My 5 Favourite Beading Tutorial Sources

I design beading tutorials but that doesn't mean I don't read, watch or occasionally purchase other designers' tutorials. Besides loving to see what other people have created, it's also a great source of inspiration and helps me to stay on top of what's current.

I'm going to share five of my favourite sources for beadweaving tutorials. This was really difficult to narrow down because there are so many! However, there are some designers that I find myself drawn to over the years.

The list, in no particular order, goes as follows:

1. Sara Spoltore

Sara Spoltore started her English YouTube channel six years ago. There she presents well-communicated bead-weaving tutorials. I love her videos because they are always well-edited. No long rambling chats there, like on some other beading channels! Her videos are usually less than 15 minutes. She shows the steps clearly and makes her projects easy-to-understand.

2. Ellad

Ozzy Necklace Tutorial by Ellad
I have admired Ella's beading tutorials for the last two years when I first discovered her Etsy shop. Her colours schemes always seem to be so well coordinated and her projects are gorgeous.

I had a brief conversation with her once (via Etsy) and she told me that she lives on a boat and is sailing around the world. How cool is that? I would love the freedom to travel more often. I'm working on it though!


3. Potomac Bead Company

Heading back to YouTube, Potomac Bead Company is another channel that I follow for beading tutorials. Their tutorials are usually presented by Allie who does a great job of presenting fun projects that use new bead shapes.

You can pop on over to their online store and purchase the materials they use in their YouTube videos as well. Bonus! Take advantage of their flat rate shipping to any country in the world or their free shipping for orders over a specified value. I, myself, love the flat rate shipping. It is rare to find companies that ship to Barbados, much less at a flat rate.

4. Around The Beading Table

Deborah Roberti has her own website called Around the Beading Table. She produces beading

Around the Beading Table- Deborah Roberti
patterns with straightforward written instructions and wonderfully descriptive diagrams. I'm almost certain you will understand her directions even if you usually struggle to follow diagrams.

She provides a ton of free patterns in addition to the ones for sale so if you are interested you can check out a free one before purchasing.

Another note about Deborah's tutorials is that she uses the newest bead shapes. If you need a pattern using DiamonDuos, Crescent beads or one of the million other bead shapes that seem to pop up everyday, you can almost be certain you'll find something on her website that uses them.

5. Simple Bead Patterns

Lane and Cara are a mother-daughter team that have created their own beading tutorial empire. They have a website where they sell both written and video tutorials. Recently, they announced that they were discontinuing the sale of beading kits so if you would like a kit at a discounted price, check theirs out before they are all gone!

You can also browse their designs in their Etsy shop, also called Simple Bead Patterns.

Those are my top five sources of beading tutorials. There are some honourable mentions however, including Honey Beads, Off the Beaded Path, Bronzepony Beaded Jewelry and DIY Jewelry-making Magazine.

Do you have any sources of beading tutorials that were not on this list? Share them in the comments below.

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