BRIDEY’S BEAD MATCHING SERVICE
For a partial list of
what I have
available, you can download either an Excel or PDF file:
|
XLS (Excel) format Beads listed by size, type, finish, etc. |
PDF (Acrobat) format Contains color scan of each bead at 5x
magnification, large file, be patient |
I have been collecting beads and vintage beadwork for over two decades, so have accumulated a large number of antique, vintage, and modern beads. One of the things I’ve always thought someone ought to offer is a bead matching service, for repairs and restoration of beadwork. Then I thought, why not me? My eyes are getting almost too weak to do fine work any more, and I am humbled and amazed by the work that I’ve seen other people doing. Maybe my obsessive collecting can help someone else restore or create gorgeous pieces of beadwork, even though my own beading days may be numbered.
Because my own work has always had a turn-of-the-century flavor, I have tended to acquire 3-cuts, 2-cuts, French steel cuts, charlottes, and small and micro seed beads in sizes all the way down to 24/o (the smallest size ever made), as well as bugle beads in all sizes (including those rare and elusive “needle bugles”, micro diameter bugles over an inch long). By no means is my personal collection comprehensive, but I can frequently locate beads to match the repairs I’ve done, either among the loose beads and hanks that I’ve collected or on damaged beadwork that I’ve got squirreled away in my drawers.
If you are looking for specific beads in small quantities for
repairs, contact
me. You can either request a sample
of a specific bead you are seeking for $2.00, or you can send me a few
of the
beads that you are trying to match (with an SASE if you want them back). I will work with you to help figure out
whether or not my collection has what you’re looking for!
My bead cabinet houses
over 2000
different types of seed and bugle beads (and always growing!),
and my “broken beadwork”
collection is an additional source of potential matches for your
project.
A few of my beads in
shades of orange.
What exactly does
the 11/0 or 8/0 or 24/0 designation mean? It doesn’t seem to relate
directly to the number of beads per inch; it may refer to the size of
wire used
to create the hole in the bead. The following chart is an
approximation. It's
important to remember that many beads, especially the antique ones
which were
made by hand, vary considerably even within one hank or batch.
|
Bead Size |
Approx. number of beads per inch |
|
6/o (pony beads) |
11 |
|
10/o |
17 |
|
11/o (typical modern bead) |
19 |
|
12/o |
21 |
|
13/o |
23 |
|
14/o (small modern bead) |
25 |
|
18/o |
40 |
|
24/o |
50+ |