Flat brick stitch is often described as having an automatic decrease of one bead per row. The diagram above shows the thread path that results in that decrease. (For visual clarity, the "locking" of the first two beads in each row—by passing through them again—is not shown.)
Automatic decreases are useful for creating tapered beadwork, such as flat triangle and diamond shapes. To learn how to keep your brick stitch beadwork from tapering, see the next page.