Rainbow Necklace

Glass beads come in such an array of beautiful colours that I decided to make a feature of them and create my own rainbow.

Posted by GMC Group

About

A wire choker is great for wiring beads on, as it is so rigid.

Share

You Will Need (7 things)

  • Flat Nose Pliers
  • 14-in (350mm) 16-gauge (1.2mm) Silver Wire
  • 32-in (800mm) 22-gauge (0.6mm) Silver Wire
  • 1 x 16-in (400mm) 12-gauge (2mm) silver wire Choker
  • 42 x 5-mm colourful Glass Beads
  • Side or top Cutters
  • Round Nose Pliers

Steps (9 steps, 50 minutes)

  1. 1

    Cut a 14-in (35cm) length of 16-gauge (1.2mm) silver wire and start to form a loop at one end, using the very base of your round-nose pliers.

  2. 2

    Manipulating the wire around this loop, gently bend the wire to form a loose spiral. This is probably easier to do with your fingers rather than using pliers. Continue to spiral the wire so that it goes around the central loop at least twice. When you are happy with the shape, bend the wire away from the spiral at an angle of 90 degrees using your flat-nose pliers. This should leave you with a length of at least 2in (5cm) of wire in preparation for step 3.

  3. 3

    Using your round-nose pliers, form an eye loop 1⁄2in (1cm) up from the 90-degree bend you made in step 2. Do not cut away the excess wire yet.

  4. 4

    Cut a 12-in (30cm) length of 22-gauge (0.6mm) wire and lay one end against the thicker wire, just below the eye loop that you made in step 3. Start to wrap the remaining 16-gauge (1.2mm wire) around the thinner wire and itself, so that you are trapping 
the thin wire underneath. When you reach the start of the curve of your spiral, cut away the excess 16-gauge (1.2mm) wire and the excess 22-gauge (0.6mm) wire that is sticking out at the top of the eye loop.

  5. 5

    Wrap the thinner wire around the thicker one a couple of times to get it in position at the top of the spiral. Add your first glass bead and then wrap the thin wire twice around the thick wire.

  6. 6

    Add another bead and again wrap the thin wire twice around the thicker wire. Continue to add more beads in this way until you come to the loop that you made in step 1 at the centre of the spiral. Wrap the thin wire around the thicker wire a couple 
of times and cut off any excess.

  7. 7

    Thread the spiral pendant onto the 12-gauge (2mm) wire choker from the eye loop you completed in step 4 and centre it at the bottom. Cut an 8-in (20cm) length of 22-gauge (0.6mm) wire and wrap it around the wire choker several times immediately to the right of the pendant.

  8. 8

    Add a glass bead and wrap the thin wire twice around the choker to the right-hand side of the pendant. Repeat this process until you have added ten glass beads. When you have added the last bead, wrap the remaining thin wire several times around the wire choker to secure itself and cut off any excess.

  9. 9

    Repeat steps 7–9 to add ten beads to the left-hand side of the pendant.

    Spiral a length of thick wire to create a pendant as a focal point for your necklace. You can wire beads onto that, too!