A Bracelet a Week: The Summer of Tilas

This week’s bracelet is actually two - a double dose of Tila bead goodness! The first one started as an experiment, and it turned out so well that I had to make one more, so that I could share the technique in an upcoming tutorial.

Tila beads are everywhere right now, from bead shops to our favorite magazines and blogs. Even though they are the hottest new bead of the year, I’ve been having trouble finding Tila projects that I really like. Seed beads are my muse, and I rarely find myself drawn to designs that don’t have a backbone of good old fashioned round seeds.

I wasn’t really pleased with my first attempt at using Tilas. They do make great marshmallows, but I wasn’t at all satisfied with what I had done. Their potential had not been reached. So I started thinking of ways that I could use them that would suit my style, and make good use of their unique shape.

The best idea I had was to try and combine them with openwork right angle weave, which worked really well for some troublesome side-drilled rectangles last year. The trick was to figure out how to get from one set of holes in the Tilas to the next, so that the beadwork could continue smoothly.

My first experiment with the stitch was a total success. I just kept on beading until I had this fun little blue bracelet. I had time to make a second in happy white and yellow, with a little variation in materials and pattern. This time around, I took pictures of the steps. I’ll be sharing all the details behind the technique in a free tutorial next week.

Have you tried Tila beads yet? How well have they blended into your work?



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