Forever Love

Create Linda Jones' beautiful beaded wirework hearts for vintage romance

Linda Jones, MJ Designer

If preferred, you can create your own clasps, spiral cord ends and jump rings from 0.9mm bare iron wire to match the rest of the jewellery.

Hearts have always been a classic jewellery motif and this project shows how to create a vintage-style wire version, threaded with elegant pearls in feminine pink shades. What's more, these versatile designs can be created in any colours you wish and used in a variety of jewellery designs, as well as accessories, cards and wedding favours for the perfect romantic touch.

Necklace

1. To create a heartshaped pendant, cut 25.5cm of 0.9mm bare iron wire. Place the centre of the strand around a cylindrical mandrel, 30mm in diameter, and create a loop, bringing the projecting ends together. Secure the wires together where they cross over, wrapping one around the other and leaving 2.5cm projecting out from the end.
2. Place the tips of round-nosed pliers at the centre of the top of the loop and push it down to create the central indent of the heart, using your fingers to shape the sides. Pinch the doubled up wires together at the centre of the heart with flat-nosed pliers and continue shaping until satisfied with the overall frame.
3. Gently stroke hammer the heart frame to work harden, by placing the piece on a steel stake and bringing the flat part of a hammer down at 90° to the wire.
4. Cut 25cm of 0.6mm black wire and begin wrapping it around the inside of the heart, zig-zagging from side to side. If the wires feel a little loose, just twist and tweak them with the tips of chainnosed pliers. Once the centre of the heart has been filled, cut a similar length of black 0.4mm wire and continue wrapping, adding threaded pink pearls until satisfied with the design.
5. Coil one of the projecting tails at the base of the heart into a tight spiral. Thread a pearl onto the other one and form a head pin at the end to secure. To create the teardrop side units, cut 17.5cm of 0.9mm bare iron wire. Find the centre of the strand and wrap it around a cylindrical mandrel, 24mm in diameter, to form a loop, bringing the cut ends together. Wrap the wires together where they cross over, leaving 2.5cm projecting out.
6. Repeat steps 3 to 4 to fill the centre of the teardrop frame with wrapped wire and threaded pearls. Wrap one of the projecting tails around the other, then thread a large pearl onto the remaining one and form a link at the end. Repeat to create a second teardrop for the other side of the necklace. Thread a large pearl onto a short length of black iron wire and loop both ends, then repeat.
7. Add black jump rings at either side of the two pearl eye pins, then use to connect the central beaded heart to the rounded ends of the teardrops. Cut two strands each of pink and black cord to the length required for the necklace and use spiral cord ends and jump rings to attach them in pairs to the pointed ends of the teardrops. Add a black clasp with two more spiral cord ends to complete.

Earrings

1. Cut 17.5cm of 0.9mm bare iron wire and create a heart frame in the same way as the necklace, but using a 24mm cylindrical mandrel to make a smaller shape. Work harden then wrap, first with 0.6mm, then 0.4mm black wire threaded with pearls. To create the suspension hanger for the earring, cut 15cm of 0.9mm bare iron wire. Place round-nosed pliers at the centre of the strand and bring both ends around the jaws to create a central loop.
2. Create large links on each projecting wire and form spirals either side, by curling the wire up towards the central link. Gently hammer to work harden. Attach the heart frame to the suspension hangers with jump rings. To create a decorative earring post, create a flat, tight spiral from 0.9mm bare iron wire, forming a link at the end. For the bead setting, work directly from a spool of 0.9mm black iron wire and create an even coil. This should be able to fit a pearl bead within.
3. Cut the coil off from the spool, leaving 2.5cm of wire projecting. Spiral this back towards the coil and flatten to make the base. Fix this onto the centre of the spiral created in step 2 with a dab of superglue, adding some more adhesive within the coil in which to secure the pearl. Secure this to the centre of an ear post. Attach the heart, then repeat to make a pair.

Ring

1. Cut 15cm of 0.9mm bare iron wire and create a small beaded heart frame in the same way as the necklace pendant but using a ring mandrel and just make a spiral at the base without threading on a pearl. To form the shank of the ring, work directly from a spool of 0.9mm bare iron wire, wrapping it around the mandrel four times at your desired ring size and leaving 5cm projecting out from the coils at either side of the shank.
2. Remove the coils from the mandrel, cut from the spool and straighten out the projecting ends. Cut two 5cm lengths of 0.6mm black wire and wrap them around all the coils at the back and front of the ring, securing them together. Bend the projecting wires 90° to the rest of the shank and thread the ends through the back of the heart frame.
3. Bring the projecting wires around the side of the heart frame and secure to the circular ring shank. If you have any leftover wire, spiral the ends and flatten against the shank. Place the ring back onto the mandrel and spend a little time adjusting and shaping it until satisfied with the finish.