Jewellery Making For Beginners: First Projects

Once you have assembled you basic toolkit your first projects will allow you to become familiar with the basic jewellery making skills.Necklaces: Firstly, decide how long you want your necklace to be. A rough guide for adults is chokers: 14 inches, necklaces 16 - 18 inches, long chains 22 - 24 inches, but obviously the length you want is up to you.Next lay out your beads in the desired pattern and when you are happy, start by tying the jump ring (a complete circle of wire) onto one end then thread the beads onto your linen or nylon thread. Depending on the thickness of the thread a needle may be useful but note that the smaller beads will not always pass over the eye of the needle. You may find something called a jewellery needle, but this is just a needle with a small eye and is not particularly specialised for jewellery making.Be careful when adding the bolt ring (necklace fastening with the lever) to the other end. If you tie a necklace too loosely then the beads move around, too tightly and they bunch together. A small amount of practice may be required before you can feel how tight it should be.My top tip is clear nail varnish. When attaching findings to the ends of your necklaces or bracelets coat the knot with nail varnish to make it stronger. Also, I feed the thread back through the last few beads again and tie another knot there to be sure the piece is strong enough to be worn.A bracelet can be made in the same way but shorter thread depending on the size of your wrist.Earrings: Arrange the beads you want on a head pin then cut off the excess with the wire cutters leaving around 1cm above the beads. Then using the round-nosed pliers curl the excess wire into a loop and pinch closed if necessary with the flat-nosed pliers. Attach this to the base of your fish hook to complete the earring.When making jewellery always keep in mind that it has to be worn. Heavy earrings may be uncomfortable, heavy or unbalanced necklaces may break, any loops made but not closed properly could come loose and be lost. Making jewellery sturdy enough to wear is as important as making jewellery that looks good.


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