Jewelry Making

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[RhiannonWhiteMare]

Does anyone here on TC make their own jewelry? That is something that I've always had an interest in, but I'm not a crafty kind of person. Heck, I can't even sew. DH and I were in a craft store recently (I enjoy looking through the store) and I came across a new section of jewelry and some of them were based on the Middle East. I'm a belly dancer and would like some new jewelry for my costume, and it would be good if it was some that I made myself.

What I really would like to know if making your own jewelry is difficult. I was kind of overwhelmed by the books that were in the store. Does anyone have a particular jewelry making book to recommend?

[Maythe]

Does anyone here on TC make their own jewelry? That is something that I've always had an interest in, but I'm not a crafty kind of person. Heck, I can't even sew. DH and I were in a craft store recently (I enjoy looking through the store) and I came across a new section of jewelry and some of them were based on the Middle East. I'm a belly dancer and would like some new jewelry for my costume, and it would be good if it was some that I made myself.

What I really would like to know if making your own jewelry is difficult. I was kind of overwhelmed by the books that were in the store. Does anyone have a particular jewelry making book to recommend?

I make my own beaded jewellery and it is incredibly easy. If you find a good bead shop the person behind the counter should be able to explain how to use any findings (the clasps, wires etc) that aren't immediately self explanatory. The only essential bit of equipment is a set of small pliers.

I don't really use any books so I'm afraid I have no recommendation there but I'd suggest you decide what type of jewellery you want to make and get a book on that specifically. It might be worth checking out the books in your local library if you have access to one.

[sefiru]

Does anyone here on TC make their own jewelry? That is something that I've always had an interest in, but I'm not a crafty kind of person. Heck, I can't even sew. DH and I were in a craft store recently (I enjoy looking through the store) and I came across a new section of jewelry and some of them were based on the Middle East. I'm a belly dancer and would like some new jewelry for my costume, and it would be good if it was some that I made myself.

What I really would like to know if making your own jewelry is difficult. I was kind of overwhelmed by the books that were in the store. Does anyone have a particular jewelry making book to recommend?

I've done some crochet with wire and it wasn't any more difficult than regular crochet once I got used to the stiffness. (The tiger-tail wire didn't work too well.) The hardest part was stringing all the beads on the wire in the correct order beforehand.

A tip: you don't need wire cutters. Just bend the wire sharply where you want it to break, then bend it back and forth at that same point a dozen times and, snap.

[Hydra]

Does anyone here on TC make their own jewelry? That is something that I've always had an interest in, but I'm not a crafty kind of person. Heck, I can't even sew. DH and I were in a craft store recently (I enjoy looking through the store) and I came across a new section of jewelry and some of them were based on the Middle East. I'm a belly dancer and would like some new jewelry for my costume, and it would be good if it was some that I made myself.

What I really would like to know if making your own jewelry is difficult. I was kind of overwhelmed by the books that were in the store. Does anyone have a particular jewelry making book to recommend?

How about a free website with lots of ideas, pictures and simple step by step instructions?  About.com has a plethora of information.  Look under crafts and then jewelry making, you can also sign up for their newsletter, i think it comes about twice a week in your email.  Good luck on jewelry making, once you make a few pieces it becomes quite simple to do.

[Matrinka]

Does anyone here on TC make their own jewelry? That is something that I've always had an interest in, but I'm not a crafty kind of person. Heck, I can't even sew. DH and I were in a craft store recently (I enjoy looking through the store) and I came across a new section of jewelry and some of them were based on the Middle East. I'm a belly dancer and would like some new jewelry for my costume, and it would be good if it was some that I made myself.

What I really would like to know if making your own jewelry is difficult. I was kind of overwhelmed by the books that were in the store. Does anyone have a particular jewelry making book to recommend?

I taught myself, without books, just looking online when I ran into something new that I needed a bit of explanation for.

If you want to make jewelry, start by going and picking out the beads you want to use.  Buy some tigertail cord, crimp beads, jump rings and the other fittings you'll need (clasps, earring wires, etc)

I draw up my own patterns.  Here's a simple one for a pair of earrings, with key, to give you an idea of how easy beadwork can be.

?=earwire O=large bead o=small bead  == =bugle bead  @=focal bead (usually the biggest and most expensive)

?oooOO@OOooo 

To construct this, you need the beads, two head pins long enough to hold all of the beads and be turned back on itself to form a loop, two jump rings and two earwires.  The only tools you'll need are a pair of round nose pliers and a pair of needle nose pliers.  You can do it with just the needle nose, you'll just have a different shaped loop. 

Slide the beads onto the head pins in the order shown.  Now turn the open end of the wire around with the round nose pliers and twist the end around the pin to form a closed loop.  Open the jump ring and slip the pin loop and the earwire loop onto it.  Close it carefully.  If you wish, you can solder the jump ring shut so that the dangle cannot come off, but you don't need to.

[herbalgoddess13]

Does anyone here on TC make their own jewelry? That is something that I've always had an interest in, but I'm not a crafty kind of person. Heck, I can't even sew. DH and I were in a craft store recently (I enjoy looking through the store) and I came across a new section of jewelry and some of them were based on the Middle East. I'm a belly dancer and would like some new jewelry for my costume, and it would be good if it was some that I made myself.

What I really would like to know if making your own jewelry is difficult. I was kind of overwhelmed by the books that were in the store. Does anyone have a particular jewelry making book to recommend?

Are you just looking to do beading?  If so, find a good bead shop around you and go brows, talk to the people who work there and maybe take a class if they offer it. 

I do metalsmithing, enameling and chainmaille as well. You can learn to do chainmaille with some online tutorials.  I use metal knitting needles to wrap my wire and a simple jewelers saw to cut the loops.  It's fairly simple to do once you get the feel for it.  If you're thinking of metalsmithing you may want to find a local class and I would recomend the book Complete Metalsmith by Tim McCreight.  Anything by Tim McCreight will give you excellent information and instructions.

I've also found the book Jewelry Making by Murray Bovin indispensable.  It has many, many different types of jewelry making ideas and explains the applications in a comprehensive way.

Making jewelry is such a great way to express yourself!

[hyacinthine]

It's pretty easy to make a very wide variety of jewelry. I make my own. It's a cinch. There are some types of jewelry that are hard to make because they involve metal-smithing and so on, but the majority of jewelry isn't like that. It really IS as simple as:

1. Know how to curl wire with pliers
2. Know how to put wire or string into holes in beads
3. There is no third skill necessary for making most pieces.

I made my first necklace by examining a bunch of jewelry at a department store, taking a picture of a piece that looked like I might be able to make it, and taking that picture to a beading store. The people working at the store taught me how to curl wire, and after that, I was pretty much all set. Try a Beadworks store -- they have tables where you can stay and make your jewelry and get help from staff if you need it.

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