⏱️ 00:00 — Visual Progression
Hi friends. In today's video, I'm going to show you the brick stitch beading technique including the foundation row. I'll then show you how to do smooth brick stitch decreases and increases. For the foundation row or base, you will need to pass your needle through two beads. Slide them towards the end of your thread leaving about 15 cm of tail. >> [music] >> Then pass your needle back through the first bead to create a loop. And then pass back through the second bead.

⏱️ 00:34 — Visual Progression
Then pick up a new bead, pass your needle through it, and loop through the second bead of our row. You can then push the bead with your finger to make sure it's well aligned with the others and then pass your needle back through that bead. And now you can just repeat that process until you get the right length for your row. Pick up one bead, loop through the previous beads, make sure it's well aligned, and then pass your needle back through it. The length of the foundation row depends on the pattern you're following. I decided to go for seven beads for that example.

⏱️ 01:24 — Visual Progression
Now for the next rows, we will always start in the top right corner. So make sure your thread is coming out of the top right bead. If it's exiting at the bottom right, simply flip your row. For a standard brick stitch row, you will add the same number of beads as the foundation row. So here it will be seven in total. Start by picking up two beads and then find the small thread bridge between the last two beads on the right side. Slide your needle under that bridge and pull all the way through.

⏱️ 01:55 — Visual Progression
You may have to push the beads with your fingers so that they sit flat and stack nicely. Then go back up through the second bead that you just added from bottom to top so that your thread exits at the top of that bead and pull tight. Next, pick up one bead and find the next thread bridge on the row below. Pass your needle under that bridge and pull through. Then pass your needle back up through the same bead from bottom to top so your thread exits at the top. And now just repeat these steps across the row. Pick up one bead, go under the next bridge, pull through, and pass back up through the bead. And keep adding beads one by one until there are no bridges left on the row underneath.

⏱️ 02:55 — Visual Progression
To start the next row, flip your work so that the thread is always exiting at the top right corner. Then repeat [clears throat] the same process. Pick up two beads, go under the first thread bridge, pull through, adjust the beads with your fingers, and go back through the second bead. After [music] that, add one bead at a time. Pick up one bead, go under the next bridge, pull through, and pass back up through the bead. And continue all the way across.

⏱️ 03:44 — Visual Progression
Let's make one last standard row before we move on to the decreases. [music] Remember to start by flipping your work so you start from the top right corner. And then again, pick up two beads, go under the first thread bridge, pull through, adjust the beads with your fingers if necessary, and then go back through the second bead. And after that, add one bead at a time to use every bridge across the row. >> [music] >> I'll now show you how to make an invisible decrease so that your work gets one bead shorter with each row. So for this row, we'll only use six beads in total. Start the same way by flipping your work and beginning from the top right corner. Pick up two beads, but now instead of going under the first bridge of the row below, we'll go under the second bridge counting from the right. Pull through and adjust the beads with your fingers so that they stack up nicely. And then go back up through the second bead exactly like we did for the other rows. Then continue adding one bead at a time like we did before until you worked through all the bridges of the row below.

⏱️ 05:11 — Visual Progression
If your first bead is sticking out a little bit, don't worry. You can always just push it with your fingers and move it around until it's stacking up nicely. Let's do another decrease row. Flip your work to start from the top right corner. Then pick [music] up two beads and pass your needle under that second bridge. Pull through, adjust the beads' placements, and then go back up through the second bead. And then add a single bead all the way across the bridges. So in total, we'll have five beads for this row.

⏱️ 05:56 — Visual Progression
I'll now show you how to make an invisible increase so that your work gets one bead longer with each row. Start the same way by flipping your work and beginning from the top right corner. Pick up two beads and pass your needle under the first bridge like for a standard row. Pull through and go back up through the second bead exactly like we did for the other rows. And then continue adding one bead at a time until you worked through all the bridges of the row below.

⏱️ 06:31 — Visual Progression
And now we just have to add one extra bead. So pick up one bead and go under the same bridge as the last bead you added. Pull through and pass back up through that bead. So the last bridge now holds two beads instead of one. If your work feels a little bit wonky like mine at the moment, you can always push and move the beads around with your fingers until everything stacks up nicely. Let's do another increase row. Flip your work to start from the top right corner. Pick up two beads and pass your needle under the first bridge. Pull through and then go back up through the second bead. And then add a single bead all the way across. >> [music]

⏱️ 07:31 — Visual Progression
>> Once you went through all the bridges, add a single last bead by going under the same bridge as [music] the previous one. Pull through and then pass back up through that bead. And pull really tight. Thank you for watching and happy beading.