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The Encyclopedia of Wire Jewellery Making Techniques
A Compendium of Step-by-Step Techniques for Making Wire-Based Jewelry

by Sara Withers

     

Most jewelry involves wire even if it is just a jump ring or link, and here is a whole book filled with advice on how to achieve many different effects.  Hammer it, twist it, make fancy chains, wrap stones and even knit with it to enhance your creations.

If this is not you, then less than a quarter of the book is spent taking the reader from the more basic techniques to the world of metalworking. So in a way the book can serve as a bridge between two crafts, as well as teaching even a novice jewelry maker the basics.  Subjects covered include choosing tools that are going to serve you well, making jump rings, using jigs, selecting wire for knitting and crochet, bending wire into fancy shapes, making clasps, and working with memory wire.

I was impressed by the fact that unlike many craft books this really is one to grow with the crafter as they progress from simple beginnings to the more advanced techniques.  There are projects to make, photos of finished pieces to inspire and lots of helpful staged methods with plenty of captions, as well as clear colored photographs.  At the back is a gallery of what can be achieved, much of it if you work through the chapters, and a helpful list of suppliers and societies in both the UK and US.  I certainly learned a lot, and however many books there are on the market about beads there are not many on this topic, which is fundamental to being a fully fledged jewelry maker.

The Book

Search Press (UK)/
Running Press (US)
February 2010 (UK)
June 2010 (US)
Paperback (UK)
Hardcover (US)
1844485269 / 9781844485260 (UK)
0762437936 / 9780762437931 (US)
How to / Jewelry making
More at Amazon.com US || UK
Excerpt
NOTE: US different edition

The Reviewer

Rachel A Hyde
Reviewed 2010
NOTE:
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