Making A Beaded Kaleidocycle: The Journey

Sometimes, when a bead project takes five months to complete, it’s better to call it a journey. It’s a lot easier to keep at it when you take it one step at a time, instead of being focused on the end goal. I learned that lesson long ago, as a new beader, when I undertook a peyote stitched bracelet similar to the Amethyst Fringe Cuff. It took me 25 hours to complete. It has paid off in my patience and determination to create my first ever beaded Kaleidocycle.

The basic pattern for constructing a beaded Kaleidocycle can be found on the Contemporary Geometric Beadwork website, for free!

I wanted the patterns on the faces of each tetrahedron to flow one into another, which was a challenge of translating 2D to 3D. Fortunately, I have some illustrating skills that I put to use and I drew out a graph for coloring in my own pattern. I’m happy to share the blank Kaleidocycle graph with the beading community. I found instructions for how to cut out and fold the graph into a paper kaleidocycle—that really helped me visualize my end result.

Once the colors were the way I wanted them, I got to stitching! I spent the next five months beading “a little bit here, a little bit there,” until I had this miraculous little beaded machine twirling around in my hands.

Contemporary Geometric Beadwork is a movement that has captured the attention of many bead weavers worldwide. It focuses on the magical formations that can be achieved by weaving seed beads together with peyote and herringbone stitches. I am so inspired by the end result of my Kaleidocycle that I can’t wait to make another!

Meredith Steele
Technical Editor, Beadwork magazine

Love the beaded kaleidocycle? Explore other geometric beadwork!