Beginner’s Tips for Jewellery Making
Jewellery-making is a craft that requires a little bit of patience and the right tools at the outset. To get started making your own, it’s worth first doing a little bit of groundwork, and thinking in advance about what you’d like to achieve.
What jewellery do you want to make?
Certain kinds of jewellery will demand different skills and materials. You’ll want to focus on what’s easily achievable, and what your friends and family are likely to want to wear. To begin with, you’ll be gifting most of your creations. Necklaces, rings and bracelets all have their advantages. It might be better to give each of them a try – just so that you can get a broad overview of the craft. Once you’ve done this, you’ll be able to hone in on the niche that really captures your enthusiasm.
Invest in the right tools
For best results, it’s worth setting aside a small area of your home that you can dedicate to your hobby. This might be an entire room, or it might just be a small nook in an existing one. Your workspace should be well-stocked with the items you need. These might include pliers, clasps, glue, jump-rings, tape, solder, wire cutters, and wire-wrapping tools.
For the sake of convenience, and the avoidance of injury, you might consider it worth investing in an electric wire-wrapping tool. This will save you from repetitive stress.
Master the basic skills
As with any new hobby, it’s best to walk before you can run. Set yourself a long-term target, and then chart a lot of short-term goals that will help you to get there. Remember that you want to have fun when doing this hobby, so make sure that you plan some rewarding jewellery-making early on in your fledgeling career.
Follow tutorials
Modern jewellers have a big advantage over those of years gone by: the internet. There are hundreds of hours of video instruction out there and a bustling community that will provide you with support and inspiration. If you’re stuck to do next, then it might be that you already have a project ready to go: all you need to do is follow the instructions.
Keep an organised workspace
Remember all of those tools and materials we talked about? They’re going to be no use to you if they’re haphazardly spread around your work area. Clutter can lead to stress, and slow you down. You could end up spending more time tidying up after yourself than you do making jewellery. So, try to devise a system for keeping things organised at the outset. You can find miniature drawers to store all of your small items. Make sure that you label them appropriately, and that you tidy them up at the end of every session.
