Jewellery making is fast becoming a favourite past time of the nation, in 2023 34% of adults reported having participated in arts and crafts activities in the past 12 months according to Mintel, Hobbies and Interests-UK, 2023.

With this in mind we have put together some of our talented jewellery makers' tips and tricks for creating your own beautiful personalised necklaces, bracelets and more from the comfort of your own home.

Equipment & Supplies

Before you start to create your masterpieces you will need to ensure you have your essential equipment and supplies ready and raring to go.

Pliers

Here at Bloom Boutique our Jewellery Makers would be lost without their pliers. We recommend 3 main kinds of pliers; Chain Nose Pliers, Round or Bead Nose Pliers and Cutting Pliers. For the best results our production team use two pairs of Chain Nose Pliers for Jewellery production. This ensures more control and smoother actions when fastening components together.

Blanks

You will also need a variety of Jewellery blanks. This refers to the bases that you will be attaching your charms, birthstones and other adornments to.

• Trace Chains - These come in a variety of lengths, material and finishes. Our Makers' top tip if storage space is limited, plated metal trace chains can often be cut down (using your cutting pliers) and the clasp or extender refastened to create different lengths needed for different products.
• Earring Findings - There are a huge variety of earring findings out there for you to choose from. Some essentials we'd recommend are hooks, small hoops and hoops with bails.
• Bangles - A lovely way to make simple but elegant statement piece. Bangles are easy to attach your chosen charms to.
• Spare clasps - Useful if you happen across a faulty one or two!

Jump Rings

We would recommend keeping a variety of jump rings to hand for your Jewellery Making activities. There are a multitude of sizes available out there but three sizes of jump rings we could not do without would be 4mm, 5mm and 7mm.

There are two options with these, you can buy multiple sizes ready created or you can create your own custom sizes from a length of Jewellery Making wire using your Round Nose Pliers.

We would recommend sourcing ready made jump rings in a variety of sizes. This will help with accuracy and uniformity of your jump rings and your completed item of Jewellery.

Charms, Birthstones and Pendants

Last but by no means least, you need a plethora of adornments to complete your new personalised Jewellery collection.

Bracelets often use charms and birthstones with double loop fastenings. This is a charm with a loop on either end that enables your bracelet to lie flat against the wrist when complete.

Necklaces and Bangles will typically use single loop fastenings so they are suspended from the chain or bangle.

Opening and Closing Jump Rings

If you are making a foray into the world of Jewellery Making then you will become extremely familiar with the jump ring.

You will need to become very adept at opening and closing jump rings when creating stunning Jewellery Pieces. The smoother your action, the neater and smarter your works will be.

Taking a pair of Chain Nose Pliers in each hand, find the split in the jump ring. Grasp either side of the split with your pliers and make a short, sharp twisting action. This should open your jump ring enough to enable you to attach your charm, birthstone or section of chain. Simply repeat the action in the opposite direction to close your jump ring. If you find there is a gap in the jump ring just wiggle the two sides back and forth applying light pressure until they meet.

Do not pull the jump ring apart as this will cause it to distort.

Feeling inspired? Why not peruse our selection of items for Jewellery Making and start crafting your own personalised delights!