In general, how many seed beads are used in a typical Native American bead and loom project?
I’m just beginning my learning in this area, and I’ve found places to buy beads and patterns, etc, but I’m not sure of quite how many beads to purchase to begin making projects. Thank you.
There are a few things to help you figure out how many you will need.
The size of the bead — (the most common is a size 11 seed bead) – will affect how many you need, as well as how many beads you ill get per gram.
Just a note: most say the bead size number will usually let you know how many seed beeds when lined up on a needle will make an inch.
However in the real world world the number of beads it takes to make an inch, is usually a bit more.
Either way, the larger the number – the smaller the bead.
Often a pattern will be kind enough to tell you how many beads will be needed to complete a project.
I find that 10 grams of delicas will cover a goodly decent amount. If I have a small amulet bag – say 3×3 inches – I know that if there four colours and I have 5 grams of each color – it will be enough for the project and still have beads left over.
If you want to be a bit more precise, a good way to figure for each pattern is to see how many inches your project is in length and width. Then based on what size bead, you will have a guess-estimate on how many beads total you will need to make the project.
Take an estimate of what percent of the project is each colour (for example most of your background is about forty percent of the project – so you can get an estimate of forty percent of your total beads. – that will give you a good rule.)
Then you can have an idea of how many grams of each colour you will need. Who ever you are purchasing from can give you an idea of how many beads of a given size will be in a gram.
here’s some charts that are handy:
http://www.beadnook.com/BeadSizeCharts.html
This one has ave number of beads per grams:
http://www.beadworksboston.com/tips-techs/seedbead-sizes.htm
http://www.beading-frenzy.com/index.asp?PageAction=Custom&ID=8
I hope this will help out. I don’t do much loom work or square stitch, but occaisionally do design for it. I have some things on my blog (the link to the flick site will have the things that are designed for square stitch/loom/herringbone) you might enjoy seeing. The beadweaving is mostly in earlier articles. http://thebeadkitchen.blogspot.com/
There are a few things to help you figure out how many you will need.
The size of the bead — (the most common is a size 11 seed bead) – will affect how many you need, as well as how many beads you ill get per gram.
Just a note: most say the bead size number will usually let you know how many seed beeds when lined up on a needle will make an inch.
However in the real world world the number of beads it takes to make an inch, is usually a bit more.
Either way, the larger the number – the smaller the bead.
Often a pattern will be kind enough to tell you how many beads will be needed to complete a project.
I find that 10 grams of delicas will cover a goodly decent amount. If I have a small amulet bag – say 3×3 inches – I know that if there four colours and I have 5 grams of each color – it will be enough for the project and still have beads left over.
If you want to be a bit more precise, a good way to figure for each pattern is to see how many inches your project is in length and width. Then based on what size bead, you will have a guess-estimate on how many beads total you will need to make the project.
Take an estimate of what percent of the project is each colour (for example most of your background is about forty percent of the project – so you can get an estimate of forty percent of your total beads. – that will give you a good rule.)
Then you can have an idea of how many grams of each colour you will need. Who ever you are purchasing from can give you an idea of how many beads of a given size will be in a gram.
here’s some charts that are handy:
http://www.beadnook.com/BeadSizeCharts.html
This one has ave number of beads per grams:
http://www.beadworksboston.com/tips-techs/seedbead-sizes.htm
http://www.beading-frenzy.com/index.asp?PageAction=Custom&ID=8
I hope this will help out. I don’t do much loom work or square stitch, but occaisionally do design for it. I have some things on my blog (the link to the flick site will have the things that are designed for square stitch/loom/herringbone) you might enjoy seeing. The beadweaving is mostly in earlier articles. http://thebeadkitchen.blogspot.com/
References :
started beading seriously about five years ago
Varies on the size of your project and your beads. If you’re doing relatively small pieces–bracelets, key chains, that sort of thing, the standard size pack of seed beads should last for a couple of projects, assuming you use several colors at a time. I’d pick out a half dozen or so colors, and buy a pack of each in the same size (or a hank each, if you’re buying from a local shop). That will be enough to get you started, and once you’ve made a few things you’ll have a better idea of exactly what you need. A word of advice, though: don’t skimp on your beads. Pay a bit more for better quality beads, as they’ll be of a more uniform size. Nothing makes loomwork look terrible like irregular beads.
References :
used to do a lot of loomwork–don’t have the patience anymore