I recently got an e-mail asking which guage of wire I used to wire wrap my handmade jewelry. I use several wire guages to wire wrap my gemstone beads, but my favorite has to be 22 guage dead soft. It just molds around the bead perfectly when I am wire wrapping. If you are new to this, and afraid of ruining some sterling silver or gold filled, try practicing with the cheap stuff first, and most importantly… TAKE YOUR TIME….practice does make perfect. I look at some of my earlier wire wrapping jobs and think… Ewww… that’s pretty bad. For smaller beads, I like to use 24 guage dead soft (for daintier work it works better because the guage is smaller it’s easier to work with). Same this applies, take your time!

Wire wrapping doesn’t always go your way, once you get seasoned, you’ll know after a couple of wire wraps if it’s going to look crappy. When that happens I usually unravel what I’ve wire wrapped and start over. It can become a HUGE waste of wire reusing and unravelling. That’s when…STEP AWAY FROM THE BEAD… comes in!

So Good Luck and..

HAPPY WIRE WRAPPING!!!!

chalcedony, earrings, blue, quartz, swirl, scroll, briolette, sterling silver