One of the newest trends in beading is bead and wire crochet. This unique art creates beautiful jewelry that can be delicate, bold, lacy or chunky. With a few simple tools and some creativity, you can create necklaces and bracelets that will look professional and gorgeous.
What is Bead and Wire Crochet?
Wire crochet with beads combines the technique used for crocheting and the art of beading. It involves crocheting chains in wire just as you would in yarn, and you add beads of your choice to make the piece even more dramatic.
What You Will Need
In order to do wire crochet, you will need only a few simple materials. Choose soft-temper wire that is between 28-gauge and 34-gauge for the best results. Artistic Wire, Beadsmith, silver-filled and precious metal wires are good wire choices. The size of wire that you use should correspond with how delicate or chunky you want your piece to be, although it will also be determined by how large your beads are. You will also need a crochet hook, wire cutters, flat nose pliers, needle nose pliers and beads of your choice.
Hints and Tips
There are several colors of wire available for you to use in your bead and wire crochet. This can add even more personality to your project. Choose a color that complements the beads that you will be using.
You can mix together multiple strands of bead and wire crochet to make your pieces bolder and chunkier. You can also fill in spaces with a piece of wire that has been crocheted without any beads.
Do not cut the wire until after you have finished crocheting the strand. This will ensure that you have enough wire to complete the strand.
If you are using multiple strands, make sure that you spread out beads of different sizes. Try to mix them so that the same beads will not overlap once you braid them together.
Remember that you won’t need as many beads as wire. The wire crochet will take up more space, and the beads will be used to accent the design. It may take some practice for you to determine exactly how many beads you will need for your necklaces and bracelets so pre-string extra.
Bead and wire crochet is a fun way to mix two popular hobbies. The result is beautiful jewelry that looks like it took months to make yet is actually done in a very short amount of time. You will quickly learn how to combine various beads and wire gauges to create pieces that you and all of your loved ones will enjoy!