Beginners Guide to Jewelry Making

Every month I decide to try 3 new things. Last month I decided that I wanted to make my own jewelry so I thought it would be fun to document it all and share! I originally used this post as a guest blog post over on Ciera’s blog yesterday but I wanted to post it here too in case any of my readers missed it. Before we begin, you must know that I’ve never made jewelry before I created the necklace I document below. I literally went to Hobby Lobby and thought, “What supplies make sense?” I had already ordered some amazing vintage Japanese beads on Etsy beforehand so I just needed to make sure I could thread them. Here are the supplies that I used:

I picked up a basic jewelry tool kit and a few options when it came to chains. I ended up using a really thin (and cheap) gold chain so I’m excited to experiment with more quality supplies later. Here is a visual and brief tutorial below. I’ll go into more details on each step below the image!

Okay here’s more of an explanation for each step:

1. I am using a 2″ eye pin here. If I were to re-create this necklace again (which I probably will), I might consider adding a drop of super glue to keep the two beads together. If you aren’t extremely precise, it’s hard to keep them close together while closing the eye pin in the next step.

2. I used the round nose pliers to hold the eye pin steady while I literally bent the other end perpendicular.

3. I didn’t get a photo but I did clip the end of the eye pin so that it was shorter. I didn’t want to bend it into a loop and then have extra wire. Here is a great tutorial on creating loops with your eye pins.

4. As you can see, I have created the loop and now the beads are secured. My loop is definitely not perfect but it works!

5. I wanted to make sure I knew how to create a loop before I strung the chain through (so this is technically a little backwards) but by the time you get the hang of it, it doesn’t take a lot to pull the loop apart and add the chain.

6. Now you have a completed and seamless necklace! After this, I snipped the chain (where it would fall on your neck) and added the clasp! Ta da! Necklace completed.

So there’s my beginners guide to jewelry making. I learned a lot and didn’t even really study any techniques. It was almost more fun going into it neutral and not having an preconceived ideas of what my necklace should look like. I did run into a few issues the days following this little DIY experience. I realized the beads weren’t really heavy enough and I felt like it was constantly lopsided. There wasn’t enough weight pulling it down. It also “broke” one day while I wore it. Essentially the chain came off the looped eyepin near one of the beads. I just need to make my loop tighter. Let me know if you have any advice or tips – I’m all ears.

Be on the lookout next few weeks for updates on June’s 3 New Things! I’ll be experimenting with camera strap making + making my own natural cleaners this weekend! Wish me luck!