double wrap wire bangle bracelet tutorial
DESCRIPTION
Free tutorial by Judy Larson. For more free tutorials, check www.beadinggem.comTRANSCRIPT
Double Wrap Bangle
Judy Larson
What can you do with all those beads left over
from your projects? With this simple bangle
featuring a wrapped closure, you do not need
to worry about size, shape or color. Just wrap
away! It is so easy and fun to make that you
will make a variety of them to have on hand to
use as gifts.
Materials:
58” of 20 gauge round wire An assortment of
beads-10mm are used here
Tools:
Round, flat and bent nose pliers
Flush cutter
3/8” and 5/16” mandrels
Optional: Wire twister
Directions:
Step 1: Straighten and cut one wire (Small-32”; Medium -34”; Large-36”) long and one wire (Small-26”;
Medium-27”; Large-28”) long.
Step 2: Measure in 11½”(12” for
Large) from the end of the longer
wire. Place the 3/8” mandrel on
the wire at that point and wrap
the wire around it as shown.
Using bent nose pliers, pinch the
wires together close to the
mandrel, creating an eye. Hint:
Check out the Braided Wire and
Bead Bangle tutorial for a smaller
eye.
Step 3: Open the eye up slightly. Leaving a 1” tail, wrap the eye with the
26” wire. Note: The first wrap or two will have to be pushed together and
back down to the bend in the eye.
Step 4: Reshape the eye around the 5/16”
mandrel, pushing the two ends of the eye
wire close together and making sure that the
long wrap wire is pulled to the outside. At
this point you may also need to wrap the
short wrap wire 1” tail around the eye a
time or two.
Step 5: Holding the two eye wires close together, use the wrapping wire
to create a “neck” below the eye, wrapping 4 to 5 times to show. Make
sure that the last wrap you make places the shortest wire between the
two longest wires, as shown below
Step 6: Trim the short eye wrap tail
so that there will be just enough wire
to tuck down between the two wires
at the base of the eye. Note: The back
side of the bangle is the side this wire is
bent towards. If your neck wrap wire
is on top and not on the bottom as
shown, do not worry. Just make sure
that from now on you work from the
outside or front of the bangle.
Step 7: Note: It is very important to work from the outside or right side of the
bangle from this point on. Bend the two longer outer wires out at a 90 degree
angle to the center shorter wire. Slide a bead onto the shorter wire.
Step 8: Holding the bead tightly against the base of the eye, bring the right outer
wire up around the bead, in front of the bead wire, and pull to the left of the bead.
Pull the wire to the back of the bead wire and then pull to the right, being careful
to not bend the bead wire.
Step 9: Still holding the bead
tightly against to base of the eye,
bring the left outer wire up
around the bead and over the
first bead wrap wire in back of
the bead and pull to the right of
the bead. Pull the wire to the
front of the bead wire and then
pull to the left, being careful to
not bend the bead wire.
Step 10: Slide another bead on the bead wire. Push the bead down as tightly as you can against the wrap
wires. Hold the bead in place and repeat Steps 8 and 9. Repeat this
process until the bead portion of the bangle is 6½” long using 10mm
beads, or 6¼” using 8mm beads.
Note: This tutorial shows fourteen 10mm beads for a small bangle. How
many beads you need depends upon how tightly you wrap your wire and how
close the beads are together. How long this portion needs to be is also
dictated by the size of the beads. The larger the bead, the more room it takes
up on the wrist, so the longer you need the bead section. For a medium
bangle, add ¼”-3/8” to the bead length and for a large bangle, add ½”-5/8”
to the wrapped bead length. After you have made a few of these bangles, you
will have a better handle on how many beads you need to use.
Step 11: Take a close look at the wires that are at the end of the bangle.
The wire on the right will be used to wrap the neck of the hook. The wire
to the left and the bead wire will be twisted together to form the hook.
Step 12: Make sure that the ends of the two wires to be twisted together are even. Holding the wires
wrapped around the bead in place, tightly twist the wires for the hook. Make sure the twist goes in the same
direction as the left wire is already going on the bead wire.
Step 13: 1¼” from the
bead, bend the hook wire
down to the left of the bead.
The hook wire will be
longer than you need. Trim
it off so that the cut end just
sweeps across the top of the
last bead. DO NOT CUT
THIS WIRE TOO SHORT!! It
is better to cut a bit long and
trim slightly to get it to fit
than to have it too short.
Position the cut wire in
front of the left bead wrap
wire.
Step 14: Pull the right wire up around the front and around to the back again as close to the bead as possible.
Continue to wrap until you have 4 to 5 wraps to show, ending on the back. Trim the wrap wire off on the back
of the bangle. Use flat nose pliers to flatten and secure the wraps.
Step 15: Using flat nose pliers, bend the hook wire 45 degrees up to the outside of the bangle. Using round
nose pliers, bend the hook shape as shown.
Step 16: You may need to push a few of
the wrap wires down so that the wraps all
match.
Step 17: Hook the bangle ends and shape
the bangle into a circle or an oval.
Hint: It may help to wrap the bangle around a large
cylindrical object like a pill bottle or soda bottle.