Make Earring Wires

© by Rena Klingenberg; all rights reserved

Handmade earring wires are a wonderful way to add a unique, designer touch to your jewelry.

Once you learn to make this basic earwire design, you'll be dreaming up all kinds of creative ear findings!

Skill Level: Beginner

Supplies and Tools:

2 pieces of round wire, 2.5" (64 mm) long; use 20, 21, or 22 gauge
Round nose pliers
Flat nose pliers
File
Mandrel (I used a size 11 knitting needle; you could also use a dowel or a ball-point pen)

Procedure:

Gather your supplies and tools.

Near the tip of one jaw of your round nose pliers, use a Sharpie marker to draw a line. This is the spot on your pliers where you'll create the loop at the bottom of your earwires. (In the photo below, it's the line that's closer to the tip of the round nose pliers):

Place the tip of one of your wires between the jaws of your round nose pliers, right on the line you've just marked:

Then wrap the wire completely around one jaw of your pliers to create a full loop:

Put down your pliers and pick up your mandrel (my mandrel is the pink knitting needle).

Starting just above the little loop you just made at the end of your wire, use the mandrel to curve the wire away from your little loop.

You're making a nice curve that forms the top of your earwire:

Remove your wire from the mandrel.

At this point, you can decide how long you want the "tail" of your earring finding to be.

I use the full remaining length of wire, because I like to leave a longer tail. This extra length helps balance the earring dangle, and is also much less likely to accidentally slip out of the earlobe and get lost.

However, if you prefer a shorter tail, you can snip off as much as you like - but I recommend not making it any shorter than about 1/4" (6 mm) below the bottom of the earwire loop.

When the tail of your earwire is your preferred length, it's time to use a file to smooth and round the tip of your wire. Since the wire will be inserted through an ear piercing, you want to make absolutely sure there are no snags or rough spots on it.

When you've finished filing and smoothing, place the tip of your wire between the jaws of your flat nose pliers.

Make a slight bend in the wire:

You've finished the simplest version of the basic earring wire. It's a great, all-purpose design for pierced ears.

But there are also lots of things you can do to fancy it up, make it unique, or give it a wonderfully artistic look if you like.

Finished basic earwires