DELICAS MIYUKI

Delicas are very tiny sliced tubes, and are somewhat like working with blocks, instead of balls.
In older pattern books, instructions tell you to use Delica Beads. Because there are so many brands of similar beads today,
newer pattern books tell you to use Cylinder Beads, which is a generic term.

SIZE 11/0 REGULAR
BY CODE #
BY COLOR
BY FINISH

SIZE 10/0 MEDIUM
BY CODE #
BY COLOR
BY FINISH

SIZE 15/0 SMALL

SIZE 8/0 LARGE
BY CODE #
BY COLOR
BY FINISH

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NOTE: The finishes/colors on beads that have been metallized, galvanized or dyed, may rub off or bleed with handling. Please use a spray fixative like Krylon with these beads.

What is it? -- 11/0 Delicas or 12/0 Delicas?
Delica beads are the same size as 12/0 Seed Beads. However, in projects, Delicas, because of their size and shape relative to the size and shape of Seed Beads, are used interchangeably with 11/0 Seed Beads. At Land of Odds, we refer to these Delicas as size 11/0. Some places refer to the exact same bead as 12/0 Delicas. Both are the same.

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What Size Are They?
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Seed beads sizes are listed as "11/0" or "6/0" and the like. These very loosely refer to how many beads per inch it would take, if you lined a particular size up against a ruler. Thus, "11/0" means that there are 11 beads per inch. "6/0" means that there are six per the inch. Thus, the smaller the size-number, the larger the size of the bead.

6/0 seedbeads are apprx. 4mm
8/0 delicas are approximately 3.3mm
8/0 seedbeads are apprx. 3mm
11/0 seedbeads are apprx. 2.2mm
11/0 (same as 12/0) delicas are apprx. 1.8mm
15/0 seedbeads are apprx 1.5mm

Carol Wilcox Wells, in her book THE ART AND ELEGANCE OF BEADWEAVING, gives a well-researched answer to the question How Many Seed Beads? Using black opaque seed beads from one particular manufacturer, she came up with these numbers:

BEADS PER GRAM
15/0 seed beads         290 beads/gram
11/0 (same as 12/0) delicas       190 beads/gram
11/0 seed beads         110 beads/gram
8/0 seed beads             38 beads/gram
6/0 seed beads             15 beads/gram

BEADS PER LINEAR MEASUREMENT
15/0 seed beads           24 beads/inch          9 beads/centimeter
11/0 (same as 12/0) delicas        20 beads/inch         7 beads/centimeter
11/0 seed beads           18 beads/inch          7 beads/centimeter
8/0 seed beads             13 beads/inch          5 beads/centimeter
6/0 seed beads             10 beads/inch          4 beads/centimeter

BEADS PER SQUARE AREA
15/0 seed beads           330 beads/sq. inch         54 beads/sq. centimeter
11/0 (same as 12/0) delicas      285 beads/sq. inch         42 beads/sq. centimeter
11/0 seed beads           216 beads/sq. inch         35 beads/sq. centimeter
8/0 seed beads             108 beads/sq. inch          20 beads/sq. centimeter
6/0 seed beads              70 beads/sq. inch            12 beads/sq. centimeter

An amulet purse that is 2" x 2 1/2" in size, would be 2*2 1/2*2 in area, or 10 square inches. (2 sides of 2x2.5 inches). 10 square inches would use, for example, 2850 delica beads (15 grams).

NOTE: The sizes and weights for seed beads with different finishes and/or from different manufacturers will vary considerably, so you should take these numbers as a guide, not an absolute.