Hello my Steemian friends, at your request I wrote a full tutorial on how to make a wire wrap dragon eye pendant. It is my own way to create these beauties, hopefully you get inspired and add some more interesting details to my designs. Looking forward to hearing from you!
This is the pendant I just made.
You need wire and a dragon eye. I used silver plated wire 20 ga and copper wire 26 ga. The dragon eye is painted by me, on a glass pebble from the dollar store. Here is the tutorial on how to paint the dragon eye: How to paint dragon eyes pebbles
First steps are to cut the silver wire in 5 pieced about 10 inches long. You will hold these 5 pieces of wire together with a little fancy waving. I did a pattern of 5 rotation on one wire, 2 on 2, 2 on 3, 2 on 4, 2 on 5 and back down, as shown in photo. Make 5 triangles and don't worry much about the perfect look, as these wires will be in the back, not very visible. After the 5th triangle keep wrapping around the bottom wire for 1-2".
Next step is to make another weave on the top 3 wires, as shown. Use pattern 2 on 1,2 on 2, 2 on 3, 2 on 2, 2 on 1, it looks cool and it's easy. Finish again with about 1" coils on the last wire.
Next step: work in the opposite site. Weave together the 2 wires from the middle, as shown. Again, don't stress too much for the perfect weaving, it takes practice. Just try to work neatly.
Your weaving is done! The fun part begins! Now you must shape the wires around your dragon eye. Be gentle, the wire is your friend. Use my examples in the pictures. Notice the top part is bent towards you, we're making a layer, to symbolize the eye lid.
Now you need to work on the eye cabochon. In my case I use a pebble. This pebble needs to be secured and wrapped. I used a steampunk gear, here is a tutorial on how to do this wrap: How to wrap a dragon eye cabochon
Place the wire wrapped eye in the already shaped frame. The wire #2 from both sides will be used to secure the dragon eye in the back, as shown in picture. Bend and twist the wire, don't cut the ends because we will coil them.
At this point the dragon eye is held properly and it won't move. You will see 2 long wires hanging, bring them to the front of the pendant, across the bottom of the eye, it will symbolize the bottom eye-lid.
We are finishing the pendant now by coiling all the ends. At this point you use your own imagination and try to make it look very pretty. Use fine pliers and also your own fingers ;)
The Dragon Eye Pendant is finished, but we still need a bail, so we can hang it. Cut a piece of silver wire, coil the ends and secure it on the back of the pendant with some copper wire. Make sure it is centered!
Congratulations! You completed the tutorial! Now you know how to make an amazing piece of jewelry. If you want to go a little more fancier, you can oxidize and polish the pendant, like I did!
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