YouTube Beading Tutorial - Jewellery Component 8mm Bezeled Bead

This is Indu's one and only YouTube video but it's a good one and you can watch it HERE. It's in English, easy to follow and she does a very good job of explaining what she's doing. One thing that Indu didn't mention was that she is apparently using Toho seed beads. When I made my first sample bezel, I used Miyuki seed beads and it was a mess. There weren't enough beads to fit around the 8mm center bead so the whole thing pretty much slid to one side of the center bead. Below you can see the front of my first bezel and the next photo is how it looks from the back. I used two different 11/0 bead colors like she did so that it was easier to tell what I was doing. I really like the two-color look. I think it suits the design very well.

FRONT OF BEZEL

BACK OF BEZEL

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Galvanized Pewter" (D4222)
• 8mm druk "Matte Bronze"

For my second sample, I used Toho seed beads to verify if the Miyuki beads were the problem with my first sample. This sample came out nearly perfect so I was right about the brand of beads being the issue. I made one little tweak at the end. I wove around the outer ring of beads and popped out the picot point beads. This helped to snug everything up a little better. Because these beads fit the 8mm bead so well, the front and back of the bezel look almost exactly the same.

• 15/0 seed beads Toho "Antique Bronze" (223)
• 11/0 seed beads Toho "Antique Bronze" (223)
• 11/0 seed beads Toho "Permanent Finish Galvanized Starlight" (557PF)
• 8mm druk "Matte Bronze"

For my third sample, I set out to find a way to make Miyuki seed beads work and I'm pleased with the result. I did tweak the first step where the ring of beads is added around the 8mm bead. I first picked up the 8mm bead on my needle then picked up an 11/0 seed bead. I went back through the 8mm bead and picked up another 11/0 seed bead. I went through that bead and back through the 8mm bead. Lastly, I went through the 11/0 bead on this end. Next I picked up four 11/0's in the main color, instead of three, then one 11/0 in the accent color and four more of the main color. I skipped across the 8mm bead and went through the seed bead on the other end then repeated this sequence on the other side of the 8mm bead. I think this makes a more secure ring of beads. 

The only other place where I had to change the number of beads was where she adds strings of six 11/0 beads between the picots near the end. With Miyuki beads I used strings of seven beads and then used my tweak where I pop out the picot point beads. This sample came out very nice and the front and back look almost the same.

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Galvanized Pewter" (D4222)
• 8mm druk "Matte Bronze"

For sample number four, I also used Miyuki beads but I used a different color 8mm bead this time. I was getting tired of the brown ones and I also wanted to test to see if slight differences in the 8mm bead would affect the outcome. Well, either this druk is slightly larger than the brown one or the slippery surface was a factor. Perhaps the matte finish on the brown bead helped keep the seed beads in position. This bezel turned out well too but the 8mm bead sticks out much more in the front than in the back as you can see in the photos below.

FRONT OF BEZEL

BACK OF BEZEL

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Galvanized Pewter" (D4222)
• 8mm druk "Acid Washed Purple"

The little motif that Indu shows near the end of the video inspired me to turn it into an earring. It came out so pretty that I will definitely make more of them and try some other color variations. I have a very limited supply of 8mm beads but I'll see what I can come up with.

The only thing that I changed from her instructions for adding the crystals, besides my tweaks to the main part of the bezel as I mentioned above for Miyuki beads, was to put a 15/0 seed bead between each pair of fire polished beads instead of  an 11/0 seed bead. I tried an 11/0 but it looked awkward somehow. For such a tiny earring, this little beauty has a lot of interesting details.

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Galvanized Pewter" (D4222)
• 8mm druk "Matte Bronze"
• 4mm fire polished beads "Transparent Gold Topaz Luster"

So, give the tutorial a try but be prepared to adjust the number of seed beads to fit your particular 8mm beads as needed.