Thanks for sharing these handy tips! Do you have any tips for determining the height & width measurements of items in tutorials when they aren't provided? Looking forward to your future tutorials!
That's a great question, Tracy! It can be very difficult to determine those measurements without making at least a partial prototype. And the reason is because most of the photos that are included in tutorials are magnified with a macro lens. But there are always some clues that will give you a general idea of the finished size. First, if there are gemstones or beads used in the design, see if those sizes are specified in the tutorial. If, for instance, the author used a 20mm x 30mm cabochon, you'll know right off the bat that the finished piece is going to be a minimum of about 1-inch x 1-1/4-inch. Maybe larger if there's a lot of wrapping around the stone. Another major clue is the wire gauges that are called out in the tutorial. Take Sarah's clasp design, for instance. Because she used 14g wire for that piece, I knew immediately that it was going to be a very large statement clasp simply because it's formed with a heavy wire gauge. That recognition comes with experience, of course, but as a general rule, you can expect to see roughly a 1/4-inch difference in size from one wire gauge to the next for wire between 16g and 10g. For 18 to 22gauge wire, the differences will be more like an 1/8 inch. Here are the lengths of the demo clasps that I made so you can see how they stack up: - 12g: 1-3/4 inches - 14g: 1-1/2 inches - 16g: 1-1/4 inches - 18g: 7/8 inches - 20g: 3/4 inches
Thanks so much, Wendy - this a very useful lesson! 🤩 I haven't been able to work on my jewellery for some time & I miss it so - 😭 - but I have several of your designs lined up to go & can't wait to get started again in the new year. Next birthday is 77, no time to waste! I have two of Sarah's books myself & agree with everything you said about her skills, she's wonderful. 🌠 Blessings & thanks for sharing your knowledge with us. Big hugs from Canada! 🤗
You're so welcome! I'm glad you found this lesson helpful. I also haven't been able to work on jewelry much lately but I'm hoping that will change soon. I have so many great video ideas and so little time to sit down and record them. 😣
Hi Wendy, I am new as of Easter Sunday 2021. As it turns out, I am sure God was looking down on me, because I had just made that exact Clasp. I purchased Sarah's book last week and now I am starting to go through it. I am so very glad that I am on your channel now. Thank you so much. I am new to wire weaving 2 months. I am loving wire weaving, however, it is always nice to know that you can scale something up or down. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge about this work of art. Take Care Happy Easter xo
Hi, Lynn. Welcome to Door 44 Studios! I'm so happy to have you here. And, yes, it is nice to know that wire jewelry designs are scalable. I really love Sarah's decorative S-clasp, but it's much too large for my jewelry. So, that seemed like a great design to use as an example for my scaling tutorial. I have a lot more videos like this one in the works, so stay tuned! And Happy (belated) Easter to you.
I’m so excited to find you here! Thank you so much for sharing your expertise! I e purchased several of your tutorials and jumped right in! Very new to this-6 weeks-but have learned so much in a short amount of time. Based on your comments, I took Sarah’s class that you mentioned. I’m loving this. So addicting! Thanks again!
Welcome to Door 44 Studios, Linda! I'm so glad that you've discovered this wonderful craft. It certainly is addicting. Feel free to ask questions anytime, and once again, welcome!! 🤗
Thank you Wendi for these great tips on resizing. That will save me lots of time. Also I read your reply to another question about balling wire and found it very enlightening. I now have a guide on which torch suits which gauge. All these little tips are so valuable and much appreciated. Keep up your wonderful work.💐
Welcome to Door 44, Lori! Be sure to download my free wire guide as well. You'll find the link in any of my video descriptions as well as on the banner of my channel page. Doing so will add you to my email list so you'll be among the first to know what I'm working on for the weeks ahead.
great tutorial and I love Sarah's book. I have essential tremors so I don't use a torch. Is there a way around torching the ends? thanks again for your tips!
I love Sarah's book, too! And yes, there are always alternatives to torching the ends. I'll be sure to include a couple of torch-free variations in the tutorial for you, but I've seen people paddle the ends of their wires, which creates an interesting effect. And I've made my own variations in the past using curled and hammered wire ends. You can create a beautiful filigree effect with curled ends.
Welcome to the wonderful world of wire jewelry and thanks for watching my videos! I buy my wire from Rio Grande, which is probably the biggest jewelry supplier in the US.
Fantastic video, Wendi! As you know I've been in a pickle with this exact the design (the Elandra bracelet from this book) so this couldn't have come any more timely haha Here is a question for you: have you found that you adjust your sizing differently when there is balling involved? The Elandra links are pretty much the same as that clasp but it does involve balling a wire and that's when it gets kinda tricky because it's not as precise anymore.
Hey, Sandra. I do make different adjustments when balling ends. Balling is tricky to estimate because it will vary from one torch to the next as well as from one wire gauge to the next. So, the key is to become very familiar with your own torch. I use a BernzOMatic butane micro torch, and I find that balls consistently eat up between 1/4 and 1/2 inch of wire when using my torch. So, if I need to be very precise with the length of a balled wire, I'll add an additional half inch to my cut length of wire for each balled end. The other trick is to strive to make consistently sized balls on all of your wires. And this is particularly important on my Twig earrings. So, I'll share all my best tips and tricks for consistency in the upcoming make-along series for those designs. Also, I seem to recall that you were using a propane torch in one of your IG stories. Is that correct? Propane runs a lot hotter than butane, so that could be part of the problem. The hotter your flame, the faster your balls will develop and the harder they'll be to control. And that's especially true for smaller wire gauges. For that reason, I don't recommend using a propane torch for wires 18g or smaller. My butane torch works beautifully for wire gauges 16 and under. So, if you are using a propane torch, I'd recommend picking up a butane torch and using that for your smaller gauges. The torch and fuel that I use is commonly sold at most hardware stores. I bought mine at my local Lowe's several years ago.
Good tip to add the 1/4-1/2” for each ball. I’m actually pretty happy with my propane torch. I got it based on a tip in one of Sarah’s books because my butane torch wasn’t getting hot enough for the copper to melt. With the propane I get much better results. And pretty consistent results too especially the more I do it. But regardless of that, when it comes to millimeter precision, balled ends make it much harder. I’ll use your formula and will try again though and see what happens! Thank you!
@@ArdnasRiemgreb that's so interesting! I find propane to be too quick and difficult to control, so I prefer my little butane torch. That said, I haven't tried using a propane torch since my early days of working with wire. Perhaps I need to try it again. And yes, balled ends do make it much more difficult to achieve any sort of precision. I made a couple of Elandra bracelets several years ago and they turned out well. But I remember struggling to get the balled wires to the right lengths as well. That's why I generally only use balled ends on my more organic designs that don't require a lot of precision.
The smaller ones would make nice earrings with the ear wire turned 90°, to be honest, just looking at the pictures, I thought they were earrings not clasps!!😁
They would definitely make cute earrings! Sarah actually has an earring design in her first book that is somewhat similar to this clasp design, so it seems she came to the same conclusion. 😊
Thanks for sharing these handy tips! Do you have any tips for determining the height & width measurements of items in tutorials when they aren't provided? Looking forward to your future tutorials!
That's a great question, Tracy! It can be very difficult to determine those measurements without making at least a partial prototype. And the reason is because most of the photos that are included in tutorials are magnified with a macro lens. But there are always some clues that will give you a general idea of the finished size.
First, if there are gemstones or beads used in the design, see if those sizes are specified in the tutorial. If, for instance, the author used a 20mm x 30mm cabochon, you'll know right off the bat that the finished piece is going to be a minimum of about 1-inch x 1-1/4-inch. Maybe larger if there's a lot of wrapping around the stone. Another major clue is the wire gauges that are called out in the tutorial.
Take Sarah's clasp design, for instance. Because she used 14g wire for that piece, I knew immediately that it was going to be a very large statement clasp simply because it's formed with a heavy wire gauge. That recognition comes with experience, of course, but as a general rule, you can expect to see roughly a 1/4-inch difference in size from one wire gauge to the next for wire between 16g and 10g.
For 18 to 22gauge wire, the differences will be more like an 1/8 inch.
Here are the lengths of the demo clasps that I made so you can see how they stack up:
- 12g: 1-3/4 inches
- 14g: 1-1/2 inches
- 16g: 1-1/4 inches
- 18g: 7/8 inches
- 20g: 3/4 inches
@@Door44Studios You're awesome!! I also look forward to applying these "clues"...Thanks!
You're welcome. 😊
Thanks so much, Wendy - this a very useful lesson! 🤩 I haven't been able to work on my jewellery for some time & I miss it so - 😭 - but I have several of your designs lined up to go & can't wait to get started again in the new year. Next birthday is 77, no time to waste!
I have two of Sarah's books myself & agree with everything you said about her skills, she's wonderful. 🌠
Blessings & thanks for sharing your knowledge with us. Big hugs from Canada! 🤗
You're so welcome! I'm glad you found this lesson helpful. I also haven't been able to work on jewelry much lately but I'm hoping that will change soon. I have so many great video ideas and so little time to sit down and record them. 😣
Oops, sorry, Wendi! 😅
Let's hope we're both out of the misery of withdrawal & reunited with our passion soon. Thanks again, Barb 🙋
@@Sssmaug indeed! 🤗
Thank you for your very simple manner in which you do these tutorials and for not being loud and chatty!
🤣 You're very welcome!
Thank you, you’re awesome 🤩💯💖
You're very welcome. Thanks for watching! 🤗
Thank you for good and informative video❤🙏
You're very welcome. Thanks for watching! 😊
Thanks for the great ideas and tips!
My pleasure!
Thank you 😊 for sharing ! 🤟🏻❤️🥰
You are so welcome!
Thanks this is very helpful
You're very welcome. Thanks for watching!
Hi Wendy, I am new as of Easter Sunday 2021. As it turns out, I am sure God was looking down on me, because I had just made that exact Clasp. I purchased Sarah's book last week and now I am starting to go through it. I am so very glad that I am on your channel now. Thank you so much. I am new to wire weaving 2 months. I am loving wire weaving, however, it is always nice to know that you can scale something up or down. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge about this work of art. Take Care Happy Easter xo
Hi, Lynn. Welcome to Door 44 Studios! I'm so happy to have you here. And, yes, it is nice to know that wire jewelry designs are scalable. I really love Sarah's decorative S-clasp, but it's much too large for my jewelry. So, that seemed like a great design to use as an example for my scaling tutorial. I have a lot more videos like this one in the works, so stay tuned! And Happy (belated) Easter to you.
Great tips thank you
You bet!
I’m so excited to find you here! Thank you so much for sharing your expertise! I e purchased several of your tutorials and jumped right in! Very new to this-6 weeks-but have learned so much in a short amount of time. Based on your comments, I took Sarah’s class that you mentioned. I’m loving this. So addicting! Thanks again!
Welcome to Door 44 Studios, Linda! I'm so glad that you've discovered this wonderful craft. It certainly is addicting. Feel free to ask questions anytime, and once again, welcome!! 🤗
Thank you so much Wendi. Great tips!! I love Sarah's books!!
My pleasure!
Very helpful and common sense information. Thank you.🙂
You are so welcome!
Thank you Wendi for these great tips on resizing. That will save me lots of time. Also I read your reply to another question about balling wire and found it very enlightening. I now have a guide on which torch suits which gauge. All these little tips are so valuable and much appreciated. Keep up your wonderful work.💐
You're very welcome, Gloria. I'm happy to help!
Fantastically informational and so helpful. Bless you for sharing! 💜
You're welcome, Caroline. And thank you for watching!
So happy to have stumbled across your video. Subscribed immediately! I have the exact book from Sarah Thompson.
Welcome to Door 44, Lori! Be sure to download my free wire guide as well. You'll find the link in any of my video descriptions as well as on the banner of my channel page. Doing so will add you to my email list so you'll be among the first to know what I'm working on for the weeks ahead.
great tutorial and I love Sarah's book. I have essential tremors so I don't use a torch. Is there a way around torching the ends? thanks again for your tips!
I love Sarah's book, too! And yes, there are always alternatives to torching the ends. I'll be sure to include a couple of torch-free variations in the tutorial for you, but I've seen people paddle the ends of their wires, which creates an interesting effect. And I've made my own variations in the past using curled and hammered wire ends. You can create a beautiful filigree effect with curled ends.
@@Door44Studios ty for the quick answer. God Bless!
Love your videos. Just started wire jewelry. May I ask where you buy your wire? I am having trouble finding it. Thank you 💗
Welcome to the wonderful world of wire jewelry and thanks for watching my videos! I buy my wire from Rio Grande, which is probably the biggest jewelry supplier in the US.
@@Door44Studios Thank you so much for the quick reply. It is very much appreciated. Thank you for sharing your beautiful artwork with us. 💜
Fantastic video, Wendi! As you know I've been in a pickle with this exact the design (the Elandra bracelet from this book) so this couldn't have come any more timely haha Here is a question for you: have you found that you adjust your sizing differently when there is balling involved? The Elandra links are pretty much the same as that clasp but it does involve balling a wire and that's when it gets kinda tricky because it's not as precise anymore.
Hey, Sandra. I do make different adjustments when balling ends. Balling is tricky to estimate because it will vary from one torch to the next as well as from one wire gauge to the next. So, the key is to become very familiar with your own torch. I use a BernzOMatic butane micro torch, and I find that balls consistently eat up between 1/4 and 1/2 inch of wire when using my torch. So, if I need to be very precise with the length of a balled wire, I'll add an additional half inch to my cut length of wire for each balled end. The other trick is to strive to make consistently sized balls on all of your wires. And this is particularly important on my Twig earrings. So, I'll share all my best tips and tricks for consistency in the upcoming make-along series for those designs.
Also, I seem to recall that you were using a propane torch in one of your IG stories. Is that correct?
Propane runs a lot hotter than butane, so that could be part of the problem. The hotter your flame, the faster your balls will develop and the harder they'll be to control. And that's especially true for smaller wire gauges. For that reason, I don't recommend using a propane torch for wires 18g or smaller. My butane torch works beautifully for wire gauges 16 and under. So, if you are using a propane torch, I'd recommend picking up a butane torch and using that for your smaller gauges. The torch and fuel that I use is commonly sold at most hardware stores. I bought mine at my local Lowe's several years ago.
Good tip to add the 1/4-1/2” for each ball. I’m actually pretty happy with my propane torch. I got it based on a tip in one of Sarah’s books because my butane torch wasn’t getting hot enough for the copper to melt. With the propane I get much better results. And pretty consistent results too especially the more I do it. But regardless of that, when it comes to millimeter precision, balled ends make it much harder. I’ll use your formula and will try again though and see what happens! Thank you!
@@ArdnasRiemgreb that's so interesting! I find propane to be too quick and difficult to control, so I prefer my little butane torch. That said, I haven't tried using a propane torch since my early days of working with wire. Perhaps I need to try it again. And yes, balled ends do make it much more difficult to achieve any sort of precision. I made a couple of Elandra bracelets several years ago and they turned out well. But I remember struggling to get the balled wires to the right lengths as well. That's why I generally only use balled ends on my more organic designs that don't require a lot of precision.
The smaller ones would make nice earrings with the ear wire turned 90°, to be honest, just looking at the pictures, I thought they were earrings not clasps!!😁
They would definitely make cute earrings! Sarah actually has an earring design in her first book that is somewhat similar to this clasp design, so it seems she came to the same conclusion. 😊
Cathy McDonald