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Turn an X-Base Into a 3D Cuff

  • 3D layer
  • Advanced
  • 2 hr

Add outer layers to a finished x-base so the cuff stands off your wrist: where the layer anchors, why every pass goes through the middle bead, and when to stop.

A 3D cuff is an x-base with more layers netted onto it. Nothing new to learn structurally — the move is the same crossing you already know, worked onto the beads of the round below instead of onto the base single.

The bead that does the work is the middle bead of each crossing. Every group you add passes through it, which is what lifts the new layer off the surface and gives the cuff its height. If your layer is lying flat, you are almost certainly going through a base bead instead of a middle one.

Two things surprise people the first time. It gets tight — every layer takes give away, so a base you sized snug will not fit once it is built up. And it looks wrong for the first half of the round; you have to close the ring before it reads.

This is also the point where photographs matter more than charts. A flat grid cannot show height, so the cuffs that use this construction carry bead counts and connector counts rather than a chart you can read square by square.

What you need

  • A finished x-base cuff, at least two rounds tall
  • Pony beads in an inner and an outer color so the layers read apart
  • Stretch cord, 0.8-1mm — another 3 to 5 ft on top of what the base took
  • Plastic beading needle
  • Scissors

Steps

  1. 1
    Start from a base you are happy with

    Build the x-base first and get it fitting. Adding a layer makes a cuff tighter and stiffer, never looser — if the base is already snug, the finished piece will not go over your hand. Leave the working end long, or knot off and rejoin a fresh length at a connector bead.

  2. 2
    Come out of a connector on the top edge

    Bring the needle out of one of the accent beads along the edge you are building on. That bead is the anchor for the first group. Work in one direction around the cuff and do not change direction halfway.

  3. 3
    String outer, inner — then pass through the middle bead

    Add one outer bead and one inner bead, then pass the needle through the middle bead of the crossing in front of you. Add one inner and one outer bead, then pass through the next accent bead on the base. That is one group, and it makes a new X sitting on top of the base.

  4. 4
    Go all the way around before you judge it

    The first few groups look wrong. The layer only reads as an X once the ring closes and the tension is even, so finish the full round before deciding you have gone astray. Snug as you go — this is a layer that stands up, and it only stands up if it is tight.

  5. 5
    Repeat along the other edges

    Do the same round on the bottom edge, then on any middle rows you want raised. Every pass goes through the middle bead of the crossing below it; that shared bead is what holds the new layer off the surface instead of flat against it.

  6. 6
    Stop before it becomes a tube

    Each layer adds height and takes away stretch. Two outer layers on a two-round base is a cuff that stands off the wrist and still goes on. Three or more and you are building something you have to size deliberately from the first single.

  7. 7
    Knot off inside the structure

    Tie the working end two or three times around a bridge of cord between beads, deep enough inside the cuff that the knot disappears, weave the tail through several beads and trim close. A knot sitting on the outer face will catch on a sleeve and undo itself.

Next

Your First Peyote Panel — Flat peyote with pony beads: how the offset rows work, the extra turn odd-count rows need at the edge, and how to keep a panel from drifting off square.