Seedbeads, Pony Beads, Bugles, Japanese Beads

Small beads — small like seeds and as numerous as grains of sand! Although they vary in size and shape, generally these beads are known as seedbeads.

More than you ever wanted to know about seedbeads (just scroll down if you know all this stuff!)

The size classification of these beads may seem, well, counter-intuitive. The lower the number, the larger the bead — so size 6/0s (we call them "size sizes" — not pronouncing the "/0") are the largest on this page, and size 13/0s (thirteens) are the smallest. (It helps if you think of the sizes as the number of beads you could put in something, like a thimble — the smaller the bead, the more you could get into it!) There are smaller sizes than 13/0s, 15/0s and even smaller!

Size 11/0s and 10/0s are very common in seedbead work — with the 10/0s being noticably larger only to the trained eye (the holes are about the same size too in the two sizes.) Seedbeads are sold in hanks (by us, anyway!) (Exception a few of the ultra-expensive ones which we sell in single strands so that you can have some without mortgaging the house!) — temporarily strung on not-very-qood-quality thread. So you do need to restring them even if you just want them on strands the way they came. (Sorry!)

"What's a Hank?" You ask? A hank of size 11/0s or 10/0s is 12 strands of 16 inches, for a total of 16 feet of beads — which is … let's see — I'm running out of fingers and toes here, the 11/0s are about 18 beads to the inch so about 3400 beads, and the 10/0s about 2800 beads. At prices ranging from $3.25 per hank and up, and 100s of colours available — you can have a lot of fun with seedbeads! (If you are interested in very large quantities of seedbeads, they are also available in 500 gram bags, strung or unstrung. Just email us for details.)

Czech-made seedbeads are donut-shaped and a little irregular - some being fatter or thinner. On the other hand, the Japanese-made seedbeads are made with a machine-like consistency. These characteristics change the way your finished work looks, especially if you are doing loom work or tight bead weaving. For regular stringing, then it is merely a matter of personal taste. By the way -

Delica's - these are the Japanese size 11/0 bead which is actually a tiny cylinder, not a donut shape. They may have different names from bead store to bead store,but they are always consistently numbered - so that if you are looking for DB-10, it is always DB-10 (or DB010 or DB0010 for better spacing). These are THE beads for amulet bags, beadweaving, and creating pictures with beads. When worked up in a woven or loomed stitch, they are almost architectural. They really are quite fabulous!

Czech True-cuts have a single facet cut into them for a little extra sparkle, and there are 2-cuts and 3-cuts as well.

13/0s definitely look smaller, and come on smaller hanks, too.

On the other hand 6/0s and 8/0s are a reasonable size. 6/0s are also known as "pony beads" and "E" beads. 6/0s and 8/0s come in 20 gram bags.

Bugles are long, thin glass tubes. Their edges are typically quite sharp, so they are almost always strung with a bead next to them, like a seedbead, in any application that involves bead weaving or netting or any pattern other than straight end to end strung.