How to Wire Sew on Swarovski Crystals

I hadn't expected it to be so long between the first and second parts to this post. But when it gets super busy in the studio like it has this past month, I still keep my Facebook and Twitter pages humming along so you can always get bitesize bits of what's going on in my studio. I'd love you to join me over there too!

So much has been going on at Mill Lane Studio - a pressing book deadline, a rush job that I just couldn't pass up, interstate guests, my youngest daughter's 21st birthday, her graduation from University.... the list goes on! But one of the happiest occasions was my son's wedding.

As the jewellery designer in the family, it was my privilege and honour to create a hair accessory for his bride. You got to see a little glimpse of the piece in the last post where I shared one of the challenges I was faced with when making the piece.

Today, I share with you how I overcame another design challenge using the components I had to work with.

This time it was how to include a sew-on Swarovski component.

I found some beautifully cut leaf-shaped crystals at my local supplier. I really like the stylised look of these crystals... they catch the light magnificently making them perfect for a modern looking hair accessory.

But the difficulty was going to be how to incorporate them into the design when I couldn't get a claw setting to fit them.  The solution I came up with shows you how to turn them into wired stems.

Firstly, cut a length of wire (I used about 30cm - 12") and thread the crystal onto it. It will need to be about twice the length of your finished piece.

Take the front wire and thread it through the hole again from back to front.

Pull the loop up firmly against the crystal taking care not to chip or crack it and position it on the right side of the crystal.

It should look something like this.

Now take the wire at the back and thread it through from the front to the back forming a loop on the left side of the crystal. Pull it firmly but gently into position.

To form the centre loop, bring the front wire and back wires together at the point of the crystal.

Twist them together the full length of the wire to create a stem.

Here's the wired crystal which is now quite a firm component for including in your work.

Keep an eye out in future posts for the finished piece. I promise... it's really pretty. And it's exactly what the bride wanted!

'Til next time.....

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