kumihimo crystal

3
kumihimo crystal bracelet Wire woven braids from a disk. BY VANESSA BLEVINS I found the Kumihimo portable disk one afternoon at a bead show, and became determined to learn how to use it. Soon I was creating beautiful necklaces out of all kinds of fiber. After a while, I wanted to return to my love, metal. I decided to create something using Artistic Wire, because it was anti-tar- nish and could easily be bent a few times without breaking. I added crystals for sparkle and durability. SKILL LEVEL TOOLS & SUPPLIES 16"–20" pieces of 24- to 26-gauge Artistic Wire, 8 4mm round crystals, approximately 120 Hamanaka Kumihimo Disk Round nose pliers Chain nose pliers 2 end cones 18-gauge wire, 6"–7" Jewelry cement Resources: Artistic Wire, artisticwire.com; Kumihimo Disk from ontherocks.biz. Photo of finished piece by Jim Lawson; all other photos courtesy of the author. Kumihimo Crystal Bracelet • Page 1 • More great projects available at shop.interweave.com/beading Originally published in Step by Step Wire Jewelry, Summer 2008. ©Interweave Press, LLC Not to be reprinted. All rights reserved

Upload: jose-miguel-lopez-garcia

Post on 18-Jul-2015

852 views

Category:

Documents


5 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Kumihimo crystal

kumihimocrystal bracelet

Wire woven braids from a disk.

BY VANESSA BLEVINS

I found the Kumihimo portable disk one afternoon at abead show, and became determined to learn how to use it.Soon I was creating beautiful necklaces out of all kinds of fiber.After a while, I wanted to return to my love, metal. I decidedto create something using Artistic Wire, because it was anti-tar-nish and could easily be bent a few times without breaking. Iadded crystals for sparkle and durability.

SKILL LEVELTOOLS & SUPPLIES• 16"–20" pieces of 24- to 26-gauge

Artistic Wire, 8

• 4mm round crystals, approximately 120

• Hamanaka Kumihimo Disk

• Round nose pliers

• Chain nose pliers

• 2 end cones

• 18-gauge wire, 6"– 7"

• Jewelry cement

Resources: Artistic Wire, artisticwire.com;Kumihimo Disk from ontherocks.biz.

Photo of finished piece by Jim Lawson; all other photoscourtesy of the author.

Kumihimo Crystal Bracelet • Page 1 • More great projects available at shop.interweave.com/beadingOriginally published in Step by Step Wire Jewelry, Summer 2008. ©Interweave Press, LLC Not to be reprinted. All rights reserved

Page 2: Kumihimo crystal

kumihimo crystal bracelet

1 Measure your wrist, and add1"–11⁄2" for comfort. This is the

woven length of your bracelet. Thecones and clasp will add morelength, so measure them and add toyour total. Measure eight 16"–20"pieces of wire.

2 Bring all the wire ends togetherand twist them with your fingers

a few times, like you are twisting abag tie.

4 Separate the strands of wire, oneon each side of #8, #16, #24,

and #32 on the disk.

5 Hold the disk so #32 is at thetop. While holding the twist with

your left hand on the under side of thedisk, begin by taking the wire on theleft side of #16 (bottom left) and bring-ing it up and to the left of the twowires on the top (#31—top left). Younow have three wires on the top.

6 Take the wire on the right side of#32 (top right), and bring it down to

the right side of the bottom (#15—bot-tom right). Turn the wheel to the left, orcounter clockwise, so that #8 is on top,and repeat the pattern: bottom left-topleft, top right, bottom right. Continueweaving one time around the circle untilall the wires have been moved.

8 Remove the wires from the disk,and snip the ends.7 At this point, you have woven about 1", or made one complete rotation.

Start adding the crystals. You will only add the beads on the upstrokemove. Add the crystal to the wire, and push it down through the hole so that itsits snugly against the weaving. Use your left hand to hold it down while youmake the other cross over. Make sure that the crystal is held under the wire thatis crossing over to the inside left of the circle. Continue the same pattern untilyou have reached the desired length. Weave about 1", or one more completerotation without crystals at the end.

3 Insert the twisted wire endsthrough the center hole on the

top side of the disk. Use your lefthand to hold the twist underneath thedisk. It is important to maintain con-sistent tension throughout the project,so that the weave is uniform in shapeand size.

Kumihimo Crystal Bracelet • Page 2 • More great projects available at shop.interweave.com/beadingOriginally published in Step by Step Wire Jewelry, Summer 2008. ©Interweave Press, LLC Not to be reprinted. All rights reserved

Page 3: Kumihimo crystal

9 Take the 18g wire, and cut it inhalf. You should have two 3"–31⁄2"

pieces. Wrap them around the fattestpart of the chain nose pliers two tothree times, forming a coil.

10 Insert the wire ends of the braidinto the coil, and use chain

nose pliers to them squeeze the coilsclosed. Snip the ends of the braidclose to the end of the coil.

11 Place the cones over the longends of the 18g wire. Add jew-

elry cement to the inside of the coneto hold it in place.

12 Make one end into a wrappedloop using the middle or the

base of the round nose pliers. Theloop needs to be big enough for thehook to pass through.

13 On the other end, grasp thewire about 1⁄4"–1⁄2" from the

cone with the fattest part of the roundnose pliers, and bend it over the plierswith your fingers to form the hook.Roll up the end of the wire with the tipof the pliers, forming a tiny loop.

14 Hammer the top curve of thehook for strength.

Vanessa Blevinshas been crafty all herlife. A friend introducedher to jewelry making,

starting with stringing, and then movingto metalwork. After teaching herself manytechniques by reading or trial and error,she began selling her creations. She is cur-rently a teacher at On the Rocks, a localbead shop. Contact Vanessa [email protected].

Keeping track of the next number to move to is not important. Thenumbers are merely there for reference. What is important is to keepup the same pattern, and to keep your wires across from eachother. You can use the numbers to check yourself every time youcome around one full rotation. All eight wires should be on one ofthe numbers with dots.

Kumihimo Crystal Bracelet • Page 3 • More great projects available at shop.interweave.com/beadingOriginally published in Step by Step Wire Jewelry, Summer 2008. ©Interweave Press, LLC Not to be reprinted. All rights reserved

RISK-FREE Trial OfferSubscribe today!

Step by Step Wire Jewelry

interweave.com/go/bdsw