Part 2: Japanese Bead Shapes

Everything you wanted to know about seed beads ...
In Part 1 of this series, I covered a few beading basics - focusing on general information and the various materials. This blog will delve a little deeper into shaped Japanese seed beads. Since there are a lot of them, I'm going to stick to the shapes that I currently carry.

Bugle Beads:

Straight Bugles

Twisted Bugles

Bugle beads are tube shaped. Just imagine a straight plumbing pipe - a long, hollow tube with flat ends - that's the basic shape of a bugle bead. Bugles come in 3mm, 6mm, 9mm and 12mm lengths, to name a few. There is also a twisted variety (6mm and 12mm); the outside is rotated so that it looks more like a spiral tube, but the inner hole is still straight.

Cubes:

4mm Cubes

Cube beads are exactly what you think they are - square beads that are very close to being the same measurement on each side.  They have a single hole going through them, and can give a chunkier look to a project depending on what size is used. Cubes are also very easy to stitch with because of their flat sides. Currently, cubes are available in 1.5mm, 1.8mm, 2mm, 3mm, and 4mm; depending on the manufacturer.




Drops and Magatamas:

Long drop

3.4mm Drop

Drop beads are teardrop shaped, with the hole located in the top, thin area of the drop. This allows the larger "drop" end to stick out a little further generally than other traditionally seed beads and adds texture. There are two varieties of drop beads - regular (2.8mm or 3.4mm) and long (3x5.5mm). Regular drop beads are the normal teardrop shape, while long drops are exaggerated, with a larger drop area.  They give the same effect, just with a little more oomph!!

Long magatamas

Magatamas are a variety of drop beads. Regular magatamas, measuring 4mm, are a slightly larger teardrop shape. While long magatamas, measuring 4x7mm, are more comma shaped as opposed to teardrop shape with a slightly off center hole. You may also hear them called fringe beads because they are frequently used in fringe and other edge work techniques.

Berry Beads:

Berry Beads

 Berry and/or Peanut beads (depending on the manufacturer) beads are both the dumb bell shaped beads with a hole in the narrow center section of the bead, and measure 2.5x4.5mm.  When strung they nest together; they are also ideal for making beaded beads because they lay flat against each other













Tila and Half- Tilas:

Tila Beads

Half-Tila Beads

Tilas and half-Tilas are very unique Japanese seed beads. They are tile shaped and have two parallel holes with a slightly domed side and a flat side. Tila beads measure 5x5x1.9mm, while half-Tilas measure 5x2.3x1.9mm - half the size of a regular Tila. These beads have flat ends and lay nicely against each other.

Triangles:

Triangles

Sharp Triangles

Triangle are three-sided beads that have a single center hole. They are available in two varieties - either regular or sharp. Regular triangles have slightly rounded or softer edges while sharp triangles have a pointed, more defined edge. Both triangle varieties are available in size 11, 10, 8 and 5.


I hope that you find this informative and hopefully not too overwhelming as you continue your seed bead adventures.  Please stay tune for the next installment on Czech bead shapes that have one hole.

Happy Beading!!!!!