Threads for bead crochet must have two essential qualities: strength, and stability. There can be no stretching and no breaking. Certain kinds of cotton and nylon have these essential qualities.

I do love the feel of cotton for bead crochet. Perle cotton and Mercerized cottons (avoid unMercerized) are strong and smooth, have little stretch, and work beautifully for crocheting with beads. Perle cotton (original correct spelling: perle coton, French) is available in a wide range of sizes. For size 11/o seed beads, size 12 perle cotton is a good choice if you're using tubular, tapestry and Euro bead crochet techniques. This assortment by Valdani has a range of colors that will cover almost any project, and honestly, I just love looking at it.

Size 16 perle cotton works well with size 11/o beads as well and is easier to thread, both on the needle and through the beads. If I'm working on a project where I'm threading a fair amount of one color bead, you can "scoop" through a pile of 11/0s with size 16 on your needle more easily. On my color card page there is one for Finca perle cotton; you can pick your color or colors and either order from. your local store or find it in an internet search.

If you are bold enough to try size 15/o seed beads, you can use 20/2 mercerized cotton or even heavy-duty sewing thread. This 15/0 bracelet, from the pattern 10-28 on page 71 of my ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TUBULAR BEAD CROCHET is crocheted in size 15/0 seed beads on 20/2 cotton. On this site you can buy a materials pack for this design with size 20 cotton included.

In most retail stores you're likely to find only white or ecru in most of the weights; visit my sourcing page for a list of retailers that offer a good color range on line. The put-up is usually in a ball, quantities vary by the gram weight. On the label of the ball you will generally find information about how many yards/meters are in the ball, and with that information you can determine how many you will need. A fifty-gram ball of size 12 perle cotton will create up to ten bead crochet bracelets in tubular bead crochet, perhaps four in Euro bead crochet. Tapestry bead crochet projects will generally give the needed amount in the directions but they are thread-thirsty, so overestimate how much you will need to avoid dye-lot issues.

Nylon thread that is generally used for upholstery is also a good choice; it's a forever thread because it's really plastic, extruded into very fine fibers that are then spun together to form a very stable and strong thread. The best weight for light bead crochet is bonded nylon size 69; it's fine enough to go through a threading needle and will fit through beads size 11/o or larger.

Bonded nylon size 33 can be used for 15/os; I like it for bead crochet earrings because it's very lightweight and extremely strong. It's roughly the size equivalent of beading nylon size F. One disadvantage of nylon: most nylon threads come on cones as their original purpose is for large sewing projects, often outdoor projects like sails, boat cushions and canopies that require massive amounts of thread. If you're doing a lot of crochet, invest in a few neutral colors. You can wind off what you need and onto a winding card, which is portable and lightweight.

More on this in the near future!