If you’re used to making French beaded flowers, and always wanted to make jewelry, here is a design for you. I’ll be showing you a French beaded earring design that will will use up your extra bits of beads and wire. Make them in all colors of the seasons for dangly and light earrings that you can wear all year round. That’s right…Four seasons French beaded leaf earrings.
These earrings marry the techniques of traditional jewelry making techniques with French beading.
French beading pre-requisite techniques:
For materials you’ll need:
- 5 grams 11/0 seed beads
- 4.1 feet 24 gauge copper-core wire
- pair of earwires
- 2 1.5-inch (3.8 cm) lengths of chain
Tools:
- Wire cutters
- Chain nose pliers
- Round nose pliers
- Ruler
Pattern: 3-bb PT RB, 5 rows – make 14 units (7 per earring)
Here are basic instructions:
- String on approximately 3 inches (7.6 cm) of beads onto a spool of 24 gauge copper-core wire per leaf.
- Make a 3-bead basic with 1 1/2 inch (3.8 cm) top basic wire and 1/2 inch (1.2 cm) twisted wire/loop.
- Pointed top and Rounded bottom, 5 rows
- Cut off bottom wire at the base.
- Undo any twists on the twisted wire and reduce to one bottom wire.
- String on beads onto the top basic wire and bend the wire down along the back of the leaf.
- Wrap the wire around the base of the leaf to form a coil.
- Make wrapped loops and attach them to chain.
If you are not familiar with how to make wrapped loops, you will see how it’s done in the video.
Note: If you are shading with different colors, you’ll need about 7 inches (17.7 cm) of cut wire to make each leaf.
Watch the video for full demo >>
