What should beading creators offer on Patreon?

Beading creators offer four categories of exclusive content. (1) Stitch-count patterns — precise bead counts by row, Miyuki Delica color codes (e.g., DB-0010 Black, DB-0166 Opaque AB Yellow), and thread path diagrams that show where the needle enters and exits each bead across multiple passes. (2) Color charts and bead substitution guides — the creator's tested equivalencies for beads that are out of stock or not carried by a patron's local supplier, including which Czech Preciosa codes approximate which Miyuki Delica tones for bead embroidery applications where exact dimensional match is less critical. (3) Video tutorials with macro close-up of the thread path through the beads — the level of detail that stitch diagrams compress out, particularly for multi-pass stitches like RAW and cubic RAW where thread direction through a shared bead changes depending on which unit is being added. (4) Q&A and critique — patrons submit photos of work-in-progress with questions about tension, thread path errors, and color placement decisions.

How does the Apple Tax affect beading creator Patreons?

Beading creator iOS rates: YouTube beading tutorials 60–75% iOS (close-up process content viewed on mobile; learners following a pattern at their bead mat often prop a tablet); Instagram bead jewelry photography 78–88% iOS (highly visual discovery content is mobile-primary); TikTok beading 75–85% iOS. A beading creator at $200/month with 65% iOS faces approximately $39/month ($468/year) in Apple fees beginning November 1, 2026. At $350/month with 70% iOS: approximately $73.50/month ($882/year). A TikTok-primary creator at $300/month with 80% iOS: approximately $72/month ($864/year). Enable Patreon's web-only billing toggle before October 31, 2026. Update all YouTube description links and Instagram bio links to point to the Patreon web URL directly so patrons who subscribe through a browser bypass Apple billing entirely.

What makes beading Patreon patterns more valuable than free resources?

Free beading patterns provide bead counts and a color palette. Patreon patterns add the technical layer: exact Miyuki Delica color codes so a patron ordering from a supplier can match the creator's colorway exactly rather than guessing from a screenshot; thread path diagrams showing each needle pass through every bead in a repeat rather than just the finished row schematic; tension notes explaining how tight to pull the working thread for the specific stitch (peyote for a stiff cuff requires firmer tension than RAW for a flexible drape); and troubleshooting annotations organized by visible error — if the patron's finished piece shows a twist, a loose join, or an inconsistent row alignment, the creator's note identifies which step in the thread path produced the error and how to diagnose it from the finished work. This diagnostic layer is the primary value that a Patreon pattern delivers over a free pattern.

What tier structure works for seed bead weaving creators on Patreon?

Seed bead weaving creators typically use three tiers: Single Bead ($5/month: one pattern PDF per month, Miyuki Delica color codes and basic bead count grid), Row by Row ($15/month: full stitch-count charts with color keys, thread path diagrams for each row, tension notes, and troubleshooting guide for the specific stitch family), Full Collection ($35/month: video tutorials with close-up thread path footage, monthly live Q&A session, early access to new patterns before public release). The Row by Row tier's back-catalog — access to all previously released patterns and their thread path diagrams — is structurally retentive because a patron working through a curriculum of stitches (peyote → brick → herringbone → RAW) has invested practice time in the creator's specific notation system and loses a compatible reference library at cancellation.

Explainers · 2026-07-14 · ~1,200 words

Patreon for beading and seed bead weaving creators: tiers, stitch mechanics, thread selection, iOS rates, and the Apple Tax in 2026

Beading Patreons retain when they deliver what the tutorial video cannot show at working scale: the precise thread path through each bead in a multi-pass stitch, the Miyuki Delica color codes that allow a patron to reproduce the creator's exact colorway, and the tension annotation that distinguishes a peyote stitch for a rigid cuff from RAW for a flexible drape. The stitch-count pattern back-catalog — where value compounds as each new pattern builds on a shared notation system — is the most structurally retentive offering for off-loom beading instructors.

Creator types and tier structure

Off-loom seed bead weavers

Tier structure: Single Bead ($5/month, one pattern PDF per month), Row by Row ($15/month, full stitch-count charts, color keys with Miyuki Delica color codes, and thread path diagrams), Full Collection ($35/month, video tutorials, live Q&A, and early access to new patterns).

Off-loom weavers publish peyote, brick, herringbone, Right Angle Weave (RAW), and cubic RAW patterns. Patreon content centers on the stitch-count chart — a row-by-row bead count grid with Miyuki Delica numbers (e.g., DB-0010 Black, DB-0166 Opaque AB Yellow) — combined with thread path diagrams that show where the needle enters and exits each bead across multiple passes. This is the technical layer that distinguishes a publishable pattern from a finished-object photograph: a patron who can see the thread path diagram can reproduce the work; a patron who can only see the photo cannot. Step-by-step tutorials with close-up footage of the needle and thread moving through the beads fill the gap between the diagram and the physical execution.

Loom beaders

Tier structure: Warp ($5/month, one loom chart per month), Loom Work ($15/month, full loom charts with warp thread count, finishing and tie-off diagrams, pattern documentation), Studio ($35/month, video process documentation, live Q&A, advanced geometric pattern sets).

Traditional loom beaders document warp thread count (always one thread more than the bead count per row — a 20-bead-wide pattern requires 21 warp threads), geometric pattern charts influenced by Native American beadwork traditions, and finishing techniques including how to secure the warp threads at both ends without the weft unraveling. The finishing documentation is underrepresented in free resources: a loom piece with unsecured warp threads will unravel; the specific threading path for finishing varies by the length of the tail left and the needle size used. Patreon finishing guides organized by pattern width and thread type solve a problem that costs learners a completed piece to discover.

Bead embroidery artists

Tier structure: Stitch ($5/month, one project guide per month), Studio Notes ($15/month, full embroidery patterns, cabochon bezeling guides, bead sourcing documentation), Sculptural ($35/month, three-dimensional project tutorials, video close-ups of stitch attachment to fabric, material testing notes).

Bead embroidery artists sew seed beads onto fabric backing (Ultrasuede, Lacy's Stiff Stuff, or pellon interfacing) using backstitch, couching, or lazy stitch. Patreon content documents the bezeling technique for cabochons — the process of surrounding a flat-backed stone with a peyote or brick stitch bezel that holds the stone without adhesive — and distinguishes sourcing between Preciosa Czech beads and Miyuki Japanese beads. Czech beads run slightly larger and more variable in diameter, which matters less in embroidery where tight peyote alignment is not required; Miyuki 11° rounds produce a more consistent fabric texture when the stitch pattern requires evenness. Sculptural beadwork that builds three-dimensional forms requires additional documentation of internal structure and load distribution.

Seed bead sizing, types, and technical specifications

Seed bead size is measured in "aught" (°) units, a system inherited from older wire gauge conventions: 15° ≈ 1.5mm, 11° ≈ 2mm, 8° ≈ 3mm, 6° ≈ 4mm. Counter-intuitively, higher aught numbers correspond to smaller beads. Miyuki Delica beads are precision-cylinder beads with ±0.1mm diameter tolerance, consistent wall thickness (0.35–0.40mm), and flat ends that allow them to sit flush against each other in peyote and brick stitch — producing a tight, even fabric that round seed beads cannot achieve at the same tension. Delica codes follow the format DB-XXXX (DB = Delica, 4-digit color code). Miyuki round seed beads in 11° are slightly variable in shape, creating a more organic fabric texture than Delica — desirable in some wearable jewelry but problematic for geometric pattern precision. Finish types for both: AB (Aurora Borealis, iridescent top coat), Picasso (speckled surface, variable coverage), and Matte (acid-etched opaque surface). Toho seed beads are a Japanese alternative to Miyuki, available in round and triangle cross-section ("Toho triangles" in 11° and 5°); they tend to run slightly larger than Miyuki equivalents at the same aught size, making direct substitution require a swatch test. Czech Preciosa seed beads run slightly more variable in diameter than Japanese beads and tend to be slightly larger; they are widely used in bead embroidery where precise peyote alignment is less critical and the cost-per-gram advantage is significant for large-coverage projects.

Peyote stitch (flat even-count) places each bead in odd-numbered rows nestled between two beads of the previous row. The working thread path: pass through an "up bead" (a bead protruding above the plane), pick up a new bead, skip one bead of the previous row, pass through the next up bead, repeat. The "zip" join — where two flat peyote strips are joined by interlocking their up beads — requires that both strips have the same up-bead count and that the thread path follows a figure-eight around alternating beads. Brick stitch places beads vertically like bricks: each bead in row N+1 loops under the exposed thread bridge between two beads in row N rather than passing through the beads themselves. The foundation row for brick stitch is a ladder stitch — two beads side by side threaded through twice from opposite directions to create a double thread path and lock the starting position. Brick stitch can taper and curve freely by adding or skipping bridges, which peyote cannot do without count changes visible in the finished pattern. Herringbone (Ndebele) stitch creates pairs of beads angled toward each other, producing a V-shaped chevron pattern. The 4-bead start builds two pairs in a ladder; each subsequent row picks up 2 beads for each pair, passing down through one bead and up through the next. Tubular herringbone creates a rope; flat herringbone requires turn-around thread paths at each row edge. Right Angle Weave (RAW) assembles 4-bead units — each unit shares one bead with the adjacent unit — creating a flexible two-dimensional fabric. The thread must change direction inside each unit, always traveling around the unit in the direction that places the pickup bead correctly for the next unit. Cubic RAW extends this into three dimensions: each cube face is a RAW unit, and the cubes share beads on adjacent faces to create structural three-dimensional forms.

Fireline (Berkley) is an ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) braided thread; 6lb test measures 0.17mm diameter, 8lb test 0.20mm. UHMWPE is extremely abrasion-resistant against the glass edges of seed bead holes, which cut softer threads over repeated passes. Fireline does not stretch, producing firm tension in structural pieces. It is available in "smoke" (grey, preferred for dark bead colorways to conceal the thread in the holes) and "crystal" (white/clear, for light or transparent beads). Fireline benefits from conditioning with beeswax or Thread Heaven to reduce tangling and static. KO Thread (Toho) is a Japanese nylon beading thread at 0.15mm diameter; softer and more drapey than Fireline, with a slight stretch that can actually benefit wearable jewelry by absorbing tension stress at connection points. KO is easier to thread through size 12 and 13 beading needles due to its softer eye-entry. Miyuki One-G is Japanese nylon at 0.20mm, slightly stiffer than KO and preferred for structural off-loom work. Beading needle sizes are counterintuitive: size 10 is the standard long needle for 11° beads; size 12 is fine enough for 15° beads; size 13 and 15 are needed when multiple thread passes fill a 15° bead's hole in later rows of a pattern. Japanese beading needles (Miyuki, Tulip) have more consistent eyes than English needles (John James) but are more brittle; English needles are sturdier for patterns that require prying or repositioning.

Apple Tax for beading creator audiences

iOS rates: YouTube beading tutorials 60–75% iOS (close-up process content viewed on mobile; learners following a pattern at a bead mat often prop a tablet); Instagram bead jewelry photography 78–88% iOS (highly visual discovery content is mobile-primary); TikTok beading 75–85% iOS. A beading creator at $200/month with 65% iOS: approximately $39/month ($468/year) from November 1, 2026. At $350/month with 70% iOS: approximately $73.50/month ($882/year). A TikTok-primary creator at $300/month with 80% iOS: approximately $72/month ($864/year). Use the KeepTier Apple Tax calculator to model your specific iOS rate and monthly revenue. Enable Patreon's web-only billing toggle before October 31, 2026 and update all YouTube description and Instagram bio links to point to the Patreon web URL so patrons who subscribe through a browser are billed directly and not through Apple.

KeepTier is a self-hosted membership page for creators who want 100% of their tier revenue and zero Apple tax. Plans start at $9/month.