Ring in progress, originally uploaded by blue-almonds.
Today I was again (see my earlier post HERE) at the MerkinchCommunity Centre with a plan to teach the ladies how to make a ring. I didn’t want the ring to be too complicated but also not too simple – something easy to make but at the same time attractive and intricate. Well – I did’t realise how time consuming wire wrapping is… You will ask “how is that possible you didn’t? you’ve been working with wire wrapping for some time now, you should know!” . You are right, I knew it wasn’t the quickest method of making jewellery but teaching someone completly new skill is different to creating something on your own. It takes even more time! When you use pliers first time in your life you need to get used to holding and manipulating them. Then there is the wire itself. We used silver plated wire as it’s cheaper to start with but it’s tougher than Sterling Silver. For the band we used 1mm wire. To make the ring more interesting I wanted to show the “basket weave” and for this choose 0.2mm silver plated wire as at this thickness the silver plated wire is pretty soft and similar to a thread… and the fun begun 
Once you have shaped the band you start to weave with the hair-thin wire and it’s all about getting the pattern right: neat and repetitive. And this is the part that need your patience and… time. On the photo you can see how much I made in two hours. Not a lot, isn’t it? You start to appreciate this technique
Once you have shaped the band you start to weave with the hair-thin wire and it’s all about getting the pattern right: neat and repetitive. And this is the part that need your patience and… time. On the photo you can see how much I made in two hours. Not a lot, isn’t it? You start to appreciate this technique Next week – setting the stone and finishing off the ring.
Tags: band, beginners, community, Inverness, Merkinch, plated, ring, silver, teaching, weaving, wire, wrapping
