Lately I've been making bracelets with wrapped loop dangles. I made one for a bead swap, one for a magazine submission, and then one just for me. I find it very relaxing to sit in front of the TV in the evening and make beaded dangles.
It's so funny to write that statement because wire work was definitely not something that came naturally to me. When I started beading, I tried to avoid wire work as much as possible. Making the simplest earrings seemed impossible—I might be able to manage one wrapped loop, but two? Two that looked identical? Forget it!
My breakthrough project was a beaded charm bracelet with about 35 dangles. By the time I finished it, I felt a lot more comfortable with my skills and had a great bracelet to prove it.
Here are 4 reasons I find wire work so enjoyable:
- The action of creating wrapped loops is repetitive, which means I can usually multitask.*
- Holding each bead in your hand as you add the wire gives you a chance to look closely at that particular bead. Sometimes when you have strands or bags of beads, it's hard to appreciate the individual beads.
- There's no need to worry about a pattern or losing your place in a design. You can also do as much or as little as you like at one time. Sometimes I'll just make piles of dangles and then later decide how to use them in a project.
- The finished bracelet hides a lot of flaws when worn. Sure, if you look closely, you might see some less-than-perfect dangles, but when the bracelet's swinging on your arm, it just looks pretty.
I learned basic wire work at my local bead shop, but I found the book All Wired Up by Mark Lareau valuable for practicing at home. Compared to some of the books on the market today, this book looks old-fashioned with its line drawing illustrations. (Many books available today now how step-by-step photographs.) However, the explanations are very detailed, even telling you how to position and move your hands. There are also some great free videos online, including this simple loop video by Step by Step Wire Jewelry editor Denise Peck and basic loops by Lisa Niven Kelly of Beaducation. What are your favorite books or videos for simple wirework?
* While multitasking is normally fine, you should never bead during TV series finales or movies with subtitles. You'll just end up cutting apart your work and starting over. Trust me!