Sunday, January 6, 2013

Wire Weaving

Have you ever looked at my second page where I list all of the jewelry blogs that I read? I have a handful of wire weavers listed.  I love the look of woven wire.  Nicole Hanna gifted me with a tutorial some time ago and I have finally gotten around to my first attempt at wire weaving.

Look what I made:
Gemstone Drops
Of course the camera shows all the flaws the naked eye will not see- especially the nicks on the wire.  Recall that this is my very first attempt at wire weaving and should not reflect poorly on Nicole's finished pieces.

I am quite proud of these earrings. (Yes, I know they don't have ear wires yet so they are not technically earrings.)

They took me a few hours to make.  The tutorial was well written.  The process was fun and actually not as difficult as I expected.

I think this design might be adaptable to a bar and toggle clasp.  Now to think of an appropriate bar.

Here is a second picture:
Gemstone Drops again
If you can make wire wrapped loops I think you can make these.  Nicole Hanna does not currently have this particular tutorial posted, but her tutorials can be found here: Nicole Hanna Tutorials

I am planning on letting Nicole know I not only made her earrings but posted about them so perhaps she will repost this tutorial.  She identifies these as "intermediate advanced" yet when she gifted me with a tutorial I told her to pick something out for me knowing that I had no wire weaving experience.  You may want to look through what she has to offer.  She currently has a round pair of earrings that are very similar:  Geometric Post Earrings.  However, I think I might like to try my hand at these: Darling Dangle Earrings

Really, I am quite tickled with my accomplishment. 

22 comments:

  1. How nice to see this post and your generous kind words! And I see no flaws here! These turned out beautifully. I did "re-imagine" and updated these earrings into the Geometric Posts that you mentioned, just round instead of a drop, but same principle applies! I'm really glad you enjoyed the tutorial.

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    1. Wow that was fast. I like both versions. I do like the tear drop shape because it is for a wire not a post.

      I really did love the tutorial.

      I also deleted your two comments which were the same as this one, not sure why it posted 3 times.

      Thank you for the tutorial.

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  4. These are so pretty, and I like the idea of adapting them as a clasp -- it would be beautiful!

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    1. Thanks Bobbie. I am still thinking about the design for the bar. I would love to be making my own clasps.

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  5. They look terrific, and so intricate!

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    1. Thank you. I highly recommend the tutorial.

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  6. These are really lovely! You found a good design and did a nice job with it. Here's me wondering if wire wrapping could be adapted to needle weaving. Lol! Because the results are appealing, even to someone who is for sure not a wire worker. :)

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    1. Thank you Marsha, I cannot believe just how proud of myself I am.

      If by needle weaving you mean beads and thread it might just work; you would still need a wire base to work from. Nicole is very friendly and if you write to her I am sure she could help you figure out if the effort might just work. She has a contact button on her website.

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  7. Wow~these are beautiful! It would really make a gorgeous clasp too. I admire anyone who can use wire. It is not something I ever became comfortable with. Those Darling Dangle Earrings are beautiful...can't wait to see your version.

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    1. Thank you Christine. I am amazed that it was not as difficult as anticipated.

      My bigger issue with woven wire work is that I do not have the vision to create; that could be due to lack of experience.

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  8. KJ it was hard for me to believe that this was your first attempt at wire work, the earrings look as though they were made by someone with a lot of experience. I think you did a fantastic job and to my untrained eyes I do not see any flaws or nicks. Your idea to use the design for a bar and toggle clasp is a great one - they would make lovely clasps.

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  9. I am a week behind in my blog reading, but WOW these are beautiful. I cannot see the flaws you attempted to point out. This is quite impressive for a first try.

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    1. I am running late too. Thank you. I keep saying these were fun to make because they were. I am going to have to try my hand a more wireweaving.

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  10. I've never tried wire weaving, though I've always thought it looked intriguing! Thanks for sharing your earrings and review of Nicole's pattern. You may see all the flaws - I'm just impressed by how professional they look for a first product. I may just add wire weaving to my 'someday' list. :)

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    1. I love the look of wire weaving, or I should say the look of really intricate wire weaving. Nicole's tutorial was great; if you are going to give it a try be sure to visit her shop.

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  11. These are awesome,(what flaws?)...your wire work is as lovely as your bead work.

    Thanks for your comment, glad you like.

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    1. Thank you. Don't we all see the flaws in what we create? I am excited to have tried something completely new. I expect I will continue to explore, but I know that my true love will be bead weaving.

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  12. I'm tickled too! These are amazing. I have just recently pulled out my wire and was staring at it, since I can't seem to make a simple loop correctly I'm afraid of it! These are really stunning KJ!

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    1. I can't tell you how pleased I am that you are tickled too- I really am pretty darn proud of my fist effort. Thank you.

      I don't know if I know any secrets to making a simple loop, but the secret to making a really good wire wrapped loop is a bit of extra wire to use as you form. My problem is I am too darn cheap and I don't want to make scrap.

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Thank you for sharing. I had to turn off anonymous comments because spam was being posted.