Flemish Spiral Jewelry Wire & Beads Earrings Jewelry Making Projects

(FOR FREE INSTRUCTIONS PAIRED WITH PHOTOS CLICK HERE)

Step 1: All three wire components can be made using 18 gauge wire. Soft wire is preferred. Using your flush cutter, cut two segments of wire 2 1/2" long for the smallest Flemish Spiral wire component, two segments of wire 3 1/4" long for the middle wire component and two segments of wire 4" long for the largest wire component.

Step 2: Using your fine step jaw pliers, make a loop in one end of each segment. Chose the end of the wire segment with the flush cut for making the loop.

Step 3: Now we need to straighten the wire. Grasp the wire with your thumb and the index finger on your non-dominant hand and repeatedly pull the wire through the jaws of your nylon jaw pliers. Do this until each segment of wire is straight.

Step 4: Position two 3/16" Super Pegs, pegs 2 and 3, two 1/4" Super Pegs, pegs 6 and 7, and two 5/16" Super Pegs, pegs 10 and 11, along with six regular metal pegs, pegs 1, 4, 5, 8, 9, and 12 in your jig as shown at right.

Step 5: Place the initial loop from one of the 2 1/2" segments of wire on peg 1 and wrap the wire around peg 2, 3 and 4 as shown. Do this for both 2 1/2" segments of wire.

Step 6: Place the initial loop from one of the 3 1/4" segments of wire on peg 5 and wrap the wire around pegs 6, 7 and 8 as shown. Do this for both segments of 3 1/4" wire.

Step 7: Place the initial loop from one of the 4" segments of wire on peg 9 and wrap the wire around pegs 10, 11 and 12 as shown. Do this for both segments of 4" wire.

Step 8: Remove each wire segment from your jig. It should appear as shown at right.

Step 9: Using your step jaw pliers, make a loop in your wire at the point where the "U" shaped bend was made around the final peg in that pattern. When completed, your wire component should appear as shown at left.

Step 10: Using your flush cutter cut the excess wire. Close the final loop (where you just cut the wire) with your bent chain nose pliers. At this point your wire component should appear as shown at right.

Step 11: Wrapping the center of the Flemish Spiral wire components is optional, but recommended if you have the 1/2 round wire. By wrapping the center, you close the loops in the component and make it more permanent. The first step in wrapping the center closed is to cut a 2" segment of 1/2 round wire and make a "U" shaped bend 1/8" from the end of the wire. In the picture shown at left, we made the "U" shaped bend properly, but left too much wire, the short end of the wire should be no longer that 1/8".

Step 12: To be able to wrap the wire around the center of the wire component, first you need to open both the initial and final loops as shown at right. This is done with your bent chain nose pliers.

Step 13: Now position the 1/2 round wire as shown at left. Your goal is to have about 1/16" of 1/2 round wire showing beyond the wire of the flemish spiral wire component. Trim the wire to that length if necessary using your flush cutter.

Step 14: Using your bent chain nose pliers, squeeze the 1/16" of 1/2 round wire overhanging the wire component flat against the round wire of the wire component, then slide that wire into the position shown at right. This attaches one end of the 1/2 round wire to the wire component.

Step 15: Now begin wrapping the 1/2 round wire around the wire component as shown at left. Using your bent chain nose pliers squeeze the 1/2 round wire flat against the wire component after each 1/2 wrap of the wire.

Step 16: Continue wrapping the 1/2 wire about three times around the wire component. Be certain to squeeze the 1/2 round wire flat against the wire component after each 1/2 wrap. On the final wrap, use your flush cutter to trim the excess wire to 1/16" as shown at right.

Step 17: Finish wrapping the piece by squeezing the overlapping 1/16" of 1/2 round wire flat against the wire component using your bent chain nose pliers as shown at right. After you have squeezed that wire flat, then use your bent chain nose pliers to close the beginning and ending loops.

Step 18: The finished, wrapped Flemish Spiral wire component should appear as shown at right on one side and as shown at left on the opposite side. When using the component in earrings, the side shown at left should be orientated to face out as it is the better looking of the two sides.

Step 19: After you have completed two large, two medium and two small Flemish Spiral wire components, you will be ready to begin assembling the earrings. The first step in getting ready to assemble the earrings is to make 12 figure 8 connectors. You can make these connectors out of 18 or 20 gauge half-hard or soft wire. For the earrings shown here we used 20 gauge wire. The steps involved in making a figure 8 connector can be viewed here.

Step 20: The largest Flemish Spiral wire component is connected to the middle sized Flemish Spiral wire component by three figure 8 connectors. Use your bent chain nose pliers to open and close the loops on the figure 8 connector, connecting one figure 8 connector at a time. On the third figure 8 connector, you will need to open the final loop a little wider than normal in order to be able to connect that figure 8 connector between the largest and medium sized Flemish Spiral wire components.

Step 21: Follow the same process as in step 20 to use three figure 8 connectors to connect the bottom of the middle sized Flemish Spiral wire component to the top of the smallest Flemish Spiral wire component.

Step 22: If you used 18 gauge wire for the largest Flemish Spiral Wire component, you can directly connect your commercial ear wire finding to the top of that wire component. If you used 16 gauge wire for the largest Flemish Spiral wire component you will need to make a modified figure 8 connector as described here to connect your ear wire finding to the body of the earring. Use 18 or 20 gauge wire to make the modified figure 8 connector (20 gauge is preferred if you have it.)

Step 23: When you have connected the three Flemish Spiral wire components together and have added your commercial ear wire, then you are ready to add your beads. Add your beads using a head pin for each bead with the bead dangle technique described here or here. For the earrings shown above-right, we used one 4mm bead on a head pin connected to each beginning and ending loop in the Flemish Spiral wire component and a 6mm bead on a head pin connected to the bottom of the earrings. When you have completed adding your beads, hold your earrings at arms length and admire. The earring is done.

Alternative Designs:

Our first alternative design is an obvious one. Not everyone wants shoulder duster earrings. For people who find that these earrings are too long for them, the easy fix is to limit your earrings to two Flemish Spiral links instead of three. This is easy and can reduce the length of the earrings by a full inch or even slightly more.

Our second alternative design is to directly connect the Flemish Spiral wire components one to another instead of using the figure 8 connectors. This will also shorten the overall length of the earrings. These earrings, shown at left, won't hang with all the spiral wire components in the same plane. When you are wearing the earrings this won't be noticeable because of the motion of the earrings, but in a still picture it is easily observable.