FREE-FORM WIRE BROOCH Get in Touch. Leave your pliers on your bench and work your wire by hand. by Karen Rakoski

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1 beginner wire FREE-FORM WIRE BROOCH Get in Touch with Your Leave your pliers on your bench and work your wire by hand. by Karen Rakoski FCT-MWON0216_ART39 lay as you make this brooch! The novelty of working sans pliers is a great impetus to let your imagination and fingers do their thing. This technique works equally well if you follow a pattern or work it freestyle. Either way, the result is a piece with a graceful visual cadence. Making curves with doubled fine-gauge sterling silver wire ensures that the brooch will be visually delicate, but structurally durable. I used 6 ft. (1.8 m) of 24-gauge (0.5 mm) sterling silver wire for the brooch and 2 ft. (61.0 cm) for the pin head. At 48 ft. (14.6 m) per ounce, 24-gauge (0.5 mm) sterling silver wire is still an affordable material to play with. Use the templates and photographs as guides, but have fun adapting this technique to your own preferred shapes and patterns. You ll get a different look by changing the size, number, and shape of the loops Kalmbach Publishing Co. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher. facetjewelry.com

2 You ll use doubled 24-gauge (0.5 mm) wire without pliers to make this 2-in. (51 mm)- diameter brooch and in. (25.5 mm) pin head. 73

3 wrap guide Drape wrap Half wrap Full wrap Photocopy the templates. Photocopy the templates for the brooch body and the pin head [Templates A and B, page 77]. As you work, use the templates as a guide to help keep the pattern symmetrical. You ll use a combination of loops, curves, and wraps to build the brooch body. For visual variety, I made loops with outside diameters in four sizes: small, 1 16 in. (1.5 mm); medium, 1 8 in. (3 mm); large, 3 16 in. (5 mm); and extra large, 3 8 in. (9.5 mm). I also varied the distance between the loops to keep the design lively. Embrace this freestyle approach, but be sure to keep the pattern stable by making a wrap around an existing loop every four to six bends. The three wraps I used are a drape wrap, a half wrap, and a full wrap (see Wrap Guide, above left) Prepare the wire. Cut a 6-ft. (1.8 m) piece of 24-gauge (0.5 mm) sterling silver wire. Without creasing the wire, gently bend it in half. Set the wire on your work surface. Use your fingers or a light touch with chainnose pliers to make the halves lie parallel to one another and flat on your work surface Make the brooch body. Leaving a 1-in. (25.5 mm) tail, wrap the wire as shown [1 23] to first shape the center of the brooch and then to work outward. Make additional wraps [24 27] to begin the scalloped outer edge of the 74

4 pattern. Repeat steps until you ve encircled the entire outer edge of the brooch body. End the wire. Use the working wire to make a complete wrap around the loop nearest to where you began the scalloped edge, exiting the back of the brooch. Leave enough working wire to make a final wrap at the back of the brooch. File or sand the ends of the wire smooth, and make one last wrap at the back of the brooch. Tuck the wire ends in toward the work, and use pliers to gently compress the ends to secure them to the brooch TIP: Wrap the jaws of your pliers with painters tape to avoid scratching the wire

5 Prepare the pin stem. Cut a 6-in. (15.2 cm) piece of 14-gauge (1.6 mm) sterling silver wire. Smooth and finish one end with 400-grit sandpaper. Use roundnose pliers to make a ¼-in. (6.5 mm)-outsidediameter loop at the finished end of the wire [1]. Make the pin head. Cut a 24-in. (61.0 cm) piece of 24-gauge (0.5 mm) sterling silver wire. Without making a crease, bend the wire in half. Leaving a ½-in. (13 mm) tail, make loops, curves, and wraps in the wire as shown [2 8], using the pin-head template as a guide. Make wraps to add a scalloped edge around the pin head [9 and 10]. When you reach the top of the pin head, wrap the working wire around the base of the top loop [11]. Attach the pin head to the pin stem. Determine the best placement for the pin stem s connecting loop on the back of the pin head, and thread the working wire through the pinstem loop [12]. NOTE: The pin-stem loop shouldn t be visible from the front of the pin head, and the pin stem should provide the pin head with ample support. 76

6 Use roundnose pliers to make wraps in the working wire to secure the pin-stem loop to the pin head. Wrap the tail at the base of the pin head around the pin stem [13a]. Wrap the remaining working wire around the pin-stem loop and the pin head [13b]. Tuck the working wire in toward the work, and use pliers to gently compress the wire to secure it. The pin head (back view [14], and front view [15]) is large enough to counterbalance the size of the brooch. a b Process photos by Karen Rakoski. Taper the end of the pin stem. File the end of the pin stem into a rounded point more like a knitting needle than a sewing needle. If you file the end to a point that s too sharp, it can cut holes in clothing. Aim for a narrow, rounded tip that will push the cloth s threads apart rather than slice through them. When your point is an appropriate shape, sand the end smooth. Polish the point with a polishing cloth. Template A Template B materials Sterling silver wire: 24-gauge (0.5 mm), round, dead-soft, 8 ft. (2.4 m) 14-gauge (1.6 mm), round, half-hard, 6 in. (15.2 cm) tools & supplies Wire cutters Pliers: chainnose (optional), roundnose Painters tape (optional) Sandpaper: 400 grit Needle files Polishing cloth Use the wirewrapping techniques you ve learned to make matching earrings. 77