Janet Evans - Making Costume Jewelry: An Easy & Complete Step by Step Guide

Whenit comes to buying the tools needed for making costume jewelry youll findthere is a huge selection to choose from. However whats important is wheninvesting money in such items buy the best quality ones you can afford. Notonly will these tools last considerably longer, but will help to ensure thewhole process of making jewelry pieces is a lot easier.

Thetypes of tools youll need to buy when it comes to making any type of costumejewelry are as follows.

Tool1 Round Nose Pliers

Itswith these pliers you are going to find bending the wire and making loops a loteasier. Of all the tools you will invest in for making any jewelry even thecostume type, youll find this is the tool youll be using the most often. Itsimportant that the round nose pliers you purchase arent the standard DIY kindbut those specifically designed for making jewelry, as they are much smaller.

Tool2 Flat Nose or Chain Nose Pliers

Theseare useful in many different ways, not only will use these pliers to hold yourpieces as you work on them but also for when you need to open or close jumprings or links in a chain. Although these two pliers may do pretty much thesame job if you need to get into tight spaces. In fact if you cannot decidewhich pair you should be investing in, I would highly recommend initially youget a pair of chain nose pliers and then invest in the flat nose ones once yourability begins to improve.

Tool3 Wire or Side Cutters

Withouta pair of these you wont be able to cut the wire or other materials you usefor stringing your jewelry designs together. However if youre going to beusing memory wire to make costume jewelry then investing in a good pair ofmemory wire cutters is essential.

Tool4 Crimping Pliers

Thisparticular tool is the one you use to crimp beads and which helps to ensure thebeads will stay securely in position. It also helps to ensure the rest of thebeads and other ornaments used in your design remain in place as well.

Tool5 Awl

Youllneed this tool if you intend to do any kind of knotting when making costumejewelry. Without an awl youll find it very difficult to produce knots that arenot only of the same size and shape but also are very tight.

Tool6 Hammer

Youdont need a very big hammer just one that will allow you to flatten wire outso it becomes much harder and will in turn help to ensure it keeps its shapemuch better.

Tool7 Scissors

Areally good pair of short sharp scissors is crucial when it comes to wanting tomake any sort of jewelry. A sharp pair of scissors will ensure that whencutting materials such as leather, suede, silk or satin the ends dont becomefrayed.

Tool8 Tweezers

Yesthese are the same tool you would use to pluck your eyebrows at home. A goodpair of tweezers proves invaluable when you want to pick up very tiny beads tothen thread on to the wire or other stringing material. By holding the beadsbetween the tweezers you can then hold them up to the light and see exactlywhere the hole is through which the wire or other stringing material needs tobe threaded.

Tool9 Measuring Stick and Measuring Tape

Youmay be wondering why we recommend you get a measuring stick when you alreadyhave a measuring scale on your bead board. The measuring stick will be used toensure you cut the right length of wire or material for making customer jewelrywith. Whilst the measuring tape is crucial to making sure you know exactly whatcircumference a persons neck or wrist is whom youre making jewelry for.