Beadrepeat / the counting method
A partial repeat
still needs a full count.
Repeating patterns are easy to describe and surprisingly easy to miscount when the final section stops partway through. Beadrepeat counts complete repeats, then follows the start of the sequence for the remaining positions.
One token means one bead
Write one complete repeating sequence, separating bead names with commas. For example, Blue, Blue, White, Gold has four positions and uses two Blue beads, one White and one Gold every time it repeats.
The order matters. Blue, White, Blue, Gold uses the same quantities in a complete repeat, but a partial final repeat can use different colours. Bead names are matched exactly after spaces around each token are removed. “Blue” and “blue” are separate names. Use consistent spelling if you mean the same product.
Count full repeats and the prefix
The finished bead count is the total number of positions to fill. It is not the number of repeats. Divide that count by the length of one repeat. The whole-number quotient gives complete repeats; the remainder is filled from the beginning of the same sequence.
Full repeats = whole-number part of (finished count ÷ repeat length)
Partial positions = finished count remainder repeat length
Beads of one name = full repeats × its count in one repeat + its count in the partial prefix
Example 1: thirty beads, four-position repeat
For Blue, Blue, White, Gold and a finished count of 30, there are 7 full repeats and 2 additional positions. The complete repeats use 14 Blue, 7 White and 7 Gold. The last two positions are both Blue, so the finished pattern needs 16 Blue, 7 White and 7 Gold.
The base counts always sum to the finished bead count. Extra allowance and packet rounding are applied later, so they do not change the actual pattern or add unplanned positions to it.
Extra allowance is per bead name
A spare allowance increases each name's base count, then rounds that result up to a whole bead. With 10% extra, 16 Blue becomes 17.6 and rounds to 18. Each count of 7 becomes 7.7 and rounds to 8. The quantity targets are therefore 18, 8 and 8: 34 beads in total.
This per-name rounding can produce more beads than rounding one combined total. That is deliberate: spare Blue cannot replace a missing Gold position in a fixed colour pattern. The calculator never adds a spare for a name whose base count is zero.
Whole packets are separate for each name
Packet size is one shared count for every bead name. If each packet contains 10 beads, the 18 Blue target needs 2 Blue packets. White and Gold each need one packet. The shopping list is 4 packets and 40 beads.
The table's spare-beyond-base column compares the actual packet purchase with the pattern count. Blue has 20 − 16 = 4 spare, while White and Gold each have 10 − 7 = 3 spare. This includes both the chosen extra allowance and any packet overage.
If your suppliers sell different packet sizes for different colours, do not treat the shared packet calculation as a mixed-size shopping list. Use packet size 1 to get individual bead targets, then check actual offers separately.
Example 2: stopping before a colour appears
For Red, White, Blue and a finished count of 1, the result is 1 Red, 0 White and 0 Blue. All three names remain visible so you can see the full repeat, but zero-use names require zero packets. There is no reason to purchase a colour simply because it occurs later in the repeating sequence.
Example 3: loose beads and an exact repeat
For Black, White, White and a finished count of 12, four complete repeats need 4 Black and 8 White. With no extra allowance and packet size 1, the purchase is exactly those 12 beads. With a 25% allowance, the individual targets become 5 Black and 10 White.
What the diagram and exports mean
The coloured swatches are identifiers to make the sequence readable; they are not product photographs or a promise that a named bead matches the displayed colour. The preview shows up to 60 positions from the final sequence, while the counts include every requested position.
Copy the plan, download a CSV or print the list after calculation. The CSV has one row per exact bead name and whole-number columns for base count, extra target, packets, purchase count and spare beyond base. Names that begin with spreadsheet formula characters are prefixed with an apostrophe in the CSV to keep them as text.
This is a quantity calculator. Bead dimensions, physical finished length, string or wire, knots, clasps, breakage, age suitability and product safety are outside its counting model. Your sequence and measurements stay in this browser tab. Count your pattern →