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Introduction: Angelica Pendant
As part of my homeschooling fine arts program, I am learning how to wire weave. I have been working with fine silver wire and Swarovski's, so when I found this crystal, I decided to make a necklace. Although the final product and the planning sketch look (quite) different, the general inspiration was angel wings. Actually, to begin with it was just a daytime/nighttime pair(I have a black crystal just like this one), but as it evolved, I ended up choosing angel wings as the final design.
All in all, I am pretty happy with how the necklace turned out, there are a few things I would do differently if I did it again, and a few things I don't like, but don't know how to change. I will involve these in the steps as I go, and if anyone has any better suggestions, please let me know, because I am still learning.
Supplies
* 18, 20, and 28 ga fine 99.99 silver wire. I am using dead soft.
* 20mm crystal AB Swarovski helios pendant.
* 16in of chain
* jump rings
* lobster clasp
Tools
* pencil torch (It needs to be able to melt fine silver)
* soldering area
* cross locking tweezers in third hand
* quench bowl
* pliers, I used strait, round nosed, bent nosed, nylon jaw, and bail pliers.
* wire cutters, I have one heavy duty cutter and one lighter duty
* ruler
* sharpie
* ring clamp
* steel wool
* awl (a thin, sharp one is good)
* silicone bobbin(for 28ga)
Step 1: Planning Stage
To start off, I made a drawing of what the pendant should look like when done. I am rather terrible at drawing, so this is always more a construction guideline for me than something to look at, and the finished product doesn't look much like the sketch. I originally planned on using 16ga as well, but I found it too complicated to keep track of, and so I just stuck with 18 and 20ga.
After I made the rough outline of the final product, I made the actual construction guide to refer to. For the bail, I decided to use modified sumac weave for the bail and some sort of roughly triangular weave for the body to look like feathers. Modified sumac weave is readily available on the internet, so if you can't understand my (rather poor) weaving instructions, there are plenty of videos to watch, but I don't know the name of the triangular weave.
I think I somehow indicated to myself that I was supposed to stitch the two pieces together, but I don't see it any where. 972
Anyway, wether I said it or not, the second picture is supposed to indicate the two pieces I was going to weave and then sew together. (great job, me, stick with jewelry making, not drawing)
Step 2: Cut the Silver Wire
Using a sharpie and a ruler to mark out the lengths, cut the silver wire. I cut:
* one 9.5cm piece of 18ga
* one 8cm piece of 18ga
* two 7cm pieces of 20ga
* two 6cm pieces of 18ga
* two 4.5cm pieces of 18ga
* one 2.5cm piece of 18ga
You could probably use just 18ga for the design, but I like the slightly smaller inner loop, and it graduates the balled ends a little bit more. I would not however, try just 20ga unless you are planning on using a much smaller crystal, it was hard enough to hold the crystal in place as it was. But I don't know, maybe someone out there knows how to use 20ga for tension settings more effectively. If so, please let me know!
Step 3: Ball the Ends of the Wire
Place the wire in a third hand in a soldering/heatproof environment. Make sure the wire is strait up and down! Otherwise you will end up with crooked balls! Once you are confident that the wire is strait up and down/the area is not going to catch fire/you won't need to go running down the stairs within the next few minutes/ etc... turn on your torch however the instructions say (I am not an expert on turning on torches, but there is usually a trigger to pull down and a flame lock). Bring your torch close to the wire until the tip of the wire is in the tip of the more intense blue part of the flame. The flame beyond the wire will start turning orange (I don't know why, it's probably a loss of heat from the flame into the wire or something) and the wire will glow red hot. 972