Homemade jewelry made of wire and large beads of all kinds will be a fashionable and elegant accessory to any look. They are easy to create, but at the same time they look original and expensive. It is important to think over all the details ahead of time and buy the necessary materials and tools.
Of course, the most important thing is to get a wire. The wire is easy to use, but more importantly, it is flexible, discreet and comfortable.
Wire products can be different colors and types, they can suit both women and men.
Tools and materials
In order to independently make a wearable product from wire, you do not have to look for complex devices. All the usual pliers, a hammer, round-nose pliers and a small-sized vice may be needed by everyone.
Only now it should be borne in mind that when working with wire, it is more optimal to use specialized pliers, they have a smoothed inner surface and they cannot damage the material.
Pliers with removable nylon pads can also be attributed to special devices, they serve to straighten an unsuccessfully twisted spiral from a wire.
When choosing a working material, a thick electrical wire, which can be purchased at all electrical stores, deserves more attention.
If the starting material is too hard and does not bend at all, it must be softened by heating over the stove. In this case, it is imperative to work with gloves, otherwise you can easily seriously injure your hands.
In jewelry, wires with a diameter of 1 mm, 0.6 mm and 0.2 mm are most often used.
It is best to use a wire with a diameter of 1 mm, in order to better fill the gap between the beads, if used.
In addition, the thicker the wire, the longer it will last. And if the wire is also thin and the jewelry is with beads, then the accessory will not last long, because the wire, with free movement inside the beads, will rub against their edges and, in the end, being too thin, will simply break.
The lighting should be good, not worth working in the dark or twilight.
Types of weaving wire accessories
Today in the world there are several basic techniques used in the creation of their masterpieces by the masters and creators of the whole world.
Wire wrap
This technology is considered the most popular in its field. With the help of it, you can gracefully braid beads, stones. Thanks to her, original cuffs, earrings, brooches, etc. are obtained.
Viking knit
This weaving technique is not as beautiful and delicate as the previous one, and outwardly reminds everyone of the usual knitting from yarn. It is also called "chain mail".
At the very beginning, when meeting with any kind of creativity, panic and confusion always begins. Where to begin? What if it doesn't work? These are understandable fears, but you should not run away from difficulties and give up without even trying.
The end of the world will not happen from one attempt, but perhaps a new hobby will be found. Just do not immediately take on the most difficult, any science must be comprehended from the very bottom.
For example, it would be nice to try to build a bracelet. You don't need too much for him, just scissors, a pen shaft, wire, glue and rhinestones.
First, of course, you need to build a base. It requires a wire about 20 cm long, rolled into a loop, so that it looks more like a cross. Next, you need a new piece of wire. They need to wrap the first part in zigzag movements.
After 2 rows are made using a similar method, the workpiece itself must be transferred to the back of the handle rod. From this moment on, a new wire is gradually interwoven, with which you need to make "loops" as at the very beginning.
At the end, when the bracelet has reached the desired length, it will have to be removed from the rod, as well as all unnecessary, fixed and decorated with rhinestones.
Precautionary measures
When working with wire, there are some safety rules that must be followed, it is important that a hobby cannot be the cause of a tragedy, even the smallest one.
For safety reasons, it is better to wear gloves before work and hide your eyes behind glasses. Be careful and attentive when working with sharp cutting objects such as round nose pliers or side cutters, otherwise you may accidentally injure yourself.
Simply put, you should not be careless with wire, it is better to act slowly and carefully, so you will be safe, and the decoration will turn out to be even more beautiful.
Photo of wire jewelry
There are plenty of quality ideas and instructions for DIY wire making on the internet. Anyone can easily familiarize themselves with them, and then do something with their own hands. This requires a little: your desire, a small amount of skill, personal time and a couple of handy tools. If all this is available, then the matter remains only for inspiration.
Beginners
What do you need to make a decoration? Usually, the most obvious method is started here - the stroke. To do this, you need to take brass, aluminum, silver and other metals. A thick wire is just needed for the base of this product, and then with a thin one, you can braid everything at the right angle.
Various craftsmen also often add stones, beads and beads here. Then just wonderful unpretentious rings turn out.
Rings
More difficult exercises will go when cutting the wire about 15 centimeters or so. We need it in order to then put beads on it and place them right in the center. When working, use any thing that is similar to the diameter of your finger.
An ordinary candle from hardware store... The wire is wound around the object so that the ends are on both sides. Fasten everything very tightly and everywhere. It is best to scroll somewhere around the beads four times. Then everything can be safely cut off.
The ends should be about one and a half centimeters. Then it must be screwed onto the ring so that the buttonholes are equal. We do the same on the other side. The finger will never prick in this way.
Then, using pliers, press the ends tightly to the rim. The pliers are pushing harder and harder so that the seal is as tight as possible.
The instructions on how to make jewelry out of wire according to the alternative option are identical in the presence of the necessary materials, but their application is different. The wire is wrapped around the candle. A bead is put on one end.
Then the ends are bound together with a binding. Weave the free tip into the one with the bead. From the top, we go to the bottom, and do this trick three times. The decoration is complete.
Bracelets
The technique of making jewelry changes frequently. Very often for good execution the bracelet needs a lot of wire, as well as tools - pliers and round-nose pliers. Don't forget about a variety of beads that will become the brightest elements.
It all starts with a loop at the very base. After one and a half centimeters, another loop is made with the help of round-nose pliers. The ends will then need to be connected and cut. Then you connect all the squares together.
The wire product goes straight into the loop. At the longest end, bend and cut off the excess. We just bend the little one. Then we plant a bead and apply another square. A neat clasp is attached at the end. Bingo!
Earrings
A master class on wire jewelry is usually held with the same auxiliary items. Again, the whole work is built from a loop at the base. An eight must be screwed under it. We repeat everything over and over again. We cut the wire and tighten everything.
After that, the work is already being built with beads. The ends are twisted into a small loop, a bead is stretched in this place, the pliers will then help to form on both sides of the loop. The ends are twisted back.
For hair
Little girls, and those who are older, love to decorate their hair in every way. Learn how to properly weave jewelry such as hairpins and combs.
If you want, you can learn such a simple craft with your own hands. Always draw everything initially on paper so that there are visible landmarks.
It all starts at one turn, and then smoothly flows into the outer circle. As a result, you should get a beautiful circle with a mustache.
Between the beads you will need to turn about 6 curls, and between the details up to 10. Then you will have a pleasant-looking work. Use the smallest details around the edges, and in the middle, use beads.
The same can be safely said about hairpins. Photos of wire jewelry show us that there are not so few options for all kinds. The main thing is to clearly follow all the instructions that you have, but always think so that you can add your own.
Distinctive features always make your item unique and unrepeatable. Particularly high quality options are obtained from copper wire. Here nippers and drills will already be auxiliary.
As a result, you can watch many interesting works from other authors. Everyone has a stormy fantasy. The result is unique miniature works of art. If you automate this process, then there will be no end of clients. This is a very popular thing on the market now.
Photo of wire jewelry
This method can be used to make volumetric openwork wire products of various shapes, especially if the original shape is divided into several volumes, which are made separately, and then all the parts are assembled together.
For example, we will make an openwork oblong bead in the shape of a spindle
We will need
thick (1 mm in diameter) and thin (0.5 mm) wire (you can try other standard sizes of wire).
Beads, beads and other elements for decoration
Tool: pliers, side cutters, awl, ruler, anvil, hammer.
Knitting needle or wire with a diameter of approximately 1.5 mm;
rod or nail,
as well as supporting material: toilet paper and threads.
First, let's prepare a thick wire from which the frame of the bead will be made. We wind a loose spiral on the spoke.
We will stretch the spiral additionally and beat it into a flat snake
Something like this.
We wind up the broken wire and heat it up in the flame of a gas stove burner.
Then we put it in the water. The scale will crumble. Let's wipe the wire. The wire will become soft again.
Now let's prepare the inner base - the "spindle", on which we will wind the wire. This will require toilet paper - pieces torn lengthwise, as well as a metal rod and threads.
Twisting the paper into a bundle we form a "spindle", for which in the center of the "spindle" we put the turns of paper on top of each other.
We wind the last layer of paper like a bandage and fasten it with several turns of thread.
We start to shape the bead. On the "spindle" we wind the broken wire with a spiral, making sure that the turns are at the same distance and the wire lies flat side, not an edge.
Then we apply longitudinal turns, wrapping the wire around the ends of the rod.
We carry out the initial fixing of the bead shape. To do this, we fix the points of intersection of the wire of the frame with coils of thin wire. Enough 3 passes from one end of the bead to the other. It is convenient to start winding from the middle of a piece of thin wire so that the working end is not very long, no more than 1 m.
We put the bead in a cup of water. When the paper gets wet, you need to pull out the core and, using an awl, remove the paper and threads.
The result is such a semi-finished bead.
We begin to decorate it, filling the voids with metal balls, beads, beads. When wrapping, we try to fix the intersections of the thick wire. With the help of an awl and curved pliers, you can correct the shape of the bead, the distance between the turns. It is necessary to take into account that the denser the bead is “woven”, the more rigid the structure becomes.
I got this bead. Used copper balls, beads of 2 types and stone chips from radonite. For this bead 6 cm long and with a maximum diameter of 1.5 cm, about 1.5 m of thick wire 1 mm in diameter and 2 m of thin wire of 0.5 mm in diameter went.
You can create a beautiful decoration or decorative piece of furniture using a variety of different methods... However, they look the most complex and graceful.
Wire history
As a material for creativity and the creation of the necessary household items, people began to use it 3000 years BC. Archaeologists were able to establish that in Sumer (around 2600 BC) wire was used to make women's hair ornaments, which are gold and silver ribbons. Over time, they began to use it for the manufacture of chain mail, candlesticks, brushes for brushing horses and more.
But where did the craftsmen get the wire suitable for such products? Initially, it was created in a rather laborious way: they cut metal sheets into thin strips, then twisted them together and rolled them between two flat sheets. The second way to obtain it was also winding thin metal strips onto a round core. Today it is produced by pulling it through special conical shapes, which is why the method of its production is called drawing.
Wire types
Most often, wire weaving involves the use of copper wire that has a beautiful appearance and color. In addition, brass, steel, silver and aluminum wires are used in needlework. In addition to the entire sale, you can find wire with an additional coating (an alloy of other metals), which allows you to change its color.
Also, an important characteristic of any wire is its diameter. Hand-made uses a wire with a diameter of 0.2 to 2.0 mm.
What do you need to have to work with wire?
Even despite the fact that today there are a large number of special devices and devices, working with wire can hardly be called simple. Indeed, in order to create the simplest jewelry, the master needs to have at hand:
- Pliers
- Side cutters
- Round nose pliers
- Anvil
- Spring winding device
- Hammer
- and Jig-Wig (plate with rows of holes and special attachments of various diameters)
Each of the aforementioned tools needs to be used correctly. And this, of course, takes time. Therefore, you should not expect that everything will work out the first time. Nevertheless, the presence of such difficulties does not mean that wire is an unpopular material among needlewomen. On the contrary, she enjoys special attention among hand-made masters, because it makes it possible to create complex, exclusive jewelry, which has no analogues.
Wire jewelry
Well, now let's get down to the most interesting and tell you what you can create from wire. First of all, these are, of course, earrings, bracelets, rings and all kinds of pendant necklaces. The variety of weaving techniques, as well as their combination with bright stones and other decorative elements, allows you to create a large variety of women's jewelry.
All of them differ in style of design, so they can be selected for a wide variety of occasions.
This is how, for example, they might look like earrings:
Most of them have a complex curled shape. Some are made in the form of small studs, while others, on the contrary, are made in the form of large and massive earrings. Here are some examples:
As already mentioned, chains and pendants are often made from wire. Chains can have completely different shapes and diameters, which completely depends on the chosen weaving technique. In addition, needlewomen often like to complement them with extraordinary shaped pendants, which together looks pretty and rather original.
As for pendants, then they can either completely consist of wire, or represent a cabochon braided by it. The choice of one or another or a pendant completely depends on the imagination of the master and the materials at his disposal.
If desired, you can also make full-fledged wire from the wire jewelry sets... Below is a video tutorial on how this is done in practice. During it, you can see what it costs the master to create with my own hands even a seemingly very elementary decoration:
Wire rings:
However, do not assume that the wire is no longer good for anything. Everything is possible in the world of handmade. Therefore, in many homes you can see wicker trees, stands, candlesticks, bottle holders, decorative figurines and many other wire products.
Alternatively, it can be so cute butterflies and dragonflies:
They all fit perfectly into modern interior, and can also be matched to decorate a house decorated in any other style.
For beads
Instruments: wire cutters, pliers
Assembly:
In my work, I will use a large number of materials to show the most diverse selection of accessories that can be used in the assembly of this jewelry. It is not necessary to use all of them at once, as I will do it. There are very beautiful jewelry, where two, three, or even one type of beads are enough, and they will look no worse if you used all the elements that I will use in my master class. We need tools. If this tool is not available, it can be replaced with scissors.
The first thing we need is to unwind the wire. For the basis of decorating our hairstyle, we need a piece of wire 20-25 cm long. In order not to constantly twist the ends of the wires together, I recommend doing all the work on one piece of wire. Therefore, to our base, which is 20-25 cm long, we add another 1 meter of wire and cut this segment from the common coil.
For the top of my hair, I will use 1 twin bead and 1 plain bead. First, we pass the edge of the wire through one hole of the twin bead, and then through a simple bead. And we move them along the segment so that on one side of the strung beads the length of the wire segment is 20-25 cm, and on the other side of the beads the length of the wire will be equal to 1 meter.
Next, take the short edge of the wire, remind you that its length is 20-25 centimeters and pass it through the second hole of the twin bead. We are tightening. After that, the beads must be twisted on the wire. 10 turns are enough. The beginning of our twig is ready.
We proceed to the next branch, which will consist of 5 small ones. We string them over the long edge of the wire. We move them to the first branch. Holding the beads with one hand, we begin to bend the wire, forming a circle out of the beads that resembles a flower. Then we twist the wire together until we reach the previous element with the top.
The second element of the twig is ready. To proceed to the next step in making a hair ornament, you need to twist the wires along the main stem of the twig. Having gone down a little with the help of twisting the wire along the main trunk, we can proceed to add further branches. At the same time, when we twist along the main trunk of the branch, we bring out the long edge of the wire on the right. And it is on the right every time we will collect a new branch, leaving the previous branch on the left.
Our next twig will consist of one river pearl bead. We string it again on a long piece of wire and move it to the rest of the elements. We measure out the desired length of the leg and begin twisting to the main trunk. After that, we make several twists around the main trunk of the branch.
Add the next three branches in the same way as we added a branch with a river pearl bead. For this we first apply a glass bead bicone, then a transparent bead and matte.
I want to draw your attention to the fact that with each branch it is necessary to make its leg slightly longer than that of the previous branch. If we make them all the same length, then the branch will turn out to be quite small and not bulky.
Next, I propose to make the element in the form of a leaf. We collect 7 beads on the long edge of the wire. We find the penultimate bead, which we put on the wire, and through it we pass the wire again in the opposite direction and tighten it. It turns out our last bead and will fix the edge of the leaf. After we have fixed the beads, we collect five more beads on the free edge of the wire. We get a pattern in the form of a leaf. With one hand we hold the beads so that they do not run away, and with the other hand we begin to twist them neatly.
This leaf has a rather long leg. Therefore, you can make a branch from it and add another element. To do this, I take a twin bead, pass it along the wire only through one hole and make a small twig out of it. This twig is connected with a twig of a petal made of beads. Next, we twist them to the base of the common branch, and then we scroll several times and the common base itself.
Now we will make another branch, which will consist of three small branches, at the end of which, we will use bicone-shaped beads. We string one bicone first. Next, while measuring the desired length of the leg, we do several twists. About half of our leg. We string the second bicone on the wire. We measure the desired length of the leg and also twist it. Then we do several turns of total twisting with two bicones. Now you can string the third bicone. We tried on a leg and twisted it along this branch, and then twigs to the main column.
Now we will show you how to make elements with large beads for our decoration. Add a few more branches on the right and left sides of the common column of the branch, using for this a different number of beads and branches. We will also collect one branch using a decorative element in the form of a leaf. And add the next twig with a bead and decorate it with bead caps. We have a long twig ready.
Now let's get down to the short branch that will be on our side. For this we take the long end of the wire. We roughly measure the length of our future twig and stringing the fittings one by one in the desired order, collect the twig and twist it.
Next, we need to fix the twig on the hairpin. We take the short end of the wire and through the nearest branches we make several turns around the hairpin. We pull our wire tightly so that our product does not dangle on the hairpin in the future and sit tightly. When fastening, you can add a few more decorative elements or twigs. For this we use the long end of the wire. The winding around the hairpin can be hidden using any large bead, securing it with a wire at the very base of the hairpin. We twist the remaining ends of the wire around the hairpin and remove the excess with the help of wire cutters. Press the edges of the wires with pliers so that they do not prick or hide the ends of the wires in the nearest beads.
The hair ornament is ready! You can make such jewelry for hairstyles with your own hands from a wide variety of accessories, as well as various shapes, colors and sizes of beads.
Everything necessary materials, which I used in this master class, you will find in our online store of accessories for jewelry. For a more detailed explanation of the assembly of this decoration, you can watch our video master class:
