Motorcycle Beaded Band for Dad's Hat

This past April when my dad was visiting us here in Kansas he decided to bead the band on his motorcycle hat. So we got out the beads and he designed the pattern that he wanted to go into the making of the beaded band. Then my sister Leora and I proceeded to show him how to do the flat peyote stitch. This was pretty funny seeing as we each had our own way of beginning the stitch. I have to say that after seeing how my big sis did it, I now begin the stitch her way.

Anyways, dad worked on the project into the night until he began making mistakes and then Leora worked on it some and I worked on it some as we were all visiting and shooting the bull. As the weekend went along we would pick it up from time to time and work on it. By the end of the weekend we had run out of the white beads and it was 85% finished. So I ordered more beads and finished it later in the week.

The design begins with the red eagle. Beside the eagle are two bronze stars which represent the bronze star my dad received in Vietnam. Then it has the red and blue diamond to both sides which represent the colors of the American flag. Next is the couple on the motorcycle, the green guy represents my dad and the purple one is my mom(her favorite color is purple). After the couple is a orange, green, and yellow diamond for the colors of the Vietnam War. Then the design has another motorcycle couple and a red, blue and yellow diamond again. I think it is just cool that my dad designed it and we helped him to make it. It was a really fun experience being able to do it with my dad and Leora.

Below is a picture of my Uncle Pete modeling the hat and photos of the bead work in detail.