Wire Wrapping Tutorial

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Welcome to my first video Tutorial! I'm sure it will be a terrible disappointment! Molly and I are newbies at documenting technique. We'll practice again another day, but for now, here's what we've got.

We're making simple dangle earring using a couple of easy wire wrapping techniques. First, some photos. (If you really like tutorials, you might want to check out Contrariwise ramblings - she's got some really nice ones over there!)

This is what the finished earring will look like. It consists of a lucite briolette, a brass filigree bead cap, a 3mm swarovski crystal, some brass wire colored to match the antiqued finish on the bead cap and a brass lever back ear wire with a loop. You will wnat to cut your wire about 5 inches long if you are a beginner. Shorter lengths can get hard to hold onto and longer lengths get in your way.






These are the tools you will need - a pair of wire cutters, flat nose pliers and round nose pliers, all in jewelry making size.






Start by threading the wire onto the briolette, leaving one end of the wire long (about 2.5 to 3 inches) and one segment short - about 1.5-2 inches. Bend both ends snug up against the top edge of the biolette. Kink the longer end of the wire so that ithalf wraps along the top of the briolette and then continues straight on above the briolette.








Bend the short wire so that it crosses the long wire. Wrap the short end of the wire around the long end one or two times. Trim off the excess from the short wire.



















Slide the bead cap and the swarovski crystal onto the wire. Put a 45 degree angle in the wire about 2 or 3 mm abovethe swarovski crystal.
Holding the long wire with your round nose pliers at the edge of the 45 degree angle, loop the wire up over the pliers and then wrap it around itself until the wire is snug againstthe swarovski crystal and the crystal is snug against the bead cap.



















Trim off the excess wire. You can use the flat nose pliers to tidy up the end of your wrap.





Open the loop on the brass lever back earwires by twisting the loop open to the side. Never wrench the loop open by pulling it wide, that will stress the metal and will be hard to close neatly.





















And here's our attempt at video taping this process. It was a bit gloomy in the studio this afternoon and we're still learning how to use the video feature on the Dimage, but for those of you who like to see the steps and hear someone talk you through them, this may clarify a few things.

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