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itty bitty beads

Okay, when it comes to anything smaller than a 15, except for a few 22s I have, I don't have much experience. Here's what happened. At the September shows here in Denver I picked up four 1/2 kilos of the tiniest beads I ever saw. The dealer labeled them as 15 charlottes and indeed, they ARE charlottes. When I broke into the first hank I measured some and came up with 33 to the INCH! I only measure 23 or so to the 22s! BTW, the hanks are totally as long as any normal Czech hank instead of short like charlottes usually are.

Well, determined to make an inch sampler....I did that. But I wasn't satisfied bwahaaa, so I continued on and to make a long story endless, today I finished a bracelet one inch wide by 7 inches or so and have calculated that it contains 9,300 itty bitty beads. Folks, I can see daylight through this when I hold it up to the light!! It is soooo thin and feels sooooo good. The color is blue iris. I put a fringe of more of the beads, 11s and tiny tim drops. I covered two size 11s with these little buggers for the fasteners and they aren't the size of a healthy pea. I adore what I've got here but....what in the hell HAVE I got here??? I made a short spiral bracelet using a legit 15 for the core and 5 ittiy bitty beads for the 'loop' and the 15 core looks absolutely HUGE next to them. Whatever the heck they are, I LOVE them.

Any ideas? They're like making a charlotte out of a grain of pepper or something. Unbelieveable.

Sandy White Be Jeweled

Reply to
Sandra White
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vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from snipped-for-privacy@webtv.net (Sandra White) :

]I adore what I've got here but....what in the hell HAVE I got ]here???

well, SHOW me, and i'll let you know!

----------- @vicki [SnuggleWench] (Books)

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's not what you take, when you leave this world behind you;it's what you leave behind you when you go. -- Randy Travis

Reply to
vj

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm! I just LOVE little tiny beads! The littler the better. Can we see a picture????? Pretty Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease?

Reply to
Tink

Wow - so freaking tiny!! No ideas here, since 11 is about the smallest I can go wothout killing my eyes. :) I'd love to see the finished product though!

Reply to
Kandice Seeber

Out of curiosity, what do you use to thread these things? Beading needle?

*Love* blue iris! :D
Reply to
mªdcªt

I got some of these recently as well, and when I got them home I found that with my size 12 needles, I couldn't do anything but string them because the holes were amazingly tiny. A size 11 needle would go through many, but not all, of the holes once. I'd love to know what's up with these too - and how the heck one weaves with them, because they are GORGEOUS and would look fabulous in some sort of netted or RAW thingy.

I had just picked them up at the LBS; they were labeled as 15 and in hanks like Czech but were more expensive than Czech, and have the facet.

Reply to
scaperchick

On Sat, 1 Nov 2003 20:30:55 -0500, Sandra White wrote (in message ):

The brand new Bead and Button claims that 22/0 beads are ~0.99 mm apiece. It sounds like you have something even smaller. The smallest beads I've ever of being manufactured are 26/0, which sounds like what you might be talking about.

Or, they are legit 20/0 charlottes or something, since charlottes tend to run a little smaller than rocailles.

God help you. I cannot imagine working with beads that small. Compared to those, an 11/0 must look like a hula hoop.

Kathy N-V

Reply to
Kathy N-V

I used a 13 needle and kevlar thread which is ultra tiny and ultra strong. I've been hooked on Kevlar for years and never had a problem with it, EVER.

About the pic, I'm on WebTV and don't have a scanner or digital camera YET. Evidently we webbers now have that option and I'm considering it but would want the best camera available since I'm in the bead business and also since I should get it before retiring so I can charge it off $$-wise. I'm just so blasted electronic and computer illiterate I wonder if I'll be able to successfully operate it. I feel I should get the best I can and I'll need to research that. I think I must go and read the rec. group that deals with WebTV which I haven't done for ages.

Anyway, making this sailed right along with the same speed as 11s (bead for bead) but of course didn't gain the length as quickly. I've been working on it between customers for a couple of WEEKS, egads.

My daughter takes digital photos and sends them to me in email. If I had that then would there be some way to get it to this list? Told you I was impaired. LOL I gotta solve this cause there are so many times when I have a new beady find that I want to show off to people on various lists. Besides, I got a little extra money that I gotta spend before the end of the year at which time the IRS will call it income and since I sure haven't seen it in my personal account....YIPPEE, I'm gonna get a Christmas prezzie. 8}

Sandy White Be Jeweled

Reply to
Sandra White

On Sun, 2 Nov 2003 15:36:12 -0500, Dr. Sooz wrote (in message ):

Shipwreck has it. I have a couple of spools, but find that it's not as sturdy and easy to use as Spectra. Also, it comes in small spools that make Softtouch look cheap.

Kathy N-V

Reply to
Kathy N-V

I just started working with 15's and am thinking that I'll probably go blind without some magnifier of some sort. I can't imagine anything smaller. As I was working with them I was thinking how in the world do they make those tiny little delicate things? Anybody know, out of curiosity?

Gennie

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Reply to
Gennie

Sooz ~ email me your land addy and I'll send you a sample. Kevlar is a Dupont product, man made. The natural is sorta yellow and it can't be bleached white but the yellow can be marked with a permanent marker to any color you want. I also carry black and use that with all my dark beads. I also wax it as it had a tendency to fray. The spools are normal sewing thread spool size but I don't know how many yards/feet.

It is recommended that you tie surgeon's knots in it so that it won't 'cut itself' but I've never experienced that problem. You can not break it with your hands but you probably could sever a digit you tried too hard. It's what they weave into bullet proof vests.

Sandy White Be Jeweled

Reply to
Sandra White

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