ring
Here’s the completed ring!
The two photos are actually the same ring. Since I only beaded the stars and stripes on half of the ring, I can rotate it to highlight different parts of the design:
-
Show just the striped section by turning the red and white side to the front.
-
Or display the stars and stripes together by centering the transition point.
Pretty versatile for one little peyote ring!
American Flag 2-Drop Peyote Ring Pattern and Word Chart
The bead pattern is two sections, the stars and stripes and the stripes section. In the word chart for each, I've included just enough rows to show the full design up to the point where it begins repeating.
For example, in the stars and stripes section, row 11 is the same as row 3, which means the pattern starts to repeat there. So you can follow the chart through row 10, then loop back to row 3 and continue repeating rows 3–10 for as long as needed to reach your desired ring length.
This approach makes it easy to customize the ring size while keeping the flag design consistent.
Similarly, the pattern for the stripes repeats every two rows. You just keep making the stripes until your ring is long enough
 |
| American Flag pattern copyright Lisa Yang Jewelry |
Comments
Post a Comment