Jewelery Making Basics

The best way to start with jewelry making is with bead stringing. Buy a simple basic bracelet kit and buy a jewelry making instructions book which you can refer to and is easy to understand.

jewelry making can be time consuming and can be frustrating when first learning, but I find it very therapeutic and like anything, it's so worth it when you can produce a stunning necklace or bracelet out of a pile of beads and string and say to people 'I made that'.

The first things you will need when beginning jewelry making are some beads and wire. Beads come in all shapes and sizes but the most useful ones you will need are called crimp beads. These very tiny beads secure the ends of your wire to form a loop so you can attach a clasp.

Now wire is a loose term in jewelry making as it covers items such as metal wire, and 'floppy' wire like Beadalon (metal coated wire) or Fireline™ (I liken this to fishing line). You will also need some tools if you plan on advancing your jewelry making skills in the future or you are going to get some mighty sore fingers and ruin your kitchen scissors! (*n.b: Some people tell you that you will need a dedicated space to be able to make your jewelry creations but this just isn't so. I started off on my lap with a bead board then progressed to my dining room table when my bead stash got a little too big.)

You're also going to need special jewelry making pliers, I found the curved nosed (chain nose) pliers best as I find them more versatile, a pair of flat nosed pliers which look like a smaller version of a regular pair of pliers and a pair of round nosed pliers, you will also need a dedicated pair of sharp scissors (did I mention not to use your kitchen ones?) and a pair of wire cutters. Don't be tempted to get pliers with teeth as these will mark your silver wire, you can wrap masking tape around them if you need some grip, and you will need a glossary of basic things like knots, wire gauges and types of beads as there are some beads you can use with metal wire that aren't suitable for use with Beadalon for example, and this is because sometimes the beads have sharp inside edges which will in time wear away the wire.

For me, when I started making jewelry seven years ago, I knew nothing about it. I started off with a tiara kit from Hobby Craft that a friend had bought to make herself. She couldn't be bothered with it so I asked if I could have a go. Presto! I made a tiara. You can of course book onto a jewelry making course in your area which can be a lot of fun and you get to meet fantastic like minded people, they provide you with the jewelry making supplies you will need and you will come away with a wonderful piece of handmade jewelry that you made all by yourself.

I will be producing an article soon about jewelry making basic techniques and what they mean.