Today’s bracelet features these cute tile beads that have only been around for a few years, but, wow, have they caught on! They’re called “tila” beads and are made by the Miyuki company of Japan.
Tila beads are small (4-5mm) square beads each with 2 parallel holes. The two holes allow for a LOT of creativity in bead stringing. Check out this Pinterest search for “tila bead bracelet” and you’ll see what I mean. My favorites are the ones where they turn the beads at an angle.
My design today is fairy simple, but makes a really pretty bracelet that’s lightweight and comfortable to wear. By the way, I call it the stained glass bracelet because the pink/green coating is called “vitrail,” an old French word for “stained glass.”
If you enjoy this kind of bead work, you may like the Damselfly Bracelet free design over at ArtBeads.com. It’s done a little differently, but looks quite similar. The addition of the little dagger beads instead of the center seed beads really gives a fun look.
Materials:
- one tube Crystal Vitrail Tila Beads
(plenty to make this bracelet with nearly half leftover)
- 10/0 Seed Beads
- Nymo Beading Thread
- 2 wire protectors
- 2 4-5mm beads
- clasp & jumpring
- short length chain
Tools:
- Big Eye Needles
- scissors
- awl
Enjoy the video and happy creating!
You can watch the Stained Glass Tila Bead Bracelet Video Tutorial over at YouTube.
Oh, I’m so glad you followed up with a tutorial! I like the examples you have on pinterest, but wanted to see one of yours.
It’s a nice little project, very quiet and meditative work. I definitely want to tried some like the ones on Pinterest!