-
Here’s how to turn some thick wire into a wiggle bangle!
This bangle is so cute! It is a no-heat way to make a unique bangle that you can wear on its own or stacked with other bracelets. Please note that this tutorial contains affiliate links for which we may receive a small commission.
You’ll need the following tools and materials to make your bangle:
1: A piece of thick wire that is about 30-40 cm long (you might need to trim the end or add extra length depending on how large your bracelet needs to be). I used this copper wire that was 1.7mm in diameter.
You can get some copper wire here:
Or if you like, you can make it out of silver wire, which you can get here:
2: A file and emery paper to smooth the ends of the wire.
You can get a file here:
You can get emery paper here:
3: A pair of parallel pliers.
You can get a pair here:
4: A bracelet mandrel.
You can get one here:
5: A nylon or leather hammer. I used this nylon hammer.
You can get a hammer here:
Follow these steps to make your wiggle bracelet:
1: File and emery the ends of your wire using the jewelry file and emery paper, making sure it is smooth and there are no sharp ends.
2: Use the flat nose pliers to create a triangle shape at one end of the wire.
3: Now grip the wire next to the triangle and push the long end of the wire against the pliers to form an angle.
4: Repeat step 3 again to create a zigzag shape.
5: Repeat steps 3 and 4 for the rest of the wire until you have about 1.5cm left of the wire.
6: Form the shape into a circle and create another triangle at the other end that is slightly open.
7: Slip the open end of the bracelet through the triangle you formed at the start.
8: Using the flat nose pliers again, close the second triangle to close off the bangle.
9: Put the bangle on the mandrel and hammer it into a circular shape, gently adjusting it so that it lies flat.
Once you are happy with the shape, you can take your bracelet off the mandrel and pop it on your wrist! How simple and lovely? I am very fond of this simple bangle design. How will you style yours?
Here’s how the finished bangle looks.
-
Do you love the look of knit accessories? Why not try knitting your own bangle?
I’ve previously written an i-cord knitted bracelet tutorial, and this one is kind of similar, but the special twist here is the addition of a wire to give the knit structure so it wears more like a bangle than a bracelet! This simple tutorial requires some basic knitting skills, but I think the results are worth it. Please note that this tutorial contains affiliate links.
You’ll need the following tools and materials to make your knitted bangle:
1: Yarn. I used two leftover yarns, a sliver sparkly mohair and a pink boucle style yarn.
Hot pink yarn:
Sparkly black yarn:
2: A piece of wire. I used some recycled copper wire.
3: Pliers. I used my cutting pliers, flat nose pliers and round nose pliers.
4: Scissors.
5: A darning needle.
6: Two double pointed knitting needles. I used some 8mm needles to give myself a chunky i-cord. The width of your i-cord will depend on the size of your yarn and your needles. I recommend using a thick yarn and needles for a bold bangle. Alternatively, if you don’t like knitting, you can use an i-cord knitting machine.
Alternatively, you can try an i-cord knitting machine
Follow these steps to make your own amazing knitted bangle:
1: Hold the two yarns together.
2: Create a slip knot and add it to the needle, pull the yarn to tighten it around the needle.
3: Cast on two more stitches. After casting on the three stitches, slide them to the other end of the needle and begin knitting the first stitch. Knit the next two stitches. This will start to form a tube. You can see this process a bit in this video.
4: After finishing the first row, slide the stitches to the other end of the needle and repeat the knit pattern you did in step 3.
5: Once you have your desired length, it is time to cast off. To cast off, knit the first stitch onto the second needle, then knit the second stitch, after you slide it onto the next needle, take the first stitch and pull it over the second one, you will now have one stitch on each needle. Repeat this again until you only have one stitch left on the second needle.
6: Leaving the final stitch on the needle, trim the end of the yarn leaving a tail.
7: Remove the needle and then thread the tail through the loop and pull it tight. Now your cast off is complete.
8: Take the wire and start pushing it into the middle of the i-cord.
9: Create a loop on one end of the wire.
9: Form the wire into a large circle shape, this will be the form of your bangle.
10: Trim the excess wire using your cutting pliers, leaving a little excess on the end to allow for the loop.
11: Put the second end through the loop you made at the first end, then loop them together using your round nose pliers.
12: Push the knitted i-cord tube around to cover the loops you made. and then tie the two ends together using the tails you left.
13: Use the needle to weave the tails in and further cover the wire. Trim any excess yarn.
Now your knit bangle is finished and ready to wear! How cute is this design? I love it. I’m planning to make a whole stack to add some fun colourful accessories to my wardrobe.
Here are some other fibre focused jewelry tutorials you can follow:
-
How to make a pair of triangle statement earrings!
Here’s how to make a cute pair of statement earrings, these are such a fun design that pack a bold punch with their size and colours. Please note that this tutorial contains affiliate links.
You’ll need these tools and materials to make these earrings:
1: Eight pieces of wire all the same length. I used 0.8mm copper wire.
Here’s a pre-made eye pin option if you don’t feel like making them yourself: https://tidd.ly/3WCad6D
2: Four statement beads. I used these polymer clay beads I made. Here’s a polymer clay bead tutorial for you.
3: Some accent beads. I used these timber beads.
4: A pair of earring hooks. If you don’t have any, you can find tutorials that show you how to make your own here, here and here.
5: Some flat nose pliers and round nose pliers. You will also need your cutting pliers if you are not using pre-made eye pins.
Follow these steps to make your amazing triangle statement earrings:
1: Bend the end of each wire to form a right angle using the flat nose pliers.
2: Loop the end of each wire using round nose pliers.
3: Add beads to two of the wires, these will form the bottom of your triangles. I added some statement beads to each of these wires.
4: Bend the ends of the beaded wires to form another right angle.
5: Loop the end of the wire using the round nose pliers. This will secure the beads in place.
6: Repeat steps 3-5 for two more of the pins, these will be used to attach the triangles to the earring hooks.
7: Add your accent beads to the four remaining wires to create four solid beaded pins, secure the beads in place as you did in steps 4 and 5.
8: Now it is time to start assembling your earrings, Add one of the solid beaded wires to one of the accent beaded wires.
9: Add a second solid beaded wire to the first accent beaded wire, so you have one statement beaded wire with two solid beaded wires attached.
10: Add a second statement beaded wire to the earring, attaching each end to each of the solid beaded wires to form a triangle shape.
11: Repeat steps 8 to 10 for the second earring.
12: Attach each of the earring hooks to the triangle forms. Once both earring hooks are attached your earrings are finished and ready to wear out! How will you style yours?
Here are the finished earrings!
-
Here’s how to make a beaded necklace out of wire!
If you want to make a beaded chain necklace, but don’t have any head pins, or if you want to add some handmade flair to your work, here’s how you can use wire instead! This necklace tutorial uses the clasp from last month’s tutorial, you can follow it here.
Please note that this tutorial contains affiliate links
You’ll need these tools and materials to make your necklace:
1: Some wire. I used some copper wire that was about 1mm in diameter.
Here’s some silver wire if you prefer it: https://amzn.to/3M8DgL0
2: A clasp. I used the clasp made in this tutorial.
3: A selection of beads. I used a random selection of glass, plastic and clay beads.
4: A pair of flat-round pliers.
5: A pair of cutting pliers.
6: A pair of flat nose pliers or flat nose parallel pliers.
7: A file in case you want to smooth the ends of your wire. This isn’t totally necessary but adds to giving your work a quality finish.
Follow these steps to make your beaded wire chain necklace:
1: Bend the end of the wire using the flat nose pliers to form a right angle.
2: Loop the end of the wire using the round-flat pliers.
3: Add your first bead to the wire.
5: Trim the wire. I measured where to trim by holding the wire with the flat nose pliers and then cutting next to it.
6: At this point, you can file the end of the wire to flatten it, or you can simply create a loop at the top of the bead using the flat-round nose pliers.
7: Repeat steps 1-6 for the next bead link for the necklace. Once the link is formed, use the flat nose pliers to open the jump ring, slide it onto the first charm and close the link to start forming the chain.
8: Repeat these steps until you have a length you like for a necklace.
9: Open one of the loops at the end of the necklace and attach the clasp. Close the loop to secure the clasp in place. Add the clasp ring to the other side of the necklace to finish it off.
Now your necklace is finished! How fun to make your own jewellery without any pre-made findings?!
-
How to make a simple clasp out of wire!
This is a cool tutorial!
Imagine, you want to make a necklace or a bracelet, but you’ve totally run out of clasp findings. Rather than ordering some online, and waiting for them to arrive, check to see if you’ve got some wire on hand, and then come back here and keep reading about how you can turn this wire into a simple, but elegant clasp.
Please note, this tutorial contains affiliate links.
You’ll need these tools and materials to make your own clasp out of wire:
1: Some wire. I used a piece of copper wire recycled from an old project.
2: Some cutting pliers.
3: A jump ring that matches the wire colour.
4: Round flat pliers.
5: A small needle file.
Follow these steps to make your wire clasp:
1: Take the wire and wrap it around the widest part of the round on the round flat pliers to create a fold in the wire with the ends crossing each other. When you do this, have about 2.5cm on the short side, you can trim the long side later.
2: Using the cutting pliers, trim the long part of the wire off to be slightly longer than the short side.
3: File the ends gently so they aren’t spiky (You can skip this step if you don’t have a file).
4: Take the side that was longer to start with and create a loop at the end of the wire, this loop will turn away from the first loop you made and will sit flush against the other side.
5: Using the round-flat pliers again, create a loop at the other end of the wire, this loop will be higher up and sit flush against the other wire above the other loop.
6: Now your clasp is done. Thread the jump ring through the point where the two wires meet, this is how it opens and closes.
If the clasp feels a little soft or like it will pull out of shape, you can harden the wire a bit by squeezing it flat using some flat nose pliers or flat nose parallel pliers. This will work harden the metal a bit. Another alternative to work harden your clasp is to hammer it gently using a rubber or leather mallet on a steel block (be careful, this is likely to mark your metal or flatten it too much.)
This clasp might widen over time, you can put it back into place using some flat pliers and round flat pliers to make sure the wires sit closely together to prevent your jewelry from falling off!
Here’s an example of the same style of clasp on a bracelet I received as a gift.
Open version of the clasp on a bracelet from Peru. 
Closed version of the clasp on a bracelet from Peru. -
How to make beaded love heart earrings.
Do you remember the love heart necklace tutorial? Here’s how to make love heart earrings too! Contains affiliate links.
You will need the following tools and materials to make your beaded love heart earrings:
1: Pliers. You’ll need flat nose pliers, cutting pliers and round nose pliers.
2: Four pieces of wire cut to approximately 12cm long.
3: Earring hooks.
4: Beads. I used timber beads and some yellow glass beads.
Follow these steps to make your love heart earrings:
1: Create a loop at one end of the wire using the round nose pliers.
2: Add beads to the wire leaving 1cm unbeaded.
3: Create a loop at the other end of the wire using the round nose pliers.
4: Repeat steps 1-3 for the remaining pieces of wire, make 2 wires with the timber beads and 2 with the glass beads.
5: Link one of the timber bead wires to the glass bead wires and one end.
6: Form the wires into a heart shape and link the wires at the bottom of the heart.
7: Repeat these steps for the second heart.
8: Squash the bottom loops of each earring so that it doesn’t fold in half when it hangs from your ears.
9: Add an earring hook to the top of each heart earring.
Now your love heart earrings are ready to wear!
