How to wire-wrap a bead pendant

In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to wire-wrap a bead pendant.

Wire wrapping a bead is a simple and easy way to make a cute pendant which can be hung from a chain or cord.

I use 18 gauge wire and a 10mm bead but I encourage you to experiment with different sizes of wire and beads to achieve a slightly different look.

This wire-wrapping tutorial is part of my “Beginner Series” of simple wire wrapping techniques.

LEVEL: BEGINNER

Materials & Tools

• 1 – 14” piece of wire – 18 Gauge Round Wire
• 1 Bead (10-12 mm) with hole big enough for wire
• Jump Ring
• Needle Nose Pliers
• Round Nose Pliers
• Wire Cutters

STEP 1

Cut 1 piece of wire – approximately 14” in length. This will give you lots of wire to work with.

Position your needle nose pliers approximately 4-5” from the top as shown in pic.

STEP 2

Make a bend in the wire.

STEP 3

Position your round nose pliers as shown in pic.

Please note that where you place your wire on the pliers determines the size of the loop at top of pendant (bail size)

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STEP 4

Wrap the short end up & around the top barrel of the round nose pliers.

Form a loop around the barrel.

STEP 5

Here is what the loop should look like. This will be the bail of the pendant.

Note: The “bail” is used to suspend the pendant on a necklace. For this type of bail, you’ll need a jump ring in order to hang from cord or chain.

STEP 6

Position your needle nose pliers over loop as shown in pic. This is to keep the wire steady for the next step. The “short end” wire should be crossing over the bottom longer wire.

(If you have nylon jaw pliers, use those instead. It will prevent any scratching to the wire).

STEP 7

Wrap the short end around the back of the long wire.

STEP 8

Bring the short end around to make a loop around the long wire.

STEP 9

Make 8-9 loops around the long wire. Pay special attention to keeping your pliers steady (to make the wrapping easier)

STEP 10

Feed wire through bead and position bead as shown.

STEP 11

Secure bead and coil together with your fingers so they remain aligned. Gently bend wire at base of bead as tightly as possible.

This part requires a little practice.

If you find the coiled part gets “bent out of shape”, just bend back in shape.

STEP 12

Gently bend the wire up, along the side of the bead. Keep wrapping over top of bead.

STEP 13

Send wire to back, around the coil.

STEP 14

Wrap wire around coil.

STEP 15

Shape wire around side of bead.

STEP 16

Keep shaping the wire along the bead. Make sure you are wrapping the wire in front of the other wire.

STEP 17

Wrap wire around the coil.

STEP 18

Bring coil to front and start wrapping around the side again…on the backside of the existing wire.

STEP 19

Keep wrapping…

STEP 20

Pull wire over top of coil.

STEP 21

Send wire around back of coil.

STEP 22

Wrap wire again around front over coil.

STEP 23

Send wire to back one last time.

STEP 24

Using your wire cutters, cut wire right at base.

STEP 25

Using your needle nose pliers, tuck away the end so it’s not sticking out.

STEP 26

Voila!

At this point your pendant is complete!

You can attach it to a cord or chain with a jump ring.

In my case, I used bare copper wire so I finished the piece by giving it an “antique” look with liver of sulfur.

If you’re a newbie, check out Wire-Wrapping for Beginners for lots of resources.

If you’d like to see my work and follow my wire journey, you can find me here:

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