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Thursday, April 25, 2013

Wire Macrame Earring Tutorial




When I submitted these earrings for the AJE challenge a few months ago a lot of people asked me about the the wire macrame technique so I decided to put together a tutorial which you can adapt to your own design. I had a little difficulty photographing this today as it's a two handed technique and my tripod has gone awol but you can find the basic knotting technique here if you need clarification.

Materials 

Approx. 6" 0.9mm bronze core wire
Approx. 12" 0.5mm bronze knotting wire
2  focal beads
2 accent beads/dangles
1 pair of earwires
Headpins/wire
2 pairs of pliers
Table vice or something to secure your wire

Note: Different types and gauges of wire can be used for this and these will give different effects but remember that you may need to adjust the length of the wire according to the gauge used.

Step one
Secure your core wire to something that will keep it firmly in place -  I use a table top vice but you could also wrap it round a rigid object - don't forget to cut extra wire if you do the latter.


Step 2
Place your knotting wire beneath the core wire and bring both ends up around the sides. Pass the wire on your left over the wire in your right and back under the core wire and up through the loop of the wire on the right.




Grip both ends of the wire with your pliers and pull to tighten keeping an even tension. Don't be tempted to do this with your hands (especially with bronze wire) - it may not hurt at first but you'll find you have very sore fingers the next day - I know I tried!


Step 3
Repeat step 2 taking care to pass the wire in the same direction as this will create the spiral pattern.



 Continue repeating step one and the spiral pattern will begin to emerge...



Step 4
When the spiral is the length you want remove it from the vice and wrap one end of the wire around the core wire 3 times, cut off the excess and press against the core wire. Repeat the process with the other end of the wire wrapping it over the first wrap. Trim the excess and file any sharp edges.  This will form the top of the earring.





Step 5
Trim the top end of the core wire to remove any vice marks, file the end and turn a simple loop. Gently push the spiral up to sit snugly against the loop.


Step 6
At the other end add your focal bead, trim and file the wire and turn another simple loop or warp a loop if preferred.





Step 7
Add a headpin to an accent bead and turn a simple loop to create a dangle then add this to the bottom of your earring.

Step 9
Add an earwire of your choice.


Step 10
Repeat this process for the second earring to complete the pair.


Step 11
This technique is greatly enhanced by oxidising the wire and polishing back the high points to give added depth and texture. I've done this when the earrings are complete but if your beads are not waterproof you will need to treat the wire before you make up the earrings.




And there you have your wire macrame earrings.

I hope you'll have a go at making these and perhaps we'll see some of them coming up on the AJE Earring Challenge Pinterest board.

Lesley
www.thegossipinggoddess.blogspot.com

38 comments:

  1. HOLY MOLY! That is beautiful, Miss Lesley! I love the intricate texture of the oxidized wire. What a lovely effect. Thank you for sharing this with us! Enjoy the day. Erin

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  2. Hi Lesley, what gauge did you use for the macrame in this example? They look wonderful and I'd love to try!

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    1. Mary Anne - I use 20 & 22 british wire gauge which I think is 19/21 for american wire gauge... you can check here...http://beadsisters.co.uk/library/pages/wiregauges.htm

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    2. Sorry - that should be 24/23 not 22/21.

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  3. Never thought about using wire in macrame. The earrings came out great!

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  4. The oxidizing really brings out the spiral! Excellent job Ms. Lesley!

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  5. Love these so much, thanks for sharing!

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  6. I am so impressed how you get the wire to work for you like that! Wire hates me. What an amazing tutorial!

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    Replies
    1. It's actually very easy with a bit of practice Kristen - give it a go...

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  7. fabulous Leslie....thanks for sharing!

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  8. These are beautiful, I want to share the link as soon as I figure out how through buffer! They look so complicated but are quite easy! Thank You so much for sharing! Cara

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  9. Hi Lesley I also just wanted to check Wire gauge conversion I believe .05mm = 20g & .09mm= 24g is this correct ?
    Still haven't converted over metic system lol. Thanks! Cara

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  10. Lesley, your earrings are beautiful, and I LOVE the wire macrame technique (it's right up my alley)! Thanks so much for sharing the tutorial! xoxo Meridy

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  11. Wow...it looks so complicated finished, but the steps seem fairly easy....of course I say that now before I try it! Thank you so much for this tutorial. I will certainly be trying my hand at it.

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  12. Thank you Lesley! I can't wait to try this :) Beautiful!

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  13. Wonderful, Lesley... I'm not much of a wire-worker, but I love macramé. I just bought dead-soft for the first time so will definitely give this a try. Thanks for the great tutorial!

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  14. Oj, what a beautiful idea - thank you for sharing thta with us, Lesley!

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  15. What a super idea! I can't wait to try this - thanks for sharing!

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  16. Fantastic tutorial a real must try love these earrings

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  17. What an great idea! Very beautiful, thank you for sharing!

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  18. These are awesome Lesley! Thank you so much for sharing!

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  19. Oh, Holy Moses! I love this! I loved it so much I went and told people they need to come see this from my blog! Abso-tively AAAAAWEsome! (warbles out word) I was waffling about learning macrame but now I want to jump right in. Your pics are very clear and, since I'm a visual learner, I think I can pick this up. Woo Hoo!

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  20. Wow! I think I'm going to try this today.

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  21. Thanks for sharing! (And I believe you when you say don't do this with your hands with bronze wire!!!)

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  22. I love the look and am thrilled you gave us a tutorial. I'm so careful whose blogs I subscribe to now since I was getting too much email. I am very happy I subscribed to yours. TFS!

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  23. They are lovely Lesley! Great tutorial!

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  24. Loving macramé these days and using it with wire is so brilliant! Thank you much for sharing!

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  25. Fantastic design Lesley, thank you for sharing :0)

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  26. These are fabulous Lesley! I'm going to have to give them a try!! Thanks so much for sharing!

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  27. This is so cool. Must try! Thanks Lesley!

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  28. Great tut. I love the oxidised version. I would love to try this.

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  29. Great tutorial! I love the oxidised version. I look forward to trying it. Thank you

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  30. Beautiful. Thank you for sharing the tutorial :)

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  31. Absolutely fabulous!Thanks for sharing ;)

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