Peacock feather earrings

Peacock
feather
earrings
Difficulty level
easy
hard
Materials
Use a 4-in-1 weave
with specific color
placement to mimic
the dramatic pattern
of peacock feathers.
FCT-MWON0316_WRK27
By Diane Ballum
©2014 Kalmbach Publishing Co. This material may not be
reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher.
Earrings 23⁄4 in. (70 mm)
• 2 16-gauge (1.3 mm), 9.5 mm innerdiameter (ID) anodized aluminum
jump rings
• 20-gauge (0.8 mm), 3.2 mm ID
enameled copper jump rings
82 color G (seafoam green)
76 color B (ice blue)
14 color D (dark peacock)
• 20-gauge (0.8 mm), 3.2 mm ID
niobium jump rings
80 color T (smoky topaz)
24 color P (plum)
• 4 6 mm bicone crystals (amethyst AB)
• 3 in. (76 mm) 20-gauge (0.8 mm)
14K gold-filled wire, round
• 3 in. (76 mm) 24-gauge (0.5 mm)
niobium wire, round (purple)
• 2 pairs of chainnose, flatnose, and/or
bentnose pliers
• Roundnose pliers
• Wire cutters
• Twist tie or scrap wire
• File or cup bur
facetjewelry.com
Earring weave
Columns
color designations below, and then open
and close the 3.2 mm jump rings
(Basics) as follows:
Color G: Open 54, close 28
Color T: Open 76, close 4
Color B: Open 60, close 16
Color D: Open all 14
Color P: Open all 24
Rows
1 Refer to the chart or Materials for the
2 This weave starts with three columns
of 4-in-1 weave. Slide an open G ring
through two closed G rings, and close
the ring. Thread a twist tie or piece of
scrap wire through the ring you just
closed. Spread the rings, making sure
that columns 1 and 3 are positioned
lower than column 2 (a).
3 Add a closed T ring and G ring to the
1
2
3
4
5
6
1
G
G*
G
G
G
G
2
G
T
T
T
T
3
G
T
B
B
B
4
G
T
B
B
P
P
5
G
T
B
B
B
D
6
G
T
B
B
B
B
7
G
T
B
B
B
B
8
G
T
B
B
B
D
9
G
T
B
B
P
P
P
10
G
T
B
B
B
B
B
11
G
T
T
T
T
T
T
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
10
9
12
7
8
9
10
11
12
T
G
G
B
T
B
13
14
T
G
G
B
T
T
G
G
P
P
D
D
B
B
T
P
P
T
B
D
D
P
D
P
P
B
B
B
T
T
G
G
15
T
G
G
T
T
T
G
T
T
T
T
G
T
T
T
G
G
T
T
G
G
G
G
8
7
6
5
4
3
Number of rings in each column
12
12
12
12
12
12
11
G = Seafoam green, T = Smoky topaz, B = Ice blue, D = Dark peacock, P = Plum, * = twist tie
left side of an open T ring. Slide the
open T ring down through the left ring
(column 1) front to back, and up through
the right ring (column 3) back to front.
Close the T ring. Pinch the weave, and
adjust the rings so they look like the
photo (b).
4 Repeat step 3, referring to columns
1–3 of the chart for the ring colors. To
work each row, select the next open
ring from column 2 and the next closed
rings from columns 3 and 1. Continue
in this manner until you complete three
columns of 12 rings, ending with three
G rings (c).
a
b
c
d
e
f
5 From here on, you will add one ring
at a time. To begin column 4: Slide an
open G ring from front to back through
the top-right ring in column 3. Close
the ring (d).
6 Slide an open T ring front to back
through the second and first rings in
column 3. Close the ring (e). This ring
should sit below the one added in the
previous step.
7 Following the chart, continue working
column 4 as in step 6, sliding each new
ring front to back through the third and
second rings, then the fourth and third
rings, and so on. Slide the last G ring
through the last G and T rings in
column 3 (f).
g
h
37
i
j
k
l
m
n
8 For column 5: Slide an open G ring
back to front through the top two
right rings in column 4. Close the ring.
Slide an open T ring back to front
through the third and second rings
in column 4 (g). This ring should sit on
top of the previous ring added in this
column. Continue working column 5
in this manner, following the chart and
ending with a G ring through the last
G ring in column 4.
9 Work column 6 the same as column 4
(steps 5–7), following the chart. End by
sliding a G ring front to back through the
last G and T rings in column 5 (h).
TIP: Now you start the decrease
from 11 rings in column 7 to three
rings in column 15. To make this
easier, lay out all the jump rings
according to the chart.
10 Work column 7 the same as column
5 (step 8). Because of the decrease,
the final ring will go through two rings
instead of just one.
11 Continue adding columns, sliding
rings front to back in even-numbered
columns and back to front in oddnumbered columns. Because of the
decrease, the first ring added in each
even-numbered column slides through
the top two rings in the previous column
(instead of just the top one). Likewise,
38
the last ring added in each oddnumbered column will slide through
two rings (i).
12 Remove the twist tie from the earring
weave. Make a second weave.
Finishing
Ear wires
17 Cut a 11⁄2-in. (38 mm) piece of
20-gauge wire. Make a plain loop
(Basics) on one end of the wire, and
string a 6 mm bicone crystal. Bend the
wire above the crystal in the opposite
direction of the opening in the loop (m).
13 Open a 9.5 mm ring, and then cut a
18 Using roundnose pliers, bend the
11⁄2-in. (38 mm) piece of 24-gauge wire.
Wrap one end of the wire 11⁄2 times
around one jaw of your roundnose pliers
to form a loop large enough to slide
onto the 9.5 mm ring. String a 6 mm
bicone crystal, and make another loop
in the same direction on the other end.
Slide both loops onto the 9.5 mm
ring, adjusting the loops as necessary to
fit (j). Slide the bicone unit off the ring.
wire up, around, and down toward the
loop. Across from the loop, bend the
wire slightly outward. Trim the bent wire
to 1⁄4 in. (6.5 mm). File down the end of
the wire to remove any burrs (n).
14 Pick up an earring weave, and rotate
it so the 12 color G rings are at the top.
Slide the 9.5 mm ring through the first
six rings in column 1 followed by a loop
of the bicone unit. Slide the 9.5 mm ring
through the last six rings in column 1
followed by the remaining loop of the
bicone unit (k). Close the ring.
15 Attach two B rings to the 9.5 mm
ring, one on each side of the bicone
unit. Attach a third B ring to the two
B rings just added (l).
16 Repeat steps 13–15 to finish the
other earring weave.
19 Repeat steps 17 and 18 to make
a second ear wire.
20 Open the loop of each ear wire.
Attach the top B ring of an earring
weave, and close each loop.
Diane Ballum began
her beading journey
in 1992 while living
in Hawaii. She fell in
love with chain mail
after moving to New
Hampshire in 2008. Diane is also a
wife, stepmom, grandmother, and
architectural draftsperson. Contact
her at [email protected], or
visit www.hokugallery.com.