Making your own jewellery is a skill that requires good eye-hand coordination, nimble fingers and a spot of artistic flair. To get started, a few basic tools are required, but the best jewellery making courses will provide all these from the outset, and talk the beginner through the correct methods for use. This is where workshops succeed over and above books, because when it comes to jewellery making there's nothing as good as one to one instruction.
Basic Jewellery Tools of the Trade
The main tools required for handmade jewellery are:
- A pair of round nosed pliers
- A pair of flat nosed pliers
- A pair of wire cutters
In addition, a selection of beads, charms and pendants will need to be selected, along with various wires, crimps and findings.
Findings are all the little bits and pieces that help to make up jewellery - the bits you hardly even notice before you start making your own. Fasteners and jump rings, headpins and eyepins, bead cups and calottes - these are all tiny but important jewellery making accessories. Any basic jewellery making course will introduce you to these items, and should hopefully have a selection on offer to help you get started, but read on for a handy reminder of what everything is called.
Types of Jewellery Findings
- Jump rings - These are used mainly to link and connect parts of jewellery. They are opened and closed by using two pairs of jewellery pliers. Hold the jump ring flat with the round nosed pliers, and open or close it with the flat nosed pliers as though it were a door. Twist to open by rotating the pliers, do not pull the ring apart, as this weakens the wire and can cause breakages.
- Fastenings - Various types of fasteners are used, depending on the finish required and the other materials used. For example, lace ends - coils or box clasps - are particularly useful for finishing off thonging or ribbon, whereas toggles are great for charm bracelets. Lobster clasps, trigger clasps and bolt rings are also common in usage.
- Headpins/Eyepins - Beads are threaded onto these pins to make designs for earrings or to give added movement in a necklace. The headpins come ready with a stopper on one end and will need to be finished off with a loop once the chosen bead has been added. Eyepins already have a loop, ready for attaching straight away to another loop, once the bead is in place. This is done by opening up the loop in the same way as you would open a jump ring (see note above).
- Bead cups (sometimes called bead caps) - These are used to cushion a large bead in a jewellery design, enabling a more professional finish, and allowing the next bead threaded to sit more comfortably alongside the large bead.
- French crimps - These are brilliant little squashy helpers. Crimps are threaded onto a wire, such as tiger tail, to secure beads in place. They are simply squashed onto the wire, using flat nosed pliers, to stop the beads moving. This can help create stunning floating necklaces and bracelets. For an added professional finish, you can even buy crimp covers.
- Hinged calottes - Calottes are used to neatly finish off the ends of beading thread and provide an attachment point for a fastener.
- Tiger tail, fireline, memory wire, metal wire - these are all types of beading thread. Of course, there are many other materials that can be used for jewellery making such as natural thread, elastic, and synthetic materials such as nymo. Care must always be taken when trimming wire to size, as it has a tendency to fly off in any direction. Best practice is always to push the wire and wire cutters firmly into a beading mat, which should absorb the ping.
Where to Find Jewellery Making Courses
To get started with jewellery making, check both local arts and craft shops and specialist bead shops for details of beginners' courses. Jewellery workshops are also often run as night-school classes, and many colleges offer an introductory course.
Michelle Strozykowski - Michelle Strozykowski lives in a small brewing town smack bang in the middle of England. She loves films, especially arty European ones ...
