How to Make a Knotted Wire Headpin

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Christine Gierer What a gorgeous "knotted" wire headpin. I'd like to give a special thanks to Donna for submitting so many beautiful tutorials. You can find more of her tutorials on my website linking from the Making Wire Jewelry page

Enjoy!

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Instructions

Knotted Headpin 1 Headpins are used very often when creating jewelry. If you have a torch, it’s easy to create your own headpins. However, if you don’t have one, or if you are like me and don’t trust yourself with a torch, buying pre-made headpins may seem like the only option.

This tutorial teaches you to make your own decorative wire headpins without the need for a torch.

The tutorial calls for 22g wire. This makes these headpins great for heavier beads. However, if you would prefer, you can use 24g wire instead.

Materials: 22g dead soft or half hard wire (1" longer than desired length for headpin) Tools: Flat nose pliers Wire cutters Needle File
Step 1 Bend wire 1" from the bottom. Close the bend by pressing on it with your flat nose pliers on each side of the bend. Be careful not to press too tightly, or the wire may break.
Step 2 Bend the wire outward at a 90º angle 1/8" above the bottom.
Step 3 Wrap the wire around the doubled piece of wire just below the bend created in the previous step.
Step 4 Continue wrapping until you are almost to the bottom of the wire. Cut the wire 2-3mm away from the piece you just wrapped. File the end smooth.
Step 5 Press the end of the wire against the first bend in the wire. This should actually be work hardened enough to keep the end from slipping. However, I would suggest tumbling for an hour or so just to be completely sure.
The Finished Knotted Wire Headpin!

About the Artist: Donna Spadafore is a self taught jewelry artist who has spent years improving her techniques and creating new, original jewelry designs. She now teaches many of her designs to her students using on-line tutorials available on her web-site. If you are interested in learning new and wonderful jewelry techniques, go to http://www.gailavira.com/tutorials