Vintage Seed Beads: Buying, Collecting & Beading

Never having hid the fact that I’m a full blown seed-bead-a-holic, its odd how an article on seed beads has never popped up in the Weekly Beadditudes. Maybe because the subject matter branches out in all directions and a starting place seems to elude me. Whatever the reason, I think its about time to chat it up.

The obsession begins

My particular love affair began in a small bead store in Auburn, Maine with a friend who taught me brick stitch one afternoon. This was in the pre-Beadin’ Path days (You mean there was life before Beadin’ Path?? Say it isn’t so!). My friend had made some really lovely amulet bags, which were all the craze in that year of 1996. So I sat down at her computer and using a bead designer program, tapped out a simple brick stitch design of a sun face. Then, using her left over Delica’s I stitched together a little purse complete with fringe and a strap, and fell head over heals into weaving la-la land. Since then the weaving bug has ingrained itself into my genetic code, and may it never waver.

Bring on The Beadin’ Path

It was about a year or so later that I met Jan and Heather, co-owners of the Beadin’ Path, and shortly after came to work for them in their quaint bead store in Freeport, Maine. And then I met vintage seed beads. Oh, I managed to find a few larger beads here and there that I had to buy for my stash, but I admit that when the hanks of teeny steel cuts and the small vials of vintage charlottes crossed my path, my cash flow seemed to leak out from my wallet and into their till. Who knew about French cane cut seed beads in colors I had never seen, or Czech seeds the color of mercury, like liquid silver. I was astonished by how gorgeous they were.

A perplexing decision

Use them? Save them? Yes, and yes. I do use them a lot. What if they’re uneven and have sharp, raw edges? Well, use the uneven ones in bead embroidery where you can appreciate the texture they give, and use Fireline to ensure that the beads don’t cut the thread. If you compare the vintage seed beads to the ones made today, you’ll see that over time the practices for making them have changed quite a bit. Today you can find perfect and uniform shaped beads and each one is identical in color to the next. A vintage hank of seed beads may have variation in the color. For instance, in one particular hank of beads where some of the beads were exposed to the air, and the silver lining became oxidized over time making them quite different than the protected seed beads on the same hank.

Buying a piece of history

If you ever have a chance to buy a piece of vintage beadwork using these old seed beads, then do so! I especially adore the beautiful purses that were hand made by people near the turn of the century. They would often design a scene that was familiar to them, and include the name of their family or the year that they made it. It shows that when you create something you should include the date along with your name, so in years to come it will be a book mark in your life that someone else can appreciate in the future.

Invisible beads

Micro seed beads are the tiniest ones out there. They range in size from 18.0 and up, and the tiniest ones I’ve seen were size 38.0.That means you can put 38 beads on a thread, and they would measure only one inch in size! These beads were handcrafted in Venice and Czechoslovakia from the 19th Century to WWII, and then production tapered off. These beads are so tiny that you can usually drop one through the hole of a size 11.0 seed bead! For a seed bead collector, these are rare and valuable.

Collecting antique and vintage seed beads

Aside from micro beads, steel cuts and charlottes, I try to be on the lookout for Italian tri-cuts, French torsé beads, red hearts, green hearts and needle bugles. You can begin your own collection of vintage and antique seed beads right here at the Beadin’ Path. We’ve got an ever changing assortment of seeds, bugles and more. Also, be on the lookout for discontinued colors, shapes and sizes.

A tidbit of info for you, in case you’re wondering

Seed bead sizes fall under the same confuse-fest that wire gauge does. A seed bead size is determined by how many beads will fit into a one inch span. So if you were to put 11 size 11.0 seed beads on a needle and measure it against a ruler, it would measure an inch. So for a size 38.0 seed beads, it takes 38 little seed beads to make up an inch. So imagine how tiny those things are! Like dust! Now, if you’re wondering what the .0 is doing behind the size of the bead, the answer is the word “aught” and refers to a term of measurement. According to Wikipedia: “The term "aught" refers to how many beads can fit into a standard unit.” Not to be confused with the Ott light. :-)  

Here are a few of my favorite seed beader’s whose names you may want to Google for some eye candy: Virginia Blakelock, Carol Perrenoud, David Chatt, Don Pierce, Marcus Amerman, Cynthia Rutledge, Carol Wilcox Wells, Sherry Serafini, Laura McCabe, Melanie Doerman, Anne Winebrenner (formerly Paxton), and oh, I could go on forever. There’s so many talented weavers out there. Have a look-see!