Ugh! This was hard to make! It took me six hours of steady concentration!

I was having trouble figuring out the peyote stitch, so I took some yarn and pony beads to learn the stitch on a larger scale. Once I got the technique down, I tried again using the seed beads. I ended up using two colors of seed beads so that I could more easily tell the difference between row one and row two. I made row one the yellow beads, and row two the green beads. That helped me keep track of where I was on the stitched head.

I broke three needles trying to get the waxed, doubled sewing thread through the beads. I finally gave up and used a single strand of waxed thread for the skirt. Some of the beads in the head broke as I was ending the threads of the skirt in the head, so I just did my best to replace the beads, sewing them in place where the broken bead had been.

I'm glad to have learned the peyote stitch, but I don't think I'll be making another of these tassels any time soon. It was way too frustrating. But I think I will try the peyote stitch again, perhaps covering a small can or jar so that there is a base on which to work the beads.

The end result of this tassel is very pleasing. Hard work pays off! This tassel has a 5/8" head and a two inch skirt.

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