As there is a HEATWAVEhere in the U.K., I reminisced on
my wonderful summer holidays
on the Greek Islands in year's
gone by ... and thought I would
share this classic bracelet design
with you ...
THE GREEK 'KEY' DESIGN
This motif originates from the
River Meander, a river with many twists,
mentioned by Homer in Iliad. 'Meander'
was the most important symbol in Ancient
Greece, symbolising infinity, or the eternal
flow of things. As you probably already
know, many temples and objects, especially
pottery, were decorated with this symbol.
The Greek Key symbolises the bonds of
friendship, love and devotion, therefore,
it is the perfect bracelet to make for someone
who is special to you!
Also, I'm about to do some filming for
BEAD TV on the subject of
MAKING CHAIN LINKS .... so
do keep a keen eye out, as they will
be uploaded in the next couple of weeks
and there's gallons more inspiration and
ideas coming up there!
This one didn't make the film titles, I used the
variation below instead:
Anyhow, are you sitting comfortably?
Bead mat, round, flat and chain nosed pliers
poised for action ... and some 0.8mm (20-gauge)
wire at the ready, not to forget those wire cutters ...
Well here goes -
1. Working from a spool of 0.8mm (20-gauge) wire, use
the very tips of your round nosed pliers (or if you prefer,
the tips of your chain noses) and create a tiny hook at
the very end of the wire.
2. Using your flat nosed pliers, squash the doubled
end together ... SQUISH!!
3. Using the tips of your chain nosed pliers, create a right
angled bend in the wire, pulling and straightening the
projecting wire as you bend it.
4. Once again, using the very tips of your chain nosed pliers
(or round nosed pliers) create a second right angled bend
in the wire, pulling and straightening the rest of the wire
as you go ...
5. Once again ... using the tips of your chain nosed pliers -
positioned just after the last bend - create another right
angle in the wire, pulling and straightening the wire as
you go ...
6. Now you've got the idea!! Just keep creating these
angular bends - it's really up to you how large you want
to make each chain unit, but I made about 9 bends in
mine.
*(Just a tip - if you make the units too big, you could
have problems later where they could catch on things
when worn!).
7. Using your round nosed pliers, position them at the
last bend and bring the wire around to form a back-loop
that is parallel to the top of the square.
8. Now cut the unit off the wire spool, leaving just enough
of a tail to create a link.
9. Create a link at the end of the wire, curling
it back towards the unit.
10. Create about 11 more units in a similar way
(or as many as you need for the length of a bracelet)
and connect them together as shown above. (If you feel
the units are weak, you can gently 'stroke' hammer
them to work-harden and temper them.
11. Now all that's left is to make a fish-hook clasp, or,
use a ready-made one and it's ready for wearing!
Equally, use jump rings on each side to attach to a
ready-made chain so that it can be the front of a
necklace!
HAPPY WIRE WORKING !!
