Jewellery Making: Getting Started
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Getting started on jewellery making can cost as much or as little as you decide. There are some basic tools you will need, and others that you can get as you move on.
The most fundamental thing you need, and the most fun, is beads. This all comes down to your taste, there are many styles of bead available so whatever jewelery you would like to wear, whether chunky or delicate, brightly coloured or soft, choose the appropriate beads.
Beads are also made out of many different materials. I like working with glass beads because the colours are beautiful and they shine in the light.
The other basic things you will need are findings. These are the bits and pieces which form the skeleton of the jewelery.
For earrings, first decide what type of earrings you will make. For pierced ears I find fishhooks the easiest as you can buy these ready made and simply attach your earring design to them. I use head pins to make dangly earrings. Beads can easily be threaded onto them and the flat base leaves a smooth finish at the end of the earring. However, stud earrings and clip on earrings are also possible. You buy the backings for these and beads or designs can be glued into place.
For necklaces, you require thread, at a thickness which fits easily through your beads. This needs to be strong, I use waxed linen thread but also nylon would be perfect. And you will need a method on fastening the finished necklace together. Jump rings are just small rings of metal which hook into bolt rings, which are the metal rings with the small lever to open and shut them.
I recommend, but it is not essential, a bead board. These have grooves running around them and inch/centimetre markings so that you can easily measure and design your necklace before stringing it together, this avoids having to restring it to make changes or correct mistakes.
The basic toolkit includes round-nosed pliers, flat-nosed pliers and flush wire cutters. These are for creating loops in the wire to attach the findings or other beads and for cutting the wire with a flat edge so as not to leave any sharp edges on your jewelery.
By Kirsty Semple
See also: Gold Bracelet
