Jewelry Making: Wire Wrapped Pendant on Beaded Chain

1. Introduction: This jewelry making class will teach you how to create a wire wrapped pendant on a beaded chain. The goal of this class is to make your own custom necklace. With basic materials and tools, you can learn to create a beautiful pendant on a beaded chain using the techniques of wire wrapping. So, you may be wondering: what exactly is wire wrapping? Essentially, it's the process of creating a metal framework by coiling and binding various gauges, or thicknesses, of wire to act as a setting for stones and other focal pieces. It enables you to make beautiful handmade jewelry without the need for soldering, welding, or other complex metalsmithing techniques. There are varying degrees of intricacy possible with wire wrapping. You can create very clean, simple frames bound at only a few key points; or, you can add embellishment with various decorative techniques, increasing in complexity until you end up with massively detailed elements that can practically stand on their own as focal pieces. The techniques that you'll learn in this class can eventually be used to make these incredibly intricate works with enough time in practice. In this class, we'll cover tools, materials, and how to choose them; basic looping for making chains; how to bind wires together; decorative wrapping techniques; and pendant planning and designs. Creating a pendant from your design plan and assembling your necklace. I have several years' experience teaching others how to make jewelry with wire, and now I get to teach you as well! I'm excited to see what you make with the skills I'll show you. In the next video, we'll cover the details of what's included in the class project. 2. Class Project: This video will outline the class project. The goal of this class is to create a necklace of your own, similar to the one you see here. For the chain, you will utilize basic looping, and for the pendant, you will combine the rest of the skills that you'll be learning. To ensure you stay engaged as the class progresses, I've broken down the class project into many smaller steps. After lesson two, where you learn basic looping, I will ask you to submit images of some of the wire loops you've created to act as links in your chain. You might show your first and last attempts to demonstrate your progress, or, you might prefer to pick a few of your best examples. The point of this step is for you to recognize that your practice is already starting to pay off, so show that however you like! After lesson four, you'll be encouraged to show the wire wrap patterns you've created based on the techniques covered in both lessons three and four. What you learn in lesson four is more detailed and comprehensive, and as such, will be a more integral point to share what you've learned. After lesson five, I will ask you to submit a sketch of your planned pendant design. You might adapt my design to fit your piece, or you might opt to create something entirely your own. After lesson six, you will have completed your pendant, at which point, I will want to see what it looks like. I'll ask you to share a photo of that milestone. The final lesson walks you through assembling your piece. So of course, I will ask you to share the complete final product in picture form. Follow it up with a written summary of what you enjoyed most and what challenged you most. At each of these key points, I invite you to add any thoughts or reflections you have about your progress as text in your project submission, if you're so inclined. I also encourage you to reach out to me at any point during the process if you have questions, or if you get stuck on something. I'll do my best to help you overcome any obstacles you encounter along the way. In the next video, I'll describe in detail the tools and materials you will need to gather to complete your project. 3. Lesson 1 ~ Tools and Materials: In this section, we'll go over what tools and materials you'll need. Firstly, you'll want to find some sort of soft, flat material to rest your beads on so they don't roll away on you. I personally like using craft felt for this purpose, since it's inexpensive and less prone to catching than many other fabrics. Next, you'll need two different types of pliers: Flat nose, for creating sharp angles; and round nose, for making loops in your wire. You'll need a pair of wire cutters as well; more specifically, flush cutters, so named for the flush contact point between the blades. This type has a cleaner, flatter contact point, more like snips, and is great for getting cleaner cuts on softer wires. However, if you can only get one pair, I recommend this type. These beveled blades are more resistant to damage from harder wires, if and when you use them. There are a few optional tools you may choose to use as well. Mandrels are used for making perfect circles of an exact size. You can also use the barrel of a pen or a round pencil for this purpose, but mandrels let you make a variety of sizes. Nylon jaw pliers are useful for straightening out wibbly bits of wire, as well as clamping sections without damaging them. The flat nose pliers can be used for these purposes instead, but much greater care will need to be taken to ensure you don't damage your wire. Now, on to the materials. For this project, we'll be using copper core craft wire in two gauges: 20 gauge, which is better at keeping its shape; and 26 gauge, which is used for binding thicker wires together. 28 gauge will also work well for this purpose. You will also need a strand of beads for the chain section. I recommend using round beads that are six to eight millimeters in diameter. I've chosen to use semi-precious stones, but glass beads can work quite well also, if you prefer. Finally, you'll need a focal piece. I generally use semi-precious stones for these as well, but again, you can use whatever you like. It doesn't need to be drilled - that is, it doesn't need to have a hole through it - as I will be showing you techniques to wrap it securely without the need for holes. Here are a few useful tips. There are different types of flat nose pliers. You'll want to use the needle nose variety, ideally with as fine a tip as possible. Keep the size of your focal piece in mind when you're choosing the beads to ensure that your bead size feels right with them. If possible, Hold the focal piece near the beads to get a visual of what the proportions are going to be. Be sure to get a strand of beads at least ten inches long to ensure you have enough beads to make the chain of your necklace at least 18 inches in length. Also, it's important to check that 20 gauge wire will fit through the holes drilled in your beads. The gauges of wire indicate their thickness: the lower the number, the thicker the wire. Wire also comes in several hardnesses: soft, half hard, and full hard. Craft wire isn't generally rated this way, but it typically ends up being somewhere between soft and half hard. If you use one of these, such as sterling silver or gold fill, you'll likely need to use 28 gauge instead of 26 gauge That's it! Once you have all your tools and materials, you're ready to move on. In the next lesson, we'll put these tools and materials to use in our first technique: basic looping. precious metal wires most commonly come in half hard. to offset the change in hardness. 4. Lesson 2 ~ Basic Looping: This lesson covers the essentials of one of the most fundamental techniques of wire working: basic looping. The purpose of this technique is to create stable loops out of wire. These loops act as connectors, integral to making chain and small parts like ear wires or clasps, also referred to as findings. For most people, this will take a lot of practice. There are many steps involved in this process, and any one of them going awry can cause problems. I'll do my best to help you avoid these problems by explaining each step in detail. I will show you two ways to approach this process. The first is easier, but typically wastes more wire; the second is more ungainly, but guarantees you won't waste any wire at all. I personally use the latter method, but it's entirely up to you. I recommend trying both ways and then trusting your instincts about which way makes more sense for you while you're learning. The first technique is to cut sections of wire in advance. To start with, a piece about two to three inches long will be more than you need. You always want to have too much rather than not enough for this method. You can always cut some off, but you can't add extra! As you get used to this method, it's possible to start estimating the length of wire you'll need more accurately; but at least for the beginning, err on the side of more. Whenever you're cutting off pieces of wire, it helps if you can find a way to hold both the section that you're cutting off and the spool in one hand so that the piece you're cutting doesn't fly off somewhere. Using your round nose pliers, place one end of the wire between the two prongs, leaving as little wire sticking out as possible. Your placement along the length of the pliers will determine the loop size. The closer to the base you are, the bigger your loop will be. The closer to the tip, the smaller your loop will be. It helps to experiment a little, but I recommend being closer to the tips than the base. My round nose pliers are much narrower than average, so I use a spot close to the middle on mine. Once you pick a loop size, remember the position on your pliers. You'll need to use that same spot for every loop shaping or adjustment. Your grip with the pliers should be pretty firm here to prevent the wire from slipping out, but if you squeeze too tight, you can damage your wire. You'll get used to how much pressure you need through practice. Pressing the wire firmly against the pliers, turn the pliers to form your first loop. It most likely won't be closed from one rotation, so release your grip, reposition your pliers, and repeat. Remember to use that same spot on your round nose pliers. In the second phase, you can use a little less pressure in your grip on the pliers to avoid denting your wire. If you do get little dents, don't worry - no one will see them anyway. As long as the dents aren't too deep, it won't cause any problems. Once the tail of the wire is touching the stem of the wire, you will reposition your round nose pliers again; but this time, you're going to be using the very tips of your pliers to hold the stem side, right next to where the tail touches the stem. Make sure one prong of your pliers is on the inside of the circle and then bend the wire the opposite way to how you'd been bending it up until this point. You should have a much sharper bend here due to using the tips of the pliers. This counter-bend serves two purposes: it prevents your loops from being crooked, and it reduces the chance of your links tangling. You'll notice I bend the loop pretty far. Now it looks crooked, right? Well, I do this deliberately, because I want to make sure that the counter-bend really stays in there. If it isn't bent far enough, then the bend can be lost in later corrections. This extra step has proven to be well worth it in my experience. To fix this crooked loop, position your round nose pliers at the top of the loop, and with a medium grip, press the stem of the wire back until the circle is centered. Take a look at your loop. If it looks a little wonky, use your flat nose or nylon jaw pliers to straighten it out. Now add one of your beads onto the wire stem. The next step is to create the counter-bend for the second loop, but you have to be much more careful on this side. Switch to the flat nose pliers for this step, 00:04:36.245 --> 00:04:38.600 as they will create a much sharper bend, which is more important here, where you can't turn the wire as far. If you place your pliers right next to your bead, you'll be putting pressure on the beat itself with the pliers. Since they have nowhere else to go, you can end up cracking your bead. To avoid this, leave a little bit of space between your pliers and the bead. Grip firmly with the flat nose pliers, bend the wire to about a 100 degree angle, and then put the flat nose pliers down. You can press the wire further to get to a 90 degree bend by pressing it with your hand at this point, since the bend has been started. Next, you will switch back to the round nose pliers, and using the very tips again, get right in that little bend you just made. Make sure you're grabbing the wire after the bend you just made, or you'll undo your work. Bend the wire back away from the bead until it's pointing the same way that it started. Now you should have a tiny dog leg bend in your wire. Reposition your round nose pliers to grip the new curve you just made at the same time point along the prongs as on the first side. Using a medium grip, hold the pliers and bend the wire around them. I press the wire against the pliers with my thumb, but you can also hold the tail and wrap it around. If you do hold the tail, you'll also need to pull on it a bit, as though you were trying to stretch it out, in order for it to bend tightly around the pliers. Wrap the wire as far as you can, then reposition the pliers once more to hold the top side of your new loop. Now you can bring the wire all the way around so that it crosses the wire where it comes out of the bead. At this point, the tail should stick out at a 90 degree angle. This part's important. Any further, it'll be much harder to see where you're supposed to cut the wire. Check your loop at this point to see if it's lined up properly. If it isn't, grab the top of the loop with your round nose pliers again, and gently press the bead towards the pliers while turning it into position. Don't overdo it - just do a little at a time, until it's aligned with your other loop. If you go too far, you can undo your counter-bend. And it's really difficult to fix that. Reposition the tail to be at 90 degrees again, then switch to your wire cutters. This is the trickiest step, and you need to be very careful here. Cutting your loop anywhere other than this exact position will mean that you have to start all over. Make sure you hold your cutters so that the flush side faces your bead. Then put one blade inside the loop and one outside with the flush section of your cutters pressed up against the counter-bend, and the long tail section between the blades. Try to hold both the bead and the tail with one hand as you cut with the other. The second method, while a bit awkward, will ensure you waste no wire at all. I recommend this when using precious metal wires, since they can get kind of pricey, unless you become a master of estimating how much wire you'll need for the other method. This approach is essentially the same, except that you put the bead on the wire first. All the other steps are the same: Loop; reposition; close; counter-bend; make corrections; slide the bead next to the loop; counter bend; dog leg; loop; position cutters, check carefully, cut. When your links are completed, take a closer look at their loops. Make sure they line up horizontally. If not, use flat nose pliers with a gentle grip to correct this. If you like, you can also check their vertical alignment. This isn't as important, but your chains will look more professional if you do this. Hold one loop using a medium grip with your flat nose pliers, and look straight down at the other loop. If they don't line up, use a gentle grip with your round nose pliers and carefully rotate the loops into alignment. You'll need to go just a little past where they would line up, as the wire will spring back a little when you let go. check your horizontal alignment once more afterwards, and correct again, if needed. Keep practicing this technique, but remember to take breaks to rest and stretch your hands. Once you get a few links you're happy with, share a photo of them in the project tab of this class. If you want, you can share what your first few loops looked like as well, to show the progress that you've made along the way. In the next lesson, we will cover the basics of binding wires. 5. Lesson 3 ~ Binding Wires: In this lesson, you'll learn the basics of binding wires together. This process is fairly straightforward, but it can be a bit tricky to do cleanly. Be patient, and remember that practice is the key to your success. While the last lesson primarily used tools, this technique is generally easier to do just using your hands. There are three important factors to bear in mind during this process: security, organization, and clean appearance. This list is in order of importance. Focus primarily on making the binds tight and secure, then work on organizing them in a way which will prevent the tails of the binding wire from catching on anything. The clean aesthetic will come with time and practice. The easiest way to bind two wires together is by simply wrapping the thin wire around both of the thick wires. I recommend using at least three wraps to prevent unraveling. Loosely wrapping some wire around one side will help stabilize it for the initial wraps. Watch the spacing carefully. Ideally, you will have no gaps between your wires at all. When you do end up with spaces, you can squeeze the wires together using your nail or your pliers. Your nail and nylon jaw pliers are much less likely to damage wire or scrape off finish, so I highly recommend one of these; but, if you do choose to use your flat nose pliers, be very slow and careful. The next method is to make a figure eight pattern between the two wires. It starts the same as the previous method, but you feed the wire in between the two larger wires each time. This will be easiest if you tug the wire taught as though you were going to do the first method, prior to feeding in between, like this. The best way to prevent having gaps between your thin wire wraps is to angle the wire slightly towards the existing wraps. Too far, and you'll overlap your previous work. If that happens, just unwrap that section a little and try again. You can also wrap around one wire a few times, and then switch to the other using this method. It's also possible to create patterns by combining the other techniques. Here, I start by using the first method, wrapping around both wires; then, I switch to the second method, wrapping around only one; back to the first method; then method two again, but on the other side. As you work, pay attention to both sides, but choose one side to be the front and focus on how that side looks. Some patterns will look nice on both sides, but sometimes it just isn't possible to have the pattern match. When wrapping stones or other focal pieces, one side will be against your stone anyway, so it won't even be visible. You'll just need to make sure the pattern's facing the right way. With practice, you can start your pattern closer to the middle and work in both directions to minimize waste. Whatever pattern you used, when you're finished, unwrap the tail you used to brace your work at the beginning, and straighten it out a little. Then, feed your thin wire between the two thicker wires. This will ensure that the tails don't get caught on fabrics or other objects. I like to brace the wire with my thumbnail, then rotate the wire in a wide circle until it breaks from the metal fatigue. This usually works quite well. It will often result in the wire breaking at a lower point than where you can even reach with the wire cutters. However, if it breaks too far up, you'll need to trim it back with the cutters. If you do need to do this, make sure you cup the wire with your hand so it doesn't spring off and hit you in the eye - or, wear goggles. If you plan to use the excess or if you just don't care for the rotation technique, you can just use the cutters to trim the wire right off the bat. Make sure the flush side of your cutters is facing the two larger wires, and be careful not to scrape or cut any of your other wires. I like to get the cutters into position, ready to make the cut, bracing them against my index finger. Then, I adjust my thumb and middle finger to grip the thin wire. This will prevent the tail from flying off somewhere, and also keeps it taut so that the cut is cleaner. You should now have a pretty good grasp of these techniques. Practice for a bit before moving on, as these skills are the foundation for what you will learn in lesson four. In the next lesson, we will talk about more intricate design techniques. 6. Lesson 4 ~ Decorative Techniques: This lesson covers a few somewhat more intricate decorative techniques. The skills you learned in lesson three will be built upon here. I will cover four very useful methods: chevron pattern, zigzag weave, coiling and recoiling, and spirals. For these techniques, you will want to cut about an arm's length of 26 or 28 gauge wire. You'll go through it surprisingly quickly. Let's take a look at the chevron pattern first. As you learned in lesson three, you can use the two main binding methods in combination to create patterns. This is also true when you have more than two sections of 20 gauge wire. For this chevron example, I am using four, but if this seems intimidating, try it with just three thicker wires first, so you can start building some muscle memory. Just as before, wrap one tail of your thin wire loosely around all of your thick wires to act as an anchor. I'm wrapping mine so that it comes over at the top and goes under at the bottom, but it doesn't really matter that much. You can try it both directions to see which is more comfortable. Next, make one tight bind just around the bottom-most wire. Bring the loose wrap down to the bottom, bend it up around the back, feed it in between the bottom and second wires, then tug it nice and tight up the back. Now you will wrap around two wires. Feed your thin wire between wires two and three, tug it down tight, then fold it up the back again. Squish your wraps together after each section. Next, you'll do three at once. Feed between the third and top most wire, tug down, and fold behind and up. Then, all four: press down, align, wrap around the bottom, and press up the back. Continue this way, now wrapping around one less each time: Between top and third, press down, tuck in, up, and back, pressing flat; between third and second, press down, tuck in, up, and back; Between second and bottom, press down, wrap up, and back. You can continue the pattern, starting over again, or you can do as I will do here, and work from the top down this time. This will result in a long wire running up along the backside. It's the same process, but upside down. Press down from the top, feet between the top and third wires; Wrap up, flatten, tuck in. Press down, feed between third and second, press up, flatten, tuck. Press down, feed between second and bottom, press up, flatten, tuck, wrap around all four, down, up, over; between bottom and second, up, over, down; between second and third, up, over; between third and top, up, tug tight, and squish together. You can have a little gap between them, or you can squish the triangles together. If you squish them together, the one long wrap on the back looks more deliberate. If you have all your chevrons facing the same way, the pattern will look the same on both sides, meaning you won't have a front and a back. The zigzag weave is one of my favorite decorative patterns. You need two pieces of 20 gauge wire curved slightly away from each other. You can also make a sharp bend in each with your flat nose pliers and have them meet at the bend, making a Y shape, if that's easier for you. Make a loose wrap, then wrap the tail tightly around one of the wires three times. I'm going up the back and down the front, but it doesn't matter. Feed your thin wire back through the middle. Make sure it's snug against the first wire, and make three wraps on the other wire. You want to use just enough pressure to get your coils tight. If you use too much, your 20 gauge wires might get bent out of position. Bring the thin wire in the middle again, then wrap the first side three times again. The tail of your wire always needs to be going through the middle before you switch back to the other side. I have to brace the wires pretty tightly with my fingers to keep them in the right position. If this is uncomfortable for you, feel free to use nylon jaw pliers or flat nose pliers. If you use flat nose, put some cloth or tissue between your wires and your pliers so that you don't scuff or damage the wires from the pressure. Through the middle and to the other side - three more wraps. You'll notice I'm starting to press the wraps back towards the first set that I made on this side. Continue in this way, tucking your new wraps in toward the older ones, keeping an eye on your spacing. Three wraps on one, through the middle, three wraps on the other, through the middle, and back. If you're using pliers, you'll want to reposition them to grip your work a little higher up. This will protect it from getting bent and also make it easier to maintain the spacing between the large wires. At this point, the number of wraps becomes less important than the angle of the wire as it crosses. Pull your wire taut, and take a look. If the angle is too shallow, do another wrap before switching to the other side. You will need more wraps on each side as your wires get further apart, but the exact count will vary depending on how quickly the gap widens. It's important to check before wrapping too far on one side, since it's tricky to undo the wire and straighten it out if you do too many. It's very likely you will run out of wire before you finish. When adding more, look closely at the direction your wire was going as you ran out. With a fresh arm's length of thin wire, match up the tail as if it were a continuation. Then move it over, so that it runs parallel, and feed the tail back a bit, going through the middle. Pull the tail behind your existing work and hold it with your hand. With pliers, either the wire will slip out, or you could damage your previous work, unless you have just the right amount of pressure. Continue working as you were before, until you have a few sections wrapped in each side. Then, unwrap your anchor section and squish your wraps down to fill the little space that's left. Look closely at the two tails you now have. You're going to want to cut them in a way where they will line up nicely, but you'll also want the tails to be in the middle, so that they don't catch on anything. Unwrap your first tail a little further back than where you plan to cut it, so that you can get at it with your cutters. You might choose to pull it up a little further with your round nose pliers to make it easier to get at. You'll need to visualize where the wire is going to wrap back down to, and cut it so that it will sit in the middle. Cut it, then carefully squish it back into position with your flat nose pliers. If it's a little too long still, trim it back a bit more. Wrapped the second tail around a bit to make a curve in the wire, and mentally mark the spot where it touches the first tail. Then, push it back out a little to expose the curve, and cut it. Squish this curve back down gently with your flat nose pliers the same way you did on the first side. Then, carry on as you were. Finish up the tails of your work, cutting them so that they sit in the middle, and you're done! The next technique is coiling and re-coiling. Using a long piece of 20 gauge wire as your base, Make a 90-degree bend in it to act as a handle. Then, wrap your 26 or 28 gauge wire around it loosely. Brace the thin wire against your finger, and with the other hand, turn the little handle you made to press the wire into place. If you like, you can press your thumbnail against the coils to guide the wire into place as you wrap. The coils will cover the thick wire completely, so it doesn't matter if the piece underneath is a little damaged. You'll probably end up with some gaps. Took your wraps in every so often before continuing. Angling the wire slightly towards your existing work will also help prevent gaps from forming. Sometimes the thin wire will wrap backwards around what you've already done. When that happens, just unwrap it a bit and reposition the wire. Another option is to press the coiling section between your thumb and index finger. Once you get a ways down, you can curve your wire a little to make it easier to turn. You can even spin it with one finger to speed things up a bit, only stopping when you have gaps or over-wraps. Leave about two inches at the end to help you attach it to other pieces. These coiled sections are a nice textured element that you can add to a design. Now, we will cover re-coiling. Twist another long piece of 20 gauge wire together with the loosely wrapped section of your coiled wire, then start wrapping the coiled wire around the new 20 gauge section. Re-coiling takes a lot more pressure. I recommend holding the tails with nylon jaw pliers - or, use a cloth and flat nose pliers - so that you can get the leverage you need. You'll notice that my third wrap is a little looser than the others. Unfortunately, there's no way to go back and fix this, so it's very important to keep firm, consistent pressure right from the start. You'll feel the wire clicking as you go if you're pressing hard enough. When you re-coil this way, the 20 gauge wire you wrapped around with the first coiled section will be exposed as the wraps are splayed by the pressure. If it's damaged, you'll be able to see it a bit, so I recommend only using clean wire under your first coil if you plan to re-coil it. You can use this double coiled section as it is, or you can add another wire between your coils. Use thin wire for this, as thick wire is too bulky. Once again, leave the tails long for attaching to other elements. The last decorative technique we will cover is making spirals. I will show you two types: filigree spirals, and tight spirals. Using a long piece of 20 gauge wire, bend the tip back against itself tightly with the tips of your round nose pliers. This will form the center of your spiral. To make a filigree spiral, hold the loop with your round nose pliers. Then, press gently on the wire with your thumb, about a half an inch from the loop. Reposition your pliers to be just outside the loop, and gently press the wire again. Move to a wider point on your pliers, and press again. Now, put one prong of your pliers inside your original loop, and brace the other against the curve you just made. Hold the tail firmly between your thumb and forefinger, and brace the side of the curve with your middle finger. Gently squeeze your pliers to tuck the loop in, until it's at the angle you like. Then, reposition your pliers to be just outside the loop again, and continue gently curving the wire. You will be pushing slightly in a circular direction, and slightly back towards your origin loop. You will move into the deeper sections of your round nose pliers as you progress, to help your curve become gentler as you go. You can also gently rotate the round nose pliers to guide the curve, if you prefer. You can also work from the outside in. This is useful when there's a specific outer size that you want to use, especially when you're shaping a wire that's already in position on a focal piece. Start by shaping the outermost curve of your spiral. Then, beginning with the deepest part of your round nose pliers, gently press the wire inwards. Adjust your grip to narrower parts of your pliers, wrapping tighter and tighter, until you get to your middle, tightest point. Cut the wire where it meets the inner edge of this spiral curve. Then, use your flat nose pliers to squash it flat. Inspect your spiral and make any minor adjustments you like, using your round nose pliers. For the tight spirals, it's important to get the curve really tight at the beginning. If you don't, it will create a sharper bend in the beginning of your spiral. You can use the cutters to trim any straight sections before you start curling your wire. Remember to cup your hand around it while you cut to protect your eyes. Once you've made the initial loop with your round nose pliers, switch to your flat nose. You can use nylon jaw pliers instead, but I find that they're quite slippery. So, in the beginning, it can be very difficult to grip tightly enough to keep the wire steady. Grip the wire more towards the back of your pliers, with the loop pointing towards you and the stem sticking out at 90 degrees. Then bend the wire towards you. Bend only a little at a time, then release your grip and turn the stem back to 90 degrees. Grip with the loop sticking out just a little, so that you can see the wire getting pressed against it with no gaps. Use medium firm pressure. Too little pressure, and you'll strip the finish as the wire shifts; too much pressure, and you'll crush the wire. I personally think it's better to crush the wire a little than to strip the finish, so I suggest erring on the side of more pressure. Practice these techniques for a while to build your muscle memory, and then add some photos to your class project of what you've made using the skills you've learned here and in lesson three. In the next lesson, we'll go over how to plan a design for your pendant. 7. Lesson 5 ~ Planning your Pendant: This lesson will cover some of the basics of pendant design. First and foremost, you have to choose an orientation for your piece. Look at it closely. Note any interesting features that will help you pick which side you want to be the front. Also, consider which side you want to be facing upwards. There's no wrong answer here; it's simply a matter of your own personal preference. What matters is considering these things before you get started. One factor that may be relevant to you is where there are natural anchor points in your piece. Straight edges, small notches, and wider sections can all act as positions where weight can be carried. Don't worry too much, though - even perfectly round pieces can be securely fastened. Sometimes, you can end up with lovely pieces just from experimentation. I personally have a lot of fun approaching pendants this way. If you like, you can also sketch out a design ahead of time. This can be very helpful, since it acts as a guide for your construction. You can adapt the design I have here to fit your own piece, or you can make one of your own. If you draw your own design, keep in mind where the weight will be carried. You'll need at least two wires to brace the bottom, or one on the bottom and one on each lower side. You'll also need to brace your piece at the top in at least two places so that it doesn't wiggle or fall out. Choose decorative elements that you like, and use them as the starting point for your design. Plan to leave bare spots wherever there's something about your focal piece that you want to show through. I recommend using different colors for each segment of wire, so you can keep track of where it goes on the front and back side. Wherever you have two separate wires, mark where you intend to bind them together with a thinner line. Bear in mind that all wires will need to be connected at a minimum of two points, unless the connection between them is quite long, as otherwise, the wires will flop or wiggle around. For this class, you will also need two wire tails at the top that will act as your connection points for your chain. It's also possible to just make one loop big enough to slide onto a pre-bought chain or cord, but for this design, these hooks are going to act as your clasps. Whether you adjust my design or sketch out your own, Add a photo of it to your class project. It's okay if you don't end up following it in the end; I just want you to have some practice with this process. In the next lesson, I will walk you through the steps of creating your pendant. 8. Lesson 6 ~ Creating your Pendant: Now that you've planned your design, it's time to create your pendant. First, you'll need to focus on the skeleton of your frame. Cut sections of wire for each of the thicker pieces in your sketch. As a point of reference, here is how much wire is used by a typical filigree spiral. It ends up being about an inch and a half unraveled. If you use tight spirals though, you'll need a lot more wire. Always use more than you think you'll need. Remember that your wire has to wrap around the sides, too. Add extra length for those bends, and bear in mind that the wire pushes away from the stone a bit, so it needs to be longer than you think. Remember: you can cut wire off, but you can't add more! In my design, the zigzag weave is a major focal point, as well as an integral anchoring section. I create this first. If you're following my pattern, make sure the longer wires are in the middle. Let a good amount of the long wires stick out past the short wires, so that you can use those tails to make spirals on the other side. I mistakenly had the short wires in the middle, so I have to fix it later by pulling the thick wires out and feeding them back through. But it's incredibly difficult to do this without scratching your thick wires or messing up your wraps. I start out by wrapping each wire three times using the methods of basic binding, creating a diagonal line of binds that crisscrosses through the four wires. At this point, I splay out the wires to prepare for the woven section. I continue to crisscross pattern to bring the wire into the middle. Then, I start the zigzag weave around the middle two sections, following the steps I outlined in lesson four. A periodically check the length by holding it against my stone. When I have enough, I end by wrapping just to the point where the wire crosses the edge of my stone. I leave the tail long in case I discover another anchor point, or decide to make a coiled section, but you can trim it now if you like. Now, I unwrapped my beginning a bit, straightening it out, and I use it to make a small connecting section on the opposite side. In your piece, feel free to just cut or break off the wire as you normally would, and start with a fresh section. I'm only doing this to try to save wire. My pattern has two wraps around one wire and two wraps around two wires. The reason for this segment is to prevent the smaller wire from flapping around. It needs to be securely anchored near the top since it will become one of the connection points to the chain. To balance this out, I add a decorative section between the crisscross sections in both of the other V shapes. Working between wires this way is much harder, since the thin wire is more prone to kinking, but if you work slowly and carefully, you should be able to prevent this. I also don't train the wire before wrapping it, so that it can keep a circular shape as it gets smaller. It might take a little more force to tug the wires through, so brace the work right where you're pulling to avoid unwanted bends. Once these sections are done, I trim off the ends so that they'll face my stone. Now, I bend the long wires around my stone to create my anchor points at the bottom. And after checking the positioning at the top, I use my flat nose pliers to create a sharp bend, bringing all four wires around the top. Once the bend is nice and clean, I bend the two long wires around the front, then use the flat nose pliers to sharpen up those bends. I put the stone back in to make sure the anchor points are snug and correctly positioned. Next, I use the round nose pliers to shape the connector hooks where the chain will be attached. I line the pliers up with the very back of the pendant, positioning the short wire at the widest point in the plier prongs; then I press the wire against them, up and over. To make sure the other side is the same size. I flip it around in line the pliers up so that the wire is bending around the same point. If you have a mandrel, you can use that here as well if you like. I finished the tails by bending the tiniest section of it backwards. I brace the curve I just made with the round nose pliers so that I don't mess up the size or shape, then I use the flat nose pliers to bend the tail back on itself. Once it's close, I squeeze it the rest of the way. If it twists, you can straighten it back out. Then, using the round nose pliers to keep the size again, I bend the loop down so that the tail touches the back. I do this so that the chain won't come unhooked through movement. I repeat the same steps on the other side. To make sure the bends are the same length, I line up the pliers with the first side. I cut just a little bit too much off, so I have to fix my bend a bit before squishing it down. Now that the top is finished, I move on to shaping the other end of these short wires into filigree spirals. I started out by shaping their outermost sections to make sure they're the right size. I use the first filigree method on one side, And on the other side, I use the second method so that I can make it match the first one more closely. Once it's close to the right shape, I trim the tail, squash the loop flat, and reshape the spiral with the round nose pliers. I put the stone back in, and make sure the spirals line up with the edges, making more fine tuning adjustments with the round nose pliers. The short wires are still a little wiggly, so I need another anchor point further down. I feed thin wire into my weave pattern, close to the point where the spiral starts to curve away. I pull it into position, then coil a tail around one side of the short filigree wire. Once I have that anchored, I tug the wire tightly into place between two segments of wraps in the woven section. Then, I wrap the other tail around the spiral to secure the bind on the other side. I recommend having about two inches of wire on each side so that it's easier to hold on to. Otherwise, you end up having to use your flat nose pliers to pull it into place, as I do here. Make sure you wrap at least twice around each side to keep the binds secure. Trim the excess so that it faces your stone or focal piece. Then, check and make sure everything is still lined up, and that your spiral still sits in the right spot. No more wiggling! Yay! through the middle, tug tight, wrap around each side at least twice, and trim off the excess so that it faces the back. Remember to check that the spiral is still positioned correctly on this side as well. Now that the back is done, I move on to the front. I shaped my wires into their correct positions to prepare for making the zigzag weave on this side. At this point, I decide to trim the long tail off. I take a fresh arm's length of thin wire and start the zigzag weave on the front. Whoops! Lost my grip there. Carrying on... I wrap a few times around each wire, then take the back tail and wrap it around both to pull the two wires together, and trim the excess. Then, I carry on with the zigzag pattern as usual, until I reach the point where the two wires touch the other pair of wires. At this point, it put the stone back into position, making sure it's facing the right way. Now I carry on with the weave, treating each pair of wires as one. It's a little trickier working with the stone in place, but the steps are essentially the same, except that you have to feed the thin wire in between the stone and the thick wire to wrap it around the backside of the pattern. Be careful not to kink your wire at this point. You can guide it with your finger or your round nose pliers if it's being finicky. We're nearly done! Notice that the top is still unstable, since we don't have upper anchor points in place yet. Folds the upper wires around the backside, making sure they bend at about the same height, then curl the tails down. If you use longer pieces here, you can make bigger spirals, if you have the space for them. Once they're made, use the flat nose pliers to make a sharp bend where the wire will hug the back of the stone, and flatten the section that sits on the side. Make sure everything is nice and snug. My second wire was a little longer, so I had to trim it, and re-loop the end. Time to make the last spirals. I opt to work inward again, but you can work either direction. If you trim your wires to the same length first, you can use the other method quite easily. Make sure your hooks are aligned correctly and pressed closed. That's it! The pendant's done. Once you've finished your pendant, upload a picture of it to your class project. In the next and final lesson, I will show you how to put all the pieces together. Repeat the same process on the other side: 9. Lesson 7 ~ Assembling your Necklace: It's finally time to put your necklace together. Gather all your chain links from lesson one, and your pendant from lesson six. To connect to the chain links, hold the bead in your off hand with the cut side of your loop facing your dominant hand. With the tips of your flat nose pliers, use a medium firm grip and gently twist the cut side up and towards you. It's very important to open up, not out, as opening outwards will compromise the circular shape you worked so hard to create. If you open up, it will create a spiral, like the coil of a spring, leaving your circular shape intact. Slip another link into the hook of this now-open loop, and let it hang from the top. Then, gently twist the loop back shut with the other link inside. Push the pliers toward the bead ever so slightly to make sure the loop is completely closed. Continue this process, adding links to each other, until you have your complete chain. You can check your length by stringing it around your neck and seeing if the loops reach the point where you want your pendant to hang. 18 inches is a good starting point. Now, you just hook your loops from the ends of your chain onto each side of your pendant. You can unhook one side to put it around your neck, and hook it back on, treating this loop like the eye of a clasp. Congratulations! You've just finished your necklace! Now all that's left is to upload a photo of your final piece, all assembled, with a short paragraph about what you enjoyed most about this process, and what challenged you most. In the next video, I will summarize and share some final thoughts with you. 10. Conclusion: In this class, you've learned some of the fundamental skills for creating your own jewelry with wire, including basic looping, decorative techniques, and pendant design. Before you leave, I'd like you to take a moment to reflect on all the progress you've made since you started this class. Every step you've taken has built muscle memory and increased your aptitude. The key to success is practice. Don't stop here - keep making more pieces, and hone your skills through repetition. If you're interested in taking more classes with me, remember to follow me, so that you'll get notifications whenever I upload a new class, and consider leaving a review. Feel free to reach out to me if you still have any questions, and remember to publish your class project if you've kept it as a draft throughout the class.