Introduction to Seed Bead - Beaducation.com

Hi, I'm Laura McCabe. Thanks for joining me here today for the basic intro to seed beads. We provided this class to give you a way to familiarize yourself with the basic materials and tools you'll need for bead weaving. We've talked a little bit about the history and the sizes of the beads as well as giving you a basic intro to threading, waxing, and doing the basic stitches. We're going to talk about the basic tools you'll need for seed beading. There's a few items you want to be sure to have in your toolbox. The first item is a small pair of embroidery scissors which will allow you to cut the threads close to your beadwork. The second item you'll need to have is a larger pair of sewing shears. These can be used to cut threads when you're starting out and also for cutting leather or other surfaces you might be beading upon. You'll need to have beading needles which come in a variety of sizes. There's English beading needles and there's also Indian beading needles. Either will work and it's just a matter of your own personal preference. The size of the needle indicates the thickness of the needle. As the number gets larger the needles get thinner. So for example a size 13 beading needle would be thinner than a size 12 beading needle. I usually keep about three different sizes in my toolbox. I like to have size 10, size 12, and size 13 beading needles in my box. They also come in different lengths. You can get sharps which are smaller, shorter needles or the beading needles which are this length that you see here. Which size you use is a matter of personal preference. You may also want to have thread bobbins. These are used to wind up your tails when you're working on your pieces. These bobbins flip open so that you can wind your tails around the center and then flip them closed again. They're great for when you're traveling with beadwork to avoid tangles. You'll also want to have a triangle tray. Triangle trays are used to scoop the beads up off the bead surface. In addition to these items you'll also need some sort of wax to condition the thread. There are three basic options for wax. You can use Thread Heaven which is a thread conditioner and will leave your thread quite slick. The second option is beeswax which is an organic compound. And the third option is microcrystalline wax which is a man-made substance. The wax you see here is microcrystalline wax which is my own personal preference. I like it for two reasons. It remains sticky and doesn't get hard in cold weather. And it also does not deteriorate over time like beeswax because it's organic. Each teacher is going to tell you something different about the materials you'll want to use. You should try them all and decide for yourself. In addition to these basic items here you will also need a surface to bead upon. You can use a velvet pad or a felt background. Again, this all depends on your personal preference. You may also want to have a task light especially if you're working at night. This will allow you to see the beads and the true colors better. The other optional item in your toolbox is magnifiers. You can wear magnifying glasses or you can also buy special magnifiers which fit over your glasses. Now we're going to talk about beading threads. There's a large variety of beading threads that are available and it's all a matter of personal preference as to which one you use. Here are some of the more common beading threads that you may find. First is silamide which is a waxed beading thread. This you can find at most beading stores. There's also nylon thread which comes under several brand names. Here you see 1G but you can also find Nymo and Ceylon. It usually comes in a variety of sizes. The most common sizes are B and D. D is thicker than B but you can also find size A, size C, size F and double zero which is extra thin. Nylon thread comes in a variety of colors most commonly black and white but you can also find other colors like purple. If you're working on a piece of beadwork it has a variety of different beads in it. You may want to opt for one of the more neutral colors which will blend well with all beads. My favorite when it comes to neutrals is gray but you can also use sand or ash colored. In addition to nylon thread you can also use a variety of fishing lines. The most common in use is fireline. Fireline comes in different colors including smoke which is a gray color and crystal which is a clear white color. Determining the color you want to use you'll have to look at the colors of your beads. Lighter beads you'll want to use crystal with and darker beads you'll want to opt for smoke. Fireline comes in a variety of sizes the most commonly used will be 4, 6 and 8 pound. You can purchase fireline both at bead stores and fishing stores as well as many online companies. The major advantage to using fireline over nylon thread is that it's stronger and less likely to cut with crystal. If you're working with lots of crystal it's recommended that you use fireline or one of the more durable fishing lines. Again, choices on thread is a personal preference. Try them all out and see which one works best for you. Now we're going to talk about the different sizes of seed beads. Seed beads come in a variety of sizes. The most common used in seed bead work are size 11 and size 15 which you see strung up here on the needles. The larger the number the smaller the bead in seed beads. Traditionally seed bead sizes were determined by the number of beads that would fit into one inch. So a size 11 bead would fit 11 beads into one inch whereas a size 15 you would have 15 beads in one inch. Due to modern technology this isn't always the case. You can see here when we line up 11 size 11 beads or 15 size 15 beads that actually they're considerably shorter than one inch in length. In addition to size 11 and size 15 beads there are also size 8, size 6 and even larger size 2 beads. The sizing applies to both Czech and Japanese beads. Traditionally seed beads were produced in France and Italy as well as the Czech Republic but today they come mostly from Czech Republic and also Japan. You may want to opt for Czech beads in a case where you're doing free-form bead work. Czech also come in colors the Japanese seed beads are not available in. The question many people have is how do I know if they're Czech or Japanese. Aside from the difference in shapes Japanese seed beads tend to come in tubes or in bags. They're usually loose and not pretty strong. Czech beads most often will come on hanks. A hank is 12 strands of beads tied up in a bundle. When you get your beads in a hank the best way to remove them is to detach one thread at a time. If you pull carefully you can usually pull the thread right out of the bundle. Then you can work with the beads right off of the thread. Hanks are great when you're stringing up long sequences of beads because you can slide them from your thread directly to your needle. Seed beads come in a variety of sizes and types. The most common type of seed bead are round seed beads. These are produced both in Japan and Czech Republic. The most common sizes you'll find in seed bead work are a size 6, a size 8 which you see here, size 11, both Japanese and Czech, and size 15. In addition to round beads there are also cylinder beads. Cylinder beads go by various names. The most commonly known is Delica's which you see here. Delica is a brand name of cylinder beads made by Miyuki. Toho also makes cylinder beads but they're called treasures and Toho has begun making a high-precision bead called Eiko's which you see here. Cylinder beads are advantageous for many reasons. They fit together perfectly like tiles and make very seamless, neat beadwork. They're used frequently in peyote stitch and loom work. There are also cut beads. Here you see three-cut beads from Japan and also three-cut beads from Czech Republic. A three-cut is any bead with three cuts. As well as three-cut beads there are charlottes. Charlottes have a single facet and are usually made in Czech Republic although now they're beginning to make them in Japan. Charlottes, which you see here, were traditionally a size 13 bead with a single facet but these days you can find charlottes in a variety of sizes including 15s, 11s and 8s. In addition to the beads you see here there are many other sizes and shapes of seed beads. You can get triangle seed beads, square seed beads, magatamas, which are small drops, and many other shapes. The first step is to thread up the needle. There are a few tricks for doing this. For these demonstrations I'm going to use black thread because it shows up better when I'm working but normally I would choose a color that suits my beads better. Today I'm going to be working with nylon thread. Depending on which type of beads you use you'll want to alter your thread accordingly. Nylon thread works great for any type of seed bead weaving but if you're using crystals or sharper beads like gemstones you may want to use fireline instead. Now you're ready to thread the needle. Before you thread the needle you'll want to cut the end of the thread so you have a nice clean cut. You may also want to wax the end. This will help hold the fibers together. Scrape any excess wax off using your fingernails. Hold the thread tight between your thumb and forefinger and pull the end down so you can barely see the tip of the thread. Push the eye of the needle over the end of the thread and pull the tail through. You're needling the thread rather than threading the needle. Once you've threaded the needle and the thread has been cut you're ready to wax it. Take your needle and run it gently across the wax. The needle is delicate so be careful not to pull too hard. Once you've gotten the thread a little ways through the wax you can pull down tightly on the thread and cut right into the wax. The thread is strong and it won't break. Now use your fingers to clean off any additional wax. Wax will condition the thread and it will also help make knots easier to undo. Now we're going to learn flat even count peyote stitch. We're going to use cylinder beads for this demonstration so you can see how nicely they fit together. Begin by picking up an even number of beads. We're going to use eight. Slide your beads down making sure you leave a decent length tail. I usually leave about 12 inches so I can use it later to add other bead work on or easily weave off the threads. Start by stringing up an even number of beads. For this demonstration we're using eight. Pick up another cylinder bead, skip over the eighth bead you picked up and go through the seventh bead. Pull your thread tight and pop the beads into place so that they stand one on top of the next. Pick up another bead, skip the next bead and go through the bead after that. You'll see the beads are going to begin to stack offset like a brick wall. Pick up a bead, skip the next bead, go through the bead after that. Pick up a bead, skip the next bead, go through the bead after that. You've gotten back to the beginning now. Usually I'll tie a knot with the tail thread and the working thread to help keep everything tight. Just do a simple overhand knot. Pull it down and a second overhand knot to make a square knot. Now you're ready to turn around and continue stitching. Pick up a bead which will fit in the gap right here. Skip over the ditch, go in the high bead. Pick up another bead, skip over the ditch, go through the high bead. Pick up a bead, skip the ditch, go through the high bead. Pick up a bead, skip the ditch, go through the high bead. By working back and forth in this manner, you'll be able to create a strip of flat even count peyote stitch. You can make this as long or as wide as you want. You'll just have to remember you always need to start with an even number of beads when you string up your initial count. If you notice, using cylinder beads has made it look very neat. They fit together just like tiles. Now we're ready to do flat odd count peyote stitch. Begin by stringing up an odd number of beads. In this case, we're going to start with nine. Pick up one cylinder bead, skip over the ninth bead, and go through the bead after that. Pull everything tight until your beads pop into place. You're going to continue on in this manner just as we did when we started with the flat even count peyote stitch. The trick comes when we get to the other side. Be sure to hold on to your tail as you work so you don't lose the beads off the end. When you get back to where you started and you pick up a bead, you'll notice there's a bead to skip but no bead to go through. At this point, you're going to want to make a U-turn and go through that first bead. Once you turn around, you're ready to stitch in the other direction. Begin by peyote stitching as you normally would. Pick up a bead, skip the ditch, go through the next bead. Pick up a bead, skip the ditch, go through the high bead. Work all the way across in this manner until you get to the other side. Once I've gotten back across to the side, I'm ready to work my way back. Usually I flip my work over like this so I'm always working away from me. That's a personal preference but the majority of people prefer to work in the direction away from themselves. Working this way it'll always be just like even count peyote stitch. Pick up a bead, skip the first ditch and go through the next bead. Work your way across in this manner, picking up a bead, skipping the ditch, going through the high bead. Once you get back to the other side, this is where the trick is for odd count peyote stitch. Pick up a bead but you'll notice you have nowhere to go into. What I do is I reach around and catch the thread along the side. Once you've pulled it taut, pop the bead into place. Now go back through this bead you've just added and you're ready to stitch back in the other direction. When doing odd count peyote stitch, when doing flat odd count peyote stitch, there'll always be one side that's the easy side where you just turn around and continue on and there'll be the one side that's always the difficult side where you have to catch a thread. Here's the easy side. Pick up a bead and just begin. Now we've reached the difficult side. Again, pick up a bead, reach around and grab the thread along the edge, pop the bead into place and go back through it ready to start another row. You'll notice after you've done a few rows that there's a chain link of thread along this side, the difficult side, and only a single thread along the easier side. That's how to do flat odd count peyote stitch. You can do this section as long as you want and as wide as you want. Just remember you're always going to begin with an odd number of beads. Now we're ready to learn tubular even count peyote stitch. Begin by stringing up any even number of seed beads. We're going to use 11s today because a round bead works better for tubular peyote than a cylinder bead, especially when you're doing a tube of smaller diameter. We're going to string up 12 beads and then slide them down, again making sure to leave about a 12 inch tail, which you can weave off later on. Circle around and go back through the first bead to create a circle of beads. Now hold the circle between your fingers, pick up a new bead, skip the second bead and go through the bead after that. Again, pick up a bead, skip the next bead, go through the bead after that. You're going to continue around the entire circle in this manner. Pick up a bead, skip a bead, go through a bead. Pick up a bead, skip a bead, go through a bead. Pick up a bead, skip a bead, go through a bead. Pick up a bead, skip a bead, and go back through the first bead where you began. Because we're doing even count tubular, you're going to have a step up at the end of every row. With a step up, you're going to go up through the next bead without picking anything up. This will bring you to the topmost row. Once you've done this first row of peyote stitch, you can begin to fold what you've got there into a tubular shape. Pick up a bead and go through the next high bead. You can see fairly clearly where you want your beads to go because there's a ditch in between every bead. Pick up a bead and through the next high bead. Pick up a bead, through the next high bead. Pick up a bead, go through the next high bead. And we have one more bead to pick up in this round. Going to pick up a bead, and again, go through the bead and step up through the next bead. At the end of every round, you're going to pass through two beads before picking up your next bead. People often find it useful to work tubular peyote over an object. Here I'm showing it over my scissors, although ideally, I would put it over a dowel. Dowels come in many different diameters, so depending on the width of your tube, you can choose an appropriate diameter for your dowel. Now we're ready to do tubular odd count peyote stitch. This is actually easier than even count because there's no step up. Begin by stringing up an odd number of beads. In this case, we're going to use 11. Slide your beads down and make sure to leave a 12-inch tail. Circle around and go back through the first bead to make a circle of beads. Now pick up a new bead, skip the second bead, and go through the bead after that. Pick up a bead, skip a bead, go through the next bead. Because this is a spiraling tubular peyote stitch, there actually is never a step up. You just continue picking up beads and then skipping over and going through the next high bead. Pick up a bead, go through the next high bead. You'll notice that I've started the next row, but I never did a step up. Again, as with the even count peyote stitch, many people find it easier to work over an object like a dowel or even a pencil will work. Tubular peyote stitch, whether it be even count or odd count, is useful for a number of things. It's great for bezzling stones and it's also quite useful for making long tubes which make excellent neck straps for necklaces. Thanks for joining me today here at Beaducation for the basic intro to seed beads.