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Almost Faux Bezel Teardrop

Pendant

Judy Larson

This is a great design for any shape flat or puffed bead so

long as it is not over 30mm in length.

Materials:

30mm long flat or puffed bead (30x30mm teardrop

bead shown)

24” of 21 gauge square wire

30” of 21 gauge half round wire

12” of 28 gauge round wire

Tools:

Flat, round, bent and chain nose pliers

Flush cutter

3/16” mandrel

Painters tape

Ultra fine point Sharpie marker

Ruler

Directions: It is important to read through the directions before starting.

Step 1: Measure the circumference of your bead: Starting at the top of your

bead, wrap the outer edge of the bead with a narrow strip of painters tape.

Cut the tape off where it meets at the top of the bead. Use a pencil to mark the

tape where you would like to place the spirals.

Step 2: Remove the tape and place it on a piece of paper. Measure and mark

the center of the tape. In this

case, the pencil marks for the

spiral placement were about 1” from the center line, so were marked accurately on the tape in pen.

Step 3: Straighten and cut two 7” and two 5” pieces of 21 gauge square wire. Mark the center of each.

Step 4: Bundle the wires together with the long ones between the short ones and the center lines matching.

Tape the ends together.

Step 5: Match the center line of the wire bundle with the center line of the tape. Transfer to the wire the two

lines that were marked 1” out from center.

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Step 6: Wrap the 4 wires together between the two outer marked lines with a 24” piece of 21 gauge half

round wire.

Step 7: Cut the outer wires on each end to

a length of ¾” beyond the last wrap for the

small scroll shown on the pendant. If you

want a larger scroll, cut the wires off to a

length of 1”.

Step 8: Place the wrapped wire unit back on the tape, centering the wrapped sections between the lines

marked 1” either side of center. Mark the two center long wires on either end where the tape ends. This will

be where the wires will be bent for the bail.

Step 9: Shape the wire around the bead: Hold the mark at one end of the wire section at the tip of the bead.

Gently bend the wire section around the bead.

Check where the wires cross. You may need to

change the marks where the wires will be bent

up for the bail. Note: If you have dexterity or

strength problems, or you are making many

pendants, you may wish to make a mandrel to

shape the bezel. See the Sculpey Cabochon

Mandrel tutorial.

Step 10: Bend the bail wires up on the marked lines. Recheck the

bead fit.

Step 11: Scroll the front short wires in toward the center of the

bezel. Scroll the back short wires in toward the center of the bezel.

Try to make each scroll as close to the same as possible.

Step 12: Place the bead on a 3” headpin. Slide the bead into the bezel

between the scrolls.

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Step 13: Cut a 6” piece of 21 gauge half round wire. Leaving a ½” tail

toward the back of the pendant, wrap from the base of the bail upwards

4 times. Do not trim off any wires.

Step 14: Push the ½” wrap tail from the back of

the pendant to the front at the base of the bail

wrap. Pull the wrap tail tightly to the front. Trim

the tail off as deeply into the bezel as you can get.

Step 15: Trim the two front bail wires to ¾” in length above the

last wrap. Pull the two wires slightly forward and apart. Make

partial spirals in order to move the wires out of the way so you can

weave the bail and make the final bail wrap.

Step 16: Slightly spread the two outer square wires apart. Straighten

and cut a 12” piece of 28 gauge round wire. Starting on the back and

with a 1” tail, wrap the wire around the three bail wires twice. Push the

wrap wires down tightly toward the upper bail shank wrap.

Hint: At this point, you may want to use flat nose pliers to flatten the two

outer wires and the headpin so they are at the same level.

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Step 17: Weaving, first step: Pull the weaving wire up over the lower wire,

under the center wire, and over the upper wire. Push the wrap wires tightly

toward the pendant.

Step 18: Weaving second step: Pull the weaving wire down behind the

upper wire, up and over the center wire, and down below the lower wire.

Push the wrap wires tightly toward the pendant.

Step 19: Continue weaving outward until you reach ½” from the upper bail shank wrap. The bail should be

¼” wide at this point. Bend the wires in so they are parallel to each other. Make three more weaves.

Step 20: Measure out 1” from the upper bail shank wrap. Bend the wires in toward each other, and then

parallel to each other at the 1” mark. Continue to weave, pushing the weaves toward the pendant, until you

reach the outer parallel bend at the 1” mark.

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Step 21: Form the bail over a 3/16” mandrel. Bend the

unwrapped bail wires out using a flat nose pliers. The bend point

should be even with the upper bail shank wrap.

Step 22: Pushing the bent wires tightly against the back of the

pendant and using the half round wrap wire, make 4 wraps

down toward the pendant. Do not trim the wrap wire off at this

point. Trim off the 28 gauge wire tails. Tuck the ends in with

the tips of chain nose pliers.

Step 23: Trim the two square wire tails

to ¼” below the last bail wrap. Using the

tips of round nose pliers, tightly curl the

wire tails up over the bail shank wrap

wires. Trim the tail of the headpin off

even with the last bail shank wrap.

Step 24: Pull the bail shank wrap wire around to the back. Thread the

wrap tail from the back to the front at the base of the bail wrap as in Step

14. Pull the wrap tail tightly to the front. Trim the tail off as deeply into

the bezel as you can get.

Step 25: Finish making the spirals with the two wires in front of the bail

shank.