I think that you answered your own question... "because of all the culling you have to do."  I personally do not use any seed beads from craft stores...  I only purchase from local bead shops or online at www.7beads.com (you get a lot in a tube for your money). 

Using the beads from AC Moore for kids projects works well....also, if you are just starting out and practicing but even then I would venture online or to a local bead shop and spend $10 to get a few tubes and use those for practice...  Delicas are too expensive to use for practice.

Just my two cents worth....

Happy beading,

Kim

Hi, That's a good question, but I agree with the previous comments ...I think you already know the answer. Actually, I expect a lot of us have done the same, and learned the same lesson.

The beads you have could be used for embroidery projects, where you're trying to fill all the available space. Having different sizes of beads comes in handy in certain circumstances. I spent an entire evening culling and sorting beads one time, repackaging things into regular, wide or thin, but quite a few still ended up in the trash.

Some of the beads at Michael's are okay. If you look in the embroidery section, they have a small selection of Mill Hill beads (Japanese). I buy these when they're on sale and use them to embellish organza bags or do similar projects that only require a few beads. Different finishes (metallic, AB, silver-lined, etc.) can vary, with the same manufacturer. There's a little culling involved with any package of beads, even delicas, although the culling should be minimal. Most of us would rather be beading than sorting beads.

I bought several tubes of Blue Moon seed beads (Czech) at Michael's, and every package was different. One would be okay (the quality and size were good), another tube had very small holes, a third tube had beads that went from very thin to very thick. I used some of  the Blue Moon beads on spiral stitch bracelets, but there was still some culling involved. For a Peyote stitch square, I was very unhappy with the results. One color was thinner than the others, and the entire square pulled in. At the time I was too inexperienced to make tension adjustments. I ended up donating some of the beads to Caring House, but they have all the seed beads they need for now.

Delicas are expensive (but can make learning Peyote stitch easier because of the way they lock into place), and certain finishes on regular seed beads can be pricey, but buying Miyuki or Toho seeds from your LBS (local bead store) or online, will save you a lot of grief, and the difference in price isn't that much more. ArtBeads carries delicas, and Toho regular seeds (they offer free shipping). Fire Mountain Gems is another popular supplier for Miyuki, Toho and some other brands. I would start with your LBS because it's easier to select colors in person. I started with Miyuki and tend to stick with this brand, although I started buying Czech beads from a place in California whenever I go for a visit. The quality is much better than what I found at Michael's. The beads I bought at The Indian Store were sold on strands. The Czech beads are more donut shaped; a lot of people prefer the Czech beads to Japanese beads. I use both, but on different projects. 

If you're trying free-form projects, you'll find a use for your beads, but if you're learning Peyote or square stitch or some others that I can think of, I think you'll find it more enjoyable to bead with better quality beads. The time that goes into seed bead projects justifies the cost, as far as I'm concerned. Happy beading, Rhonda

 

Definitly agree with almost all of the above comments. :)

I actually have given most of my "cheaper" seeds to my mom.  She has never been as picky as me regarding these.

 They are good for embroidery, french flowers or fringe.  But truthfully I got more annoyed with how many "broken" pieces would be in a cheaper bag.

 The sharp edges can be a nightmare if you miss one & it cuts the thread on one of your pieces.  (with french flowers, you use wire)

 

Thank you for the information. Everyone confirmed what I was thinking and Gave some good tips. I tried the Mill Hill beads (I am waiting on some online orders and really wanted to try my hand at peyote) and they worked beautifully. I had already tried Delicas so I knew how nice they work. But I really do like round seed beads. I had also bought Czech beads at a show - just one tube and they worked up nicely too.

I agree that the cheapy ones aren't that great. I prefer Delicas as my number 1 choice and Toho as my  number 2. As far as the rounder ones, I found Ornela Czech seed beads on www.firemountain.com and prefer them over any other rounded seeds. I feel they are more consistent in their quality and holes are bigger. Plus, the price is right.

Good Luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dorrie

I would probably agree with everyone else, but I haven't used the more expensive beads. My projects in peyote, square, and other stitches turn out fine usually. When I'm beading I throw out the beads that are messed up, most of the time I don't find all that many that would mess up my project. Like I said before, it would probably be different if I had actually used some more expensive beads at one point.

As you guessed yourself, and others wrote before me, cheap seed beads aren't generally very useful for beadweaving. 

But they can be used for stringing, and an occasional project comes up where they work just as well as the more expensive stuff.

 This, for example, was made with some nameless Chinese beads I bought back when my main criterion was "the most beads for the least amount of money":

Yes, the two-drop peyote base is also uneven beads, unculled.

 

You also gotta remember that the native Americans and Africans who came up with peyote and ndebele and all the other stitches, didn't have precision-cut Delicas to work with...
 

Your bracelet is beautiful! Is this pattern from bead and button? I think I saw it and was discouraged because it would have been too expensive to make as shown. Your project finds merit for these less regular beads. I also like better quality beads. I have found that when a pattern calls for size 15 I just substitute delicas, because they are not round and are smaller than toho or matsuno or miyuki. That takes care of the hole being too small for most work in regular size 15s. When working with kids its better to use size 8s or good quality beads because they get frustrated if the bead breaks or the hole is too small. I did a craft show where the kids made their own memory bracelets and learned that tip. By the way, does anyone have suggestions to finish off a memory bracelet? I usually just bend the tip, but are the memory bead ends worth the expense?

 Like you, beanie, I prefer the look of round seed beads over Delicas. Try some of the Japanese seeds. They're not quite as round as the Czech, but the holes are bigger and they come in some great colors. They tend to be more expensive than czech but less than delicas. I do bead embroidery, fringe, bezeled cabs, peyote ... pretty much anything ... using round seed beads and do not consider them inferior in any way. I personally prefer the slight irregularities. I remember an article a number of years ago that showed a couple of bracelets side by side, one made with delicas and the other with seeds. I definitely liked the look of the seeds better, though I realize that's a minority view these days.

 

Penny 

isha_ktana:

As you guessed yourself, and others wrote before me, cheap seed beads aren't generally very useful for beadweaving. 

But they can be used for stringing, and an occasional project comes up where they work just as well as the more expensive stuff.

 This, for example, was made with some nameless Chinese beads I bought back when my main criterion was "the most beads for the least amount of money":

Yes, the two-drop peyote base is also uneven beads, unculled.

 

You also gotta remember that the native Americans and Africans who came up with peyote and ndebele and all the other stitches, didn't have precision-cut Delicas to work with...
 

Wow!  I don't know how I missed this, but I love the bracelet!  I'd have to say though, the beads look a lot more even the ones I was using from Michael's.  Did you use a pattern for the bracelet, and if so, would you be willing to share it?  Rhonda

bead_rabbit:

...By the way, does anyone have suggestions to finish off a memory bracelet? I usually just bend the tip, but are the memory bead ends worth the expense?

bead_rabbit, This question gets asked a LOT, although usually the question is what glue to use to keep the end caps from falling off. I'll have to see if I can find one of the recent threads. The majority of people prefer to bend the ends into loops, and add a dangle. A few of us have tried different glues, but limited success.

I found the thread the other day, but then couldn't remember where I had seen the question. I'll be back!    Rhonda

http://cs.beadandbutton.com/bnbcs/forums/p/3571/16854.aspx#16854

Yes, the pattern is from B&B.  The original pattern calls for lots of Swarovski crystals, and I skipped it, too, because the result didn't look exciting enough (it used a symmetrical color scheme, too).  Then I saw this variation on another forum and loved the "flames" look.

Some patterns I can use Delicas for size 15s, but not all.  Many times the Delicas are just that wee bit too big, or simply shaped wrong - too blocky.  I like my seedies round, except in area-fill projects (like peyote, herringbone, etc).  But you're right that most 15s have tiny holes and are hard to work with.

Could you tell us what issue of B&B this was in?

Also, I like my rounded seeds for certain projects, but love my delicas for most others. I ended up throwing a lot of my rounded ones out as I had bought the cheapy ones when I was learning. I had used them when I was learning about off-loom beading, but my projects never turned out like the pics. So uneven and such. That's when I found the Delicas and the Czech seeds from FireMountain. I think we all end up with a favorite bead type and work from there. It is very interesting, I think, to see the same project, from different people with different tastes.

eeyorefan:

 It is very interesting, I think, to see the same project, from different people with different tastes.

You gave me an idea!

What do you itty bitty beadie colleagues think about an informal, impromptu non-challenge challenge?

My idea is to choose a free online pattern for a nice piece of jewelry - intermediate level or close to it - and post the link on a thread. Each of us would make the piece of jewelry with complete freedom in choice of beads, finishes and colors, as well as any eventual extra embellishment we might want which is not specified on the pattern. The bead size  remains the same as called for in the pattern. The only requisite is that we follow the pattern exactly as presented - with the same size of beads that are specified. Final extra embellishment optional. Once done, we post our pics of the finshed pieces on the thread.

 My off-topic intrusion is over.When I have a minute tomorrow I'll post up a thread to see if anyone might be interested!

What do you itty bitty beadie colleagues think about an informal, impromptu non-challenge challenge?

Not a bad idea ...  I'm game, if anyone else wants to participate. :)

I was looking at the patterns yesterday evening (the patterns are on sale right now), and bookmarked this one. I think it's the "flame" bracelet. http://www.beadandbutton.com/bnb/Default.aspx?c=a&id=1676

Thanks to eeyorefan's comment, OriginalSin has challenged the rest of us to make a bracelet, following a pattern that she found on Ruby's Beadwork. Here's a link to the thread titled Challenge: Different Strokes for Different Folks. So far, 3 of us have joined in, and hopefully AlexD will make it 4, but the more the merrier!  Rhonda

 http://cs.beadandbutton.com/bnbcs/forums/p/4914/23994.aspx#23994 

Well now, I did this, so you can be sure I am a partcipant in the challenge. I had already signed up for it before I knew it was my "fault". This is gonna be fun, I believe......

A-yup, that's the one.

Great, I'm glad that's the right one. Are you from Maine?  LOL, I'm in Massachusetts, but the dialect sounds familiar.