How to Make a Stone Necklace Without Drilling
Learn how to wire wrap stones without holes with this DIY wire wrap stone pendant tutorial! You can try the simpler wire wrap cabochon project that I've shared just a week ago, or scroll down to take it a level up! Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links.
A cabochon is an undrilled stone that has a flat back and a smooth (not faceted) front. In this tutorial, I used a beautiful deep purple amethyst stone, with copper wire that creates a stunning contrast against the depth of the stone.
A few notes about wire wrap stone techniques:
- Tucking wire ends – you'll find many times that I tell you to "trim and tuck" your ends. You don't want sharp ends sticking out to scratch your skin or snag your clothing. Use pliers to squish your ends flat against your piece or to tuck them into existing wirework.
- Coiling – A very simple wire wrapping technique, this is a beautiful way to clean up your wire wrap, and add something to ground it. If you want more of a "messy" look, you can still do this to clean up your work, as it adds a centralized focus even when messy. Or, work on doing it neatly, with a few coils wrapped up against each other.
- Weaving – Usually you'll want to weave using a very thin wire, woven around a thicker wire. However, since I wanted my coil to be thick here, I used a thicker wire and let the weave stay open and loose. Just like coiling, it can add a really artsy touch when done slightly messily.
A few notes about which wires to use to wire wrap stone:
Tip: you can check out my full tutorial on copper jewelry making if you're new at this!
- Hardness – One of the most important features of the wire you use is how soft it'll be. Softer wires bend more easily, will wrap more neatly, and will be easy to work with. You'll also find that they mark more easily, which is why I recommend having nylon jaw pliers handy as well as non-serrated chain nose pliers for when the nylon jaw is too clumsy.
- Material – Natural precious metals (copper, silver, gold, gold-filled) tend to be softer than steel, brass, and other cheaper metals. However, they can be pricey. Copper is a good "starter wire" because it's quite soft and easy to work with, but it's still affordable.
- Gauge – gauge refers to the thickness of a wire. The higher the gauge the thinner the wire. While I'd definitely love to recommend having every gauge from 12-28 on hand for wire wrapping if you're serious about it, that might be unrealistic for beginners. That's why instead I'd recommend having 16 gauge, 20 gauge, and 24 gauge handy. 20 gauge is a good in-between thickness for most projects, and is what I used for this wire wrap stone pendant.
In this post, I shared with you a very exact wire wrap stone pendant tutorial. I don't usually like doing that, however I feel that it's important for you to follow a tutorial or two to get the gist of how to wire wrap stones without holes, and how to "lock" the stone in while still keeping it pretty.
Feel free to play around, experiment, and do your own thing – because that's really the point of jewelry making.
While this wire wrap stone tutorial has lots of steps (twenty to be exact) it's only because it's so specific – for the reasons I mentioned above. However, you'll find that you can typically complete it in under half an hour, and the supplies list is really small.
You'll start wanting to make this for all your DIY gift needs!
Want to learn how to make jewelry out of anything? Get the book!
Tip: learn how to work with wire from scratch, and make a wire-only pendant in this wire heart pendant tutorial! You'll learn some of the basics of creating hammered wire jewelry.
What you need to make this DIY wire wrap stone pendant:
- An oval cabochon
- 20 gauge copper wire
- A finished chain
- Nylon jaw pliers
- Non-serrated chain nose pliers (with a smooth inside/no ridges)
- Wire cutters
- Round nose pliers.
How to wire wrap stones without holes:
1. Line up two lengths of wire. Mine were approximately 18 inches long.
2. Place another wire about 6-8 inches long vertically over them.
3. Coil your vertical wire tightly and neatly a few times around your horizontal wires. Keep in mind that while this isn't an exact formula, you are now creating the design. So make sure it looks pretty, focus on aesthetics. I'd recommend wrapping 3-6 times.
4. Take your right wire end that you just wrapped and place it over one of the horizontal wires and under the other.
5. Continue weaving the right of the vertical wire over and under the horizontal wires on the right of your coil. Try to do it as neatly and tightly as possible, but do keep in mind that a bit of an imperfect look makes it look a bit like a vine. That works really well with the amethyst stones I used, as well as the earthy copper, however it can also look good in almost any color combination.
6. Finish off the right half of your vertical wire by wrapping it around the horizontal wires three times (again, not an exact science but it has to look good). If needed, trim it close to the coil, and use pliers to make sure any sharp edges aren't protruding.
7. Repeat the weaving and the final coil on the left side.
8. Curve your wire wrapped section so that it roughly fits the stone along what will be the bottom curve of your wire wrap stone pendant.
9. Bend the left two wires and the right two wires over the stone, curving them gently, so that they cross over each other in an X close to the top of the stone.
10. Remove the stone and cross your wires over each other as pictured. The left two should be inside the right two (or vice versa).
11. Place your stone back inside the wire wrap, so that two wires are in front and two in back (one each from the right and left). It won't stay in place on its own at this point. Readjust the positioning of the wires as needed. Holding your stone in place as best as you can, so that you can get the sizing right, wrap the back left wire around the two front wires a couple of times.
12. Repeat with the other back wire. Your back will look something like this. You'll still need to hold the stone in place. If you're struggling with that – remove the stone as you complete your wrapping, and only hold it in place while you do a single "positioning" wrap.
13. Now, take one of your back/wrapped wires, and bring it down the back of the cabochon along the end that makes sense – that it's facing. Bend it through to the front.
14. If you can, thread them through one of your holes that you created in your weave in steps 5 and 7. This will really help position it well. If you can't just thread it beneath the woven portion, and bend it into shape as best as you can.
15. Bring it back around the back and around your top wrapped portion a couple of times.
16. Repeat with your other wire that has already been wrapped around the end. Bring it down the back, through the weave, and back up the front, forming a center X on your stone. At this point your stone should hold rock solid in place.
You can now trim the wires that you've already wrapped around the tip, leaving only the two center wires. Tuck any loose, sharp ends into your wrapped coil.
17. Form a loop on the top with one of the wires that is coming up the center, using round nose pliers. Wrap it a couple of times around your coil top. If you like a larger coil on top, wrap more. You can use this opportunity to "clean up" the top coil, by wrapping neatly over your previous wraps there.
18. Wrap the other top wire around the tip as well. Tuck any loose ends and trim. You can see how I cleaned things up and made a neater cone-shaped coil.
19. After I was basically finished making this wire wrap stone pendant, I decided to add a little touch, again to clean up the design. This is totally optional if you like the piece as-is. Slide a piece of wire about 3-4 inches in length under the point of your front X where the wires intersect.
20. Using your pliers to help you slide it underneath each time, tightly coil around the inetrsection a few times. Trim and tuck sharp ends.
Slide a chain through the loop at the top and your wire wrap stone pendants are ready to wear with lots of pride!
Printable wire wrap stone pattern and instructions:
Click on the "print" button to print these instructions complete with photos. This is a long tutorial, but I felt that the photos are important to make it follow-able, so I included them instead of just text instructions like I normally do.
Instructions
1. Line up two lengths of wire. Mine were approximately 18 inches long.
2. Place another wire about 6-8 inches long vertically over them.
3. Coil your vertical wire tightly and neatly a few times around your horizontal wires. Keep in mind that while this isn't an exact formula, you are now creating the design. So make sure it looks pretty, focus on aesthetics. I'd recommend wrapping 3-6 times.
4. Take your right wire end that you just wrapped and place it over one of the horizontal wires and under the other.
5. Continue weaving the right of the vertical wire over and under the horizontal wires on the right of your coil. Try to do it as neatly and tightly as possible, but do keep in mind that a bit of an imperfect look makes it look a bit like a vine. That works really well with the amethyst stones I used, as well as the earthy copper, however it can also look good in almost any color combination.
6. Finish off the right half of your vertical wire by wrapping it around the horizontal wires three times (again, not an exact science but it has to look good). If needed, trim it close to the coil, and use pliers to make sure any sharp edges aren't protruding.
7. Repeat the weaving and the final coil on the left side.
8. Curve your wire wrapped section so that it roughly fits the stone along what will be the bottom curve of your wire wrap stone pendant.
9. Bend the left two wires and the right two wires over the stone, curving them gently, so that they cross over each other in an X close to the top of the stone.
10. Remove the stone and cross your wires over each other as pictured. The left two should be inside the right two (or vice versa).
11. Place your stone back inside the wire wrap, so that two wires are in front and two in back (one each from the right and left). It won't stay in place on its own at this point. Readjust the positioning of the wires as needed. Holding your stone in place as best as you can, so that you can get the sizing right, wrap the back left wire around the two front wires a couple of times.
12. Repeat with the other back wire. Your back will look something like this. You'll still need to hold the stone in place. If you're struggling with that - remove the stone as you complete your wrapping, and only hold it in place while you do a single "positioning" wrap.
13. Now, take one of your back/wrapped wires, and bring it down the back of the cabochon along the end that makes sense - that it's facing. Bend it through to the front.
14. If you can, thread them through one of your holes that you created in your weave in steps 5 and 7. This will really help position it well. If you can't just thread it beneath the woven portion, and bend it into shape as best as you can.
15. Bring it back around the back and around your top wrapped portion a couple of times.
16. Repeat with your other wire that has already been wrapped around the end. Bring it down the back, through the weave, and back up the front, forming a center X on your stone. At this point your stone should hold rock solid in place.
You can now trim the wires that you've already wrapped around the tip, leaving only the two center wires. Tuck any loose, sharp ends into your wrapped coil.
17. Form a loop on the top with one of the wires that is coming up the center, using round nose pliers. Wrap it a couple of times around your coil top. If you like a larger coil on top, wrap more. You can use this opportunity to "clean up" the top coil, by wrapping neatly over your previous wraps there.
18. Wrap the other top wire around the tip as well. Tuck any loose ends and trim. You can see how I cleaned things up and made a neater cone-shaped coil.
19. After I was basically finished making this wire wrap stone pendant, I decided to add a little touch, again to clean up the design. This is totally optional if you like the piece as-is. Slide a piece of wire about 3-4 inches in length under the point of your front X where the wires intersect.
20. Using your pliers to help you slide it underneath each time, tightly coil around the inetrsection a few times. Trim and tuck sharp ends.
Slide a chain through the loop at the top and your wire wrap stone pendants are ready to wear with lots of pride!
How to Make a Stone Necklace Without Drilling
Source: https://www.momsandcrafters.com/wire-wrap-stone/