Wirework Tools

I thought it might be useful to show you some of the tools I use for making jewellery with wire. There are a variety of tools available, each designed specifically for particular types of work.

I use a set of pliers and wire cutters, which I bought from Beads Direct: http://www.beadsdirect.co.uk/tools/jewellery-pliers/. I was attracted to the purple sparkly ones, but they also do a limited edition set in pink sparkle. London Jewellery School have recently started selling a pink set too, which looks to be good value for money, although it does contain slightly fewer tools: http://blog.londonjewelleryschool.co.uk/2012/12/14/ljs-pliers-kit-and-other-gift-ideas/
If you do a search online I'm sure there will be many other places you can buy the tools from.

Here's some information about each of the different tools I use. There are others you can get but these are some of the main ones:

Wire Cutters

This is a pair of side cutters, used to cut soft wires and threads. They tend to provide a neat and smooth edge.

End cutters are another type of wire cutter you can use, although not as common as side cutters and I don't own any of these. They can be used for work with thicker wire and metal.

Chain-Nose Pliers

Chain-nose pliers are essential for jewellery making and are used for bending wire and opening and closing jump rings. They have small flat ends.

Flat-Nose Pliers

Flat-nose pliers have a flat surface like chain-nose pliers but are wider. They are good for holding and bending wire and for straightening any kinks in the wire.

Round-Nose Pliers

Round nose pliers are really useful for creating loops and bends with wire. You can use them to create coils and they are perfect for adding charms to jewellery. You can buy different sized round nose pliers to make various loop sizes.

Bent-Nose Pliers

I tend not to use the bent-nose pliers so much but they can be useful for getting into hard to reach places to hold wire in place.

Wedding jewellery

I went on the Beginners Tiara Making course at the London Jewellery School today, taught by Gail Florio:

http://londonjewelleryschool.co.uk/beading-and-wire/beginners-tiara-making/ 

It was fun getting to play with all the Swarovski crystals and pearl beads. We learnt how to measure and make a tiara to fit, how to make and attach fans, trees and flowers, wire twisting, and decorating hair clips and combs. I also learnt a bit more about what you can do with wires of different thickness.

You can use the materials they have in the class and you can also bring along your own components to add to a tiara. The lady next to me was creating a tiara for a family member and had brought along a stunning brooch which was incorporated onto the side of the tiara along with diamantes.

I made a tiara, 2 hair combs, and a couple of hair grips:

More starry stuff!

I recently had a go at making these earrings, based on a project in Linda Jones' 'Making beautiful bead and wire jewellery'. The tutorial used different types of beads from the ones I have used here, but the effect is very similar. The hardest bit is getting the hoops to stay round. I still haven't worked this one out but I think maybe they need hammering to make them harder. I suppose not being perfectly round gives them a more handmade look!

Beadtastic

Here are a couple of things I made on Sunday. I plan to make the dragonfly into a brooch for my Grandma (It's from a design by Linda Jones in 'Making Beautiful Bead and Wire Jewelry). The other one is a wire wrapping experimentation on one of my resin pieces.

Dragonfly

Here's something I made earlier, inspired by a project in a new book Toby bought for me (Making Beautiful Bead & Wire Jewelry by Linda Jones). It could be used for a hairgrip, brooch, or necklace.

Red

Today I thought you might like to see a red necklace I made recently using red pearl beads and some red crafty bits I found in Hobbycraft. I made one of the red pearl beads the focal point by wrapping it with some red wire.

Beginners Beading

Today I went to my Beginners Beading day course at London Jewellery School. It was a fun day where we made bracelets, earrings and necklaces. Some of the things we were taught I'd already had a go at myself, but there were some techniques I didn't know and I'll definitely be trying them out at home. The tutor was really enthusiastic and helpful, so I think I might go back for other courses.

The first thing we made was a bracelet using elastic. This isn't that exciting but I learnt how hide the joining knot inside a bead:

Then we made bracelets using memory wire. This always springs back into shape, a bit like a slinky. I like this technique, although next time I might use less wire to make fewer coils.

From this we moved on to earrings. I've made earrings before but had bought my own ear wires (the bits you put through your ear). We were taught how to make our own ear wires, which is surprisingly simple and you only need to use one set of pliers (the round nosed ones). You need to file the ends of the wire too, otherwise they'll be too sharp to go through your ears:

Lastly, we made necklaces. The first is called an illusion necklace, using a wire called Tigertail. This is a metal wire with a nyclon coating. We also used crimps, which  are tiny beads you squeeze together using crimp tools. They keep your beads in place and crimp covers can also be used at the ends of your jewellery to hide a crimp bead. I made the clasps, using a similar technique to the one you use to make ear wires:

This is a necklace I made with a tassel, also using crimp beads but with nylon wire instead of tiger tail:

Wire wrapped beads

I just made these wire wrapped bead earrings for my sister to match the bracelet I made her (in the post below). I made them by creating two coils with the wire and then wrapping this around the bead. You can also do this using marbles, although I think it would be harder to keep them in place. You'd have to work out the exact length of wire needed. Anyway, I'm really pleased with these as a first attempt so will be trying this out again.

Bead threading and a coil hook fastener

Experimenting with the Daisy Chain beadweaving technique. You can make this using thread and a needle.

Earrings made using the Daisy Chain beadweaving technique. I made the daisies using very thing wire and then attached them to silver plated earwires.

This is an attempt at a single St. Petersburg chain, using beads and wire. You're meant to use thread, which I discovered is necessary when the wire snapped part way through! This style of chain is from Russia and is becoming more popular around the world.

A bracelet I made for my sister. I have made and added a coil hook fastener instead of using an already made t-bar fastener like the ones in the first bracelets I made. I think it looks more interesting.

The coil hook fastener

Filled wire heart and bracelet using closed loops

 I made this heart by creating the shape free-form but you can also buy something called a jig, which you put pegs in and wrap the wire round them to make shapes. This came out a bit big so I think it looks best as a decoration but you can make pendants and brooches like this.

 I made this bracelet to practice creating closed loops. Closed loops are the loops either side of the beads. You can create them using round nosed and chain nosed pliers. I've found it hard creating loops the same size but I guess you get there with practice!

Experimenting

I've been experimenting by trying to see what sorts of things I can do by adapting the cocktail ring making method. These are made using 1mm wire. The bracelet will remain unfinished as it was difficult to get the wire to bend into the correct size, so I chopped some off to try and create a bracelet that you push onto your wrist and it ended up being a bit messy.

I've been limited by the beads and material available to me but have just bought lots of different coloured beads and jewellery findings from two good online shops: http://www.beadsdirect.co.uk/ and http://www.beadsunlimited.co.uk/ These have all sorts of materials for jewellery making as well as example projects you can try. I'm particularly excited about making a necklace and bracelet from these Italian Millefiori beads and glass lamp beads:

My first ring!

Today my purple sparkly jewellery pliers arrived:

I also ordered some sliver plated beading wire, Japanese Miyuki lavender fringe beads and Czech glass cream pearl beads. I'd been waiting for these in order to have a go at making a Cocktail ring: http://www.londonjewelleryschool.co.uk/projects-make-cocktail-rings/ 

These are some pictures of the ring I made. It was much harder to make than it looks, possibly because my beading wire was slightly thicker than that suggested. Some of the beads are a little loose and I'm not very happy with the roundness of the ring (it's a little bent) but I am pleased with it as a first attempt.