Beginner's Corner

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24
Jul 09

Lesson 2: Wire Wrapping

The previous lesson showed how to make a basic earring loop. In this lesson we’ll teach you how to do wrapped loops which can be used for earrings, links, dangles, etc. It’s a very versatile technique! Here are the tools and supplies you’ll need:

Tools-
Round nose pliers
Chainnose pliers
Cutters
Supplies-
Earwire
Headpin
Beads

1. Stack the beads on a headpin (be sure to leave about an inch of wire exposed above the beads). Sterling or gold-filled headpins are preferred for wrapping.

2. Grip the headpin with roundnose pliers above the bead (not pressed up directly on the bead…you want have room to wrap).

3. Bend wire away from you up around pliers.

4. Reposition the pliers above the bend. For a smaller loop, place the wire near the tip of the jaws. For a larger loop, place the wire farther up the jaws.

5. Bend the wire towards you going over the top jaw of the pliers.

This photo shows the wire after it has been bent over the top part of the pliers and back down.

6. Reposition pliers and bend the wire across the stem (the vertical shaft of the headpin).

7. Grasp the loop with the tip of your chainnose pliers. Wrap the wire around the stem. Wrap tightly and be sure not to overlap the wire (each loop should be just below the previous one so it spirals down the headpin). Make three complete wraps around the stem.

The partly completed wrap.

The wrap is completed. Now it’s time to trim the wire.

8. Trim the excess wire. Cut with the wire away from you and pointed down so the cut piece doesn’t hit you or someone else in the eye! With practice you can put a finger on the piece to be cut so it doesn’t become a projectile.

The excess wire is trimmed but leaves a sharp end. Clean-up time!

9. Use the tip of the chainnose pliers to gently squeeze the cut end up against the headpin. Don’t chip the bead!

The finished wrap–nice work!

10. Open the loop of the earwire. Remember to open it by gently bending it sideways, perpendicular to the plane of the wire.

11. Slip the earring loop over the earwire and close the earwire loop.

Finished! Note that this loop is very strong. A regular loop (previous lesson) can open up if the earring is tugged (babies love to tug earrings); a wrapped loop won’t open under any normal conditions.

Final thoughts: This technique requires more practice to master than the basic loop, but your efforts will be well-rewarded. Your local bead store (I hope you have one!) probably offers classes in making linked bracelets or other types of jewelry using this technique. In our next lesson we’ll show some examples of ways to use wrapping to make links for earring dangles, bracelets, etc.


Beginner's Corner — 1 Comment
23
Jun 09

Lesson 1: Why is beading so much fun?

The short answer is: because it’s so easy!

Let me tell you a story. Back in 1992 when Caravan Beads was still a very young business, most of the customers who came in were clueless. (We owners were also clueless, but had practiced enough beading so that we could make jewelry that looked nice and held together and this gave us confidence to help other beginners.) These first-time customers entered the store, looked around with expressions that varied from puzzled to bewildered, and asked “What do you do here?”

And we’d reply, “We help folks make their own jewelry.”

“Really!” they would say. Or sometimes: “Really?” We could tell they had doubts. After some trialing and erroring, we figured out that earrings were a great place to start. Mostly these curious potential customers were women with pierced ears: prime candidates to take up beading—they just didn’t know it yet.

“Let me show you how easy it is. Follow me.” This became our standard line. We’d introduce the customer to headpins, help them select earwires, ask them their favorite color, and before you could turn around three times and sing Yankee Doodle, they’d be holding a finished pair of earrings.

“That’s amazing! It’s so easy!” Huge smile, sparkling eyes, another bead addict born and ready to shop for beads.

Now it’s 2009, seventeen years later, and guess what? New beaders are still coming into our store and we’re still helping them get started. “You’ll show us how? We can use your worktable? That’s great!” Or the ones whose friends drag them through the door saying: “You’re going to love it, I promise!”

Now I’ve put this entry in the beginner’s corner of this blog, so just in case you have not yet had the pleasure of visiting a bead store—which means you have a great adventure in your future!—let me build a simple earring right now. I’ll need these tools:

  • Round nose pliers
  • Cutters



And these supplies:

  • An earwire
  • A headpin
  • Beads

In its simplest form a headpin is a straight wire with a small flattened bit at one end, like the head of a very small nail (#1 in the image below). They can also end in balls (#2) or be quite fancy like the swirly headpins (#3). There are lots of other variations not only in headpin styles but also in earwires; three are shown in the photo. In each case the ‘head’ of the headpin keeps the beads in place.


Headpin end closeup:



The steps are:

  1. Choose beads and stack them on the headpin.
  2. Bend the earwire at a right angle above the beads and trim it with the cutters.
  3. Make a loop with the roundnose pliers.
  4. Slip the earwire onto the loop and close the loop.
  5. Admire your handiwork!

Stack the beads.

Bend the wire.

Trim the wire.

Grab the tip of the wire with the roundnose pliers and roll a nice loop.

The finished loop. Practice makes perfect. Your first loops probably won’t be perfect. Save your scrap wires to practice with!

Open the loop of the earwire. Do this by pulling or pushing the end of the loop perpendicular to the plane of the earwire. (Don’t worry; the bead store folks will show you!) Slip on the earwire and close the loop back up so the earwire can’t fall off. (And so the earring can’t fall off either…)

Et voila! A finished earring made with a sterling silver headpin, earwire, and spacers, and three sizes of Swarovski crystal cubes for some classy sparkle! Good job! I have nothing against mail order catalogs, but do you know how much you save when you make your own jewelry?

Some closing notes for new beaders. The earrings shown above are the easiest kind to make. There are innumerable variations but it’s not a bad idea to start simple, especially if you don’t have someone to help you. Once you learn how to make proper loops—and it’s not hard; you just need practice—the sky’s the limit. In another post I’ll show how to make wrapped loops which can also be used for making linked bracelets, necklace dangles, and more. Fun!

Thanks for reading!
Barry