How to Square Stitch: The Basics

2 hours ago

4 min read

Square stitch is the friendliest bead weaving stitch to learn first. Every bead sits directly on top of the one below it, so the finished piece looks like a tiny woven grid, and you can always see exactly where the next bead goes.

This post walks through the very first block, one pass of the thread at a time, using the same graphics as our kit instructions and how-to video. Once you can make this block, you can make almost anything in square stitch. When you are ready to shape your work, our increasing and decreasing post picks up right where this one ends.

What you'll need

Supplies in an Anya Marie earring kit: frames and earring hooks, bead tray, scissors, jewelry pouch, microfiber cloth, beading needle and thread, bags of Miyuki Delica beads, alcohol wipe

Cylinder seed beads in two colors (we use Miyuki Delicas; alternating colors by row makes each row easy to see)
One bead in a contrasting color to use as a stopper bead
A beading needle and beading thread
Small scissors
A microfiber cloth or bead tray, so your beads don't roll away

How to read the graphics

Red thread with an arrow is the pass you are making right now.
Dashed red means the thread is inside a bead.
Light pink thread is a pass you have already finished.

Two things to know before the first stitch. In square stitch the beads lie on their sides in rows. And every new bead is stitched to the one directly below it, so the rows stack straight up.

Square stitch, step by step

1. Add a stopper bead. Pick up one bead in a contrasting color (ours is yellow) and slide it down the thread, leaving a tail of about 6 inches. The stopper bead keeps your first row from sliding off while you work.

A yellow stopper bead on the thread with the needle

2. Lock it in place. Go through the stopper bead a second time, in the same direction. It is not knotted, just caught, so it comes off easily later.

The thread loops back through the yellow stopper bead

3. String row 1. Pick up all the beads for your first row and slide them down to the stopper bead. Here that is 4 blue beads. Any width works the same way.

Four blue beads strung next to the stopper bead

4. Pick up the first bead of row 2. Pick up one bead in your second color. It will sit right on top of the last bead of row 1.

A pink bead above the last blue bead of row 1

5. Stitch it in place. Go back through the bead directly below your new bead, then up through the new bead again. The thread makes a small loop that ties the two beads together. That loop is the whole stitch.

The thread circles through the pink bead and the blue bead below it

6. Repeat for the next bead. Pick up one bead, go through the bead below it, then back through the new bead. Row 2 works back across in the opposite direction from row 1.

7. Finish row 2. Keep going until every bead in row 1 has a partner on top of it. Row 2 now has 4 beads, one above each bead of row 1.

Row 2 complete, four pink beads above four blue beads

8. Remove the stopper bead. Slide the stopper bead off the tail. Then slide your work toward the middle of the thread so you have plenty to keep going.

9. Strengthen the rows. Go back through all of row 1, then up and through all of row 2. This pass straightens the beads into neat columns and locks the two rows together. Do it after every row or two as you build.

The thread passes through all of row 1 and row 2

10. Add more rows. Start row 3 the same way you started row 2: pick up a bead, stitch it to the end bead of row 2, and work back across. Each new row runs the other way.

The first bead of row 3 stitched above row 2

11. Finished. Tighten your thread so the beads sit snugly together. You have a small block of square stitch, 3 rows of 4 beads, and every bead lines up in a column with the one below it.

A finished square stitch block, 3 rows of 4 beads

A few tips before you start

Use two colors while you learn. Alternating colors by row makes it easy to see which row you are on and where the next bead goes.
Keep your tension even. Snug stitches keep the columns straight, but don't pull so hard that the work curls.
Strengthen as you go. Going back through finished rows is what makes square stitch sturdy and keeps the beads lined up.
Handmade isn't perfect. A slightly wobbly first block is part of learning something new.

What to try next

Once your block feels steady, the next skills are making rows wider and narrower. Our How to Square Stitch: Increasing and Decreasing post shows both, with a graphic for every step.

Watch it in action

Prefer to watch? The square stitch basics video shows every pass of the thread in under a minute. Follow us on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube for more beading how-tos.

Try it with a kit

Our earring kits come with everything you need: Miyuki Delica beads, a beading needle and thread, scissors, a bead tray, a microfiber cloth, earring findings and a printed instruction sheet with these same graphics. Kits are launching soon at anyamariestudio.com.