Crocheted Wire Earrings

September 13, 2015 · 8 Comments

The other day I wanted to crochet but I also needed to make some earrings. So it got me thinking: would it be possible to mash the two things together and crochet some earrings? Preferably earrings that are neither enormous or woolly looking.

I had a go at crocheting some fine wire and the results were not enormous or woolly!
They were rather fiddly but they are very delicate light to wear, so well worth it!

They are made by crocheting three strands of wire, adding beads as you go, then plaiting the strands together.

I have included Amazon affiliate links for the materials. If you would prefer to buy a kit for making these earrings, complete with instructions, you can do so here.

How to Make Crocheted Wire Earrings

You will need: fine craft wire (1 metre will be enough to make 1 pair of earrings), a 2 or 2.5 mm crochet hook, 2 earring wires, 2 jump rings, wire cutters or pliers (or scissors will do but not your best pair! ), 10 beads including a mixture of 6mm glass beads, 8mm glass beads, crackle glass beads and faceted beads, and a selection seed or other small beads.

1. Cut 3 pieces of wire, each measuring 15cm. Twist the ends together a couple of times. 2. Slip one of the larger beads onto the twisted end. Thread the same end through a jump ring and twist to secure.

3. Using the handle end of the crochet hook, make a loop next to the bead in one of the strands of wire and twist it a couple of times.

4. Now we’re ready to start crocheting! A word of warning first though: crocheting wire is not like crocheting wool. It sounds obvious but the lack of stretchiness took me by surprise.
Crochet a couple of chains.

5. Slip a bead onto the wire. Then crochet one chain by taking the wire from the far side of the bead.

6. Continue to crochet chains and add beads. Try to space the beads out so that when you plait the strands together at the end, the beads are evenly spaced out.

7. Repeat for the other two strands.

8. Gently plait the three strands together.
9. Using the jump ring, attach the earring wire.Repeat for the other earring.

Tips

Use a metal crochet hook because the wire will probably gouge lumps out of a bamboo one!

As wire does not stretch, the loops in the chain need to be big enough. If they are not, wiggle the loop down the crochet hook to where it is wider then back up again.

If overworked, the wire will break, so be careful when twisting. If it does break, you may be able to reattach beads using extra bits of wire.

If the strands are difficult to plait, try pulling them gently to stretch the chains a little bit.

If you would like to buy a kit to make the earrings and not have to faff about buying lots of different beads when you only need a few, you can do so here.

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Crocheted Flower Necklace Tutorial

August 9, 2015 · 4 Comments

A few months ago I made these crocheted flower earrings. I have worn them a few times and people have remarked on how unusual they are. I’ve also found that despite them being quite long, they are very light and don’t pull on my ear.

So I decided to make a matching necklace!

If you are a crocheter and you have never tried jewellery making, don’t be put off! They are easy to make. You will need some round nosed pliers though in addition to a 2 mm crochet hook.

I have also decided to start selling kits for some of my tutorials, so if you like the necklace (and the earrings), you might like to buy a kit so that you can make them without the trouble of hunting down the materials to make them! Here is the link to the craft kits page. Otherwise you can find the link in the navigation bar at the top. The kit for the necklace is £5 and the kit for the earrings is £3 🙂

I’ll be adding more kits over the next few months, so don’t forget to check back!

How to Make a Crocheted Flower Necklace

You will need: thread and a crochet hook (I used Anchor Pearle and a 2 mm hook), 11 jump rings, 1 head pin, 5 eye pins, 6 chip beads, round nosed pliers, ordinary pliers or wire cutters.

1. Make 5 crocheted flowers. The pattern is the same as for the crocheted hair bobble, which can be found here. Using lighter thread and a smaller hook will produce much smaller flowers!

2. Attach jump rings to either side of 4 of the flowers. For the fifth flower, you will need to attach 3 jump rings evenly spaced around the flower.

3. Thread a chip bead onto an eye pin and bend the other end into a loop. Depending on the length of the eye pins, you might need to cut off some of the excess first. If you are new to making jewellery, practise making some loops first you have an idea of how much you need to make a loop. You will need to make 5 of these.

4. Using the jump rings already attached to the flowers, join the flowers together using the bead eye pin things you made in the previous step. The flower with 3 jump rings will need to be in the middle.

5. Add the last eye pin and chip bead from step 3 to the 3rd jump ring on the middle flower. Thread a chip bead onto the head pin and make a loop. Using a jump ring, attach the head pin with a bead to the eye pin with a bead.

6. Take a length of chain and attach to one end of the flowers using the jump ring. Try it on to determine how long you need the chain to be. Cut the chain using pliers. Attach the other end on the chain to the other end of the flowers.

7. Find the centre of the chain and break one of the links. Use jump rings to attach a lobster clasp.

Now wear it out and wait for people to admire it! Don’t forget, if you want buy a kit to make this necklace, you can do so here!

If you haven’t already, you might also like to have a look at the tutorial for the matching earrings, which can be found here!

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A Crocheted Flower Earrings Tutorial

March 13, 2015 · 16 Comments

I haven’t made any jewellery in so long, it was nice to dust off my round nosed pliers and my wire bits and bobs!

I’ve incorporated crochet into jewellery making before. You can read about it here:Crocheted Wire Earrings.

This time I have used a crocheted flower as an element of each earring. The beads are semi precious stones that used to be a rather boring necklace! I strung them together using eyepins and jump rings.

The earrings came together pretty quickly and took at most a couple of hours to make. This included designing the earrings and crocheting the flowers.

A Crocheted Flower Earrings Tutorial

You Will Need: single strand embroidery thread, 2 mm crochet hook, 2 ear wires, 8 semi precious natural rough cut or chip beads, 2 head pins, 6 eye pins, 14 jump rings, round nosed pliers, flat nosed pliers, wire cutters.

1. Make the flowers using the embroidery thread and the crochet hook. Instructions can be found here (it’s a tutorial for making a flower for a hair bobble, but the pattern is the same. The flower turns out smaller because the thread is finer and the hook is smaller).

2. Take one of the beads and thread it onto a head pin. Make a loop.

If you are new to this or it has been a while and you’ve forgotten, to make a loop, bend the end of the head pin over to make a right angle. Cut the end off so that you are left with about a cm of wire. Using the round nosed pliers and starting at the end furthest from the bead, bend the wire into a loop about half way. Adjust your hand and the pliers so that you are comfortable. Complete the loop. If the loop is not quite closed, give it a gentle squeeze with the flat nosed pliers.

3. Take another bead and thread it onto an eye pin. Make the free end into a loop. Repeat for the 2 remaining beads.

4. Attach a jump ring to the top of the flower between the petals. Attaching it here will hopefully prevent the flower from becoming stretched when you are wearing the earrings. Attach another jump ring to the first jump ring.

5. Attach 2 more jump rings to the bottom of the flower in the same way.

6. Using the jump rings, attach the rest of the elements together. Below the flower, attach 3 beads all joined together with jump rings with the last bead being the one on a head pin.