Seed beads are called this as they are so tiny like little seeds. They are produced usually in mass so sold by weight rather than amount. I for one would not want to be counting out little tiny beads one by one! They are about 1mm in size but they do vary. There are different sizes of seed beads.

Seed beads range from under a millimetre to several millimetres in size. The term "seed bead" is a term used for any small bead which is normally round.

Different shops and sources explain that the seed beads are measured per inch, meaning that a size 11/0 would be that 11 beads would measure one inch. This is roughly correct but not exact and this measurement relates to the original glass rod that the beads are made from and not the individual beads.

As a general rule the larger the number, the smaller the bead is going to be.

Seed beads have many uses, I would say almost infinite as I am finding new uses and new ideas and ways to use them all of the time. They are used to sew on to garments or material to give a 3D effect and an extra something special. My main use for seed beads is jewellery making, but I think you may have already guessed that by looking at my site!

Seed beads come in all different colours, pretty much any colour that you can imagine. Some of them are matt in colour and some have a shiny look to them. I have some beautiful seed beads that are clear on the outside and have a gold or silver centre, these look very impressive when made into a necklace or other piece of jewellery.

I love working with seed beads, either on their own or mixing them together with tones, or I sometimes use them as smaller spacer beads between other larger beads that I have when making jewellery.

A lot of the more extravagant necklaces and beaded jewellery on my site are made with seed beads but using a pattern. The pattern is similar to a pattern that you may use for cross stitch or knitting. Most bead making patterns have both diagrams and also written instructions to follow. It takes concentration to follow a pattern but the end result is really and truly amazing, as you can see by the jewellery on my site. I use a thread called nemo, which is like cotton by very strong and a needle and literally sew the beads together to make the jewellery. I follow patterns and also make my own patterns an I like to add an individual touch to my jewellery as do my designers.

About the Author

Shelley Green is the owner of http://www.beads-click.com, a site that specialises in beads and beaded jewellery. This site is for bead lovers everywhere!