Book Review – Complete Guide to Making Wire Jewelry
Video #744: This book written by author and jewelry artisan Wing Mun Devenney, gets a high recommendation from me.
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IN THIS POST: — jewelry making — book review — making wire jewelry — wing mun devenney — wirework — findings — barrons publishing — craft books — wire working — wire work — tools — cord ends — coils — wire art jewelry magazine * — step by step techniques and projects by sharilyn miller * — egyptian coil necklace * — easy and elegant beaded copper jewelry by lora s. irish * — polymer clay by yonat dascalu * — (Topics marked with an asterick* are discussed in the Comments Section below).
In this video I review a book titled, The Ultimate Guide to Making Wire Jewelry – Techniques, Projects, and Jig Patterns From Beginner to Advanced by Wing Mun Devenney.
I was sent a stack of craft books from Barrons Publishing to review. You may have seen the other two reviews I have done so far, perler bead and macramé.
So, when I got this book in the pile, I wanted to see if it would be a good one to recommend to those of you who would like to add more wire working techniques to your jewelry making skill set.
Years ago, I found that when I upped my wire working skills, the quality of my polymer clay jewelry improved. To make really lovely and artistic polymer clay pieces, it took more than just adding a store bought set of earwires to a polymer clay bead.
I found that my work began to look much more professional when the earwires were hand made, the loops looked nice and the wire was filed and finished properly.
The skills that it took to improve, were developed mostly on my own, with some research and a ton of practice. So when going through this book, I found there was a lot of good information and techniques that I wished that I had access to when I was starting.
This book is lovely. The cover feels nice, the overall size is thick enough to contain lots of information without being too overwhelming.
The photography is excellent, and I found the writing to be well thought through. The information was thorough, and I couldn’t find any ‘holes’ that would make learning difficult. Missing information is one of the biggest issues with books in general… and I’m happy to say that was not the case with Wing Mun Devenney’s book.
There was lots of info on wire types, hardness, gauge and uses… as well as tools, techniques, projects and patterns. I wasn’t crazy about some project designs, but that was more of a personal taste thing.
I think this is an excellent book, and is well worth the price. There is lots you can learn from the contents, whether you like to read or just look at the pictures.
Improving on your wire working skills will improve the professionalism and quality of your handmade polymer clay jewelry as a whole, and I give this book a high recommendation.
00:00:03 –> 00:00:08 Hi guys it’s Cindy Lietz, your Polymer Clay Tutor and today’s PCT Show and Tell. I’m going
00:00:08 –> 00:00:16 to be reviewing the book The Complete Guide to Making Wire Jewelry by Wing Mun Devenney.
00:00:16 –> 00:00:23 Now I just I had a stack of craft book sent to me by the publisher Barron’s and I’ve done
00:00:23 –> 00:00:31 a couple of book reviews in the past so here is another one. Now wire working is a wonderful
00:00:31 –> 00:00:40 skill to add to your polymer clay skill set. Several years ago I started making polymer
00:00:40 –> 00:00:46 clay jewelry and I noticed that when I upped my wire working skills the rest of my work
00:00:46 –> 00:00:52 looked better and I recently done a video on–called a Million and One Polymer Clay
00:00:52 –> 00:00:57 Necklaces and here’s a couple of examples from there and then I also did another one
00:00:57 –> 00:01:04 called A Million and One Polymer Clay Earrings and here’s some examples from there. And in
00:01:04 –> 00:01:08 all of my work you’ll see lots and lots of wire work in there and so I had to learn how
00:01:08 –> 00:01:13 to do it mostly on my own, a little bit of research on lots and lots of practice. So
00:01:13 –> 00:01:18 when this book landed on my desk I was very curious to see if it was going to be a good
00:01:18 –> 00:01:23 one to recommend to you guys. So I will just go through this book and show you what it’s
00:01:23 –> 00:01:30 all about and what my views are on it. OK, so first of all it is a nice book it feels
00:01:30 –> 00:01:37 good it’s a nice size and fairly thick, it’s got lots of information in it and the photography
00:01:37 –> 00:01:44 is really beautiful that is one of the really great things about this book is that, the
00:01:44 –> 00:01:50 pictures are really nice and clear and you can really see the different steps on it.
00:01:50 –> 00:01:56 There’s the regular kind of information, you know the intro, and that kind of thing about
00:01:56 –> 00:02:04 design and inspiration. She’s got a shot of her studio which is I particularly love because
00:02:04 –> 00:02:12 it looks a lot like my studio. But hers is more focused strictly on jewelry making and
00:02:12 –> 00:02:19 storage so she’s got lots of need ideas in here. Then she talks about a wire– which
00:02:19 –> 00:02:24 this whole book is about and the different types of wire and the different gauges and
00:02:24 –> 00:02:29 all that kind of stuff, the different hardnesses of wire all of this information that’s in
00:02:29 –> 00:02:34 here is really good information. I was often– they kind of go to surface-y with information
00:02:34 –> 00:02:40 like this and you’re not getting much meat, but this one actually has really good information
00:02:40 –> 00:02:46 that would have been really nice to know at the beginning of my wire working journey.
00:02:46 –> 00:02:56 She talks about different findings that you’ll use, the different tools and it’s all good
00:02:56 –> 00:03:03 information. All stuff that anyone starting out with like and actually even an intermediate
00:03:03 –> 00:03:09 would enjoy this book as well. Then the next section it goes into techniques so there’s
00:03:09 –> 00:03:15 quite a bit of information in this area she talked about where our work hardening wire
00:03:15 –> 00:03:21 which is really important to understand, the hardness and how to make your wire harder
00:03:21 –> 00:03:27 and what to avoid, you know , if you– you can break wire if you make it too hard. There’s
00:03:27 –> 00:03:32 lots of different things about cutting wire, the types of tools you’re going to need how
00:03:32 –> 00:03:39 to use your pliers and you can see that the photographs are nice and clear. And I didn’t
00:03:39 –> 00:03:44 see any holes in the information. That’s a very common thing that happens is there’s
00:03:44 –> 00:03:52 big holes in information and I did not see that anywhere in this book. Now I’ve done
00:03:52 –> 00:03:57 lots of wire work so most of the stuff was stuff that I had seen before, there was a
00:03:57 –> 00:04:04 head pin here called the Knotted Head–Knotted End Headpin so it’s got a little knot on the
00:04:04 –> 00:04:08 end event and so I thought well I might as well try that haven’t tried it before and
00:04:08 –> 00:04:14 I tried it following the instructions and here’s my little one that i made. It’s really
00:04:14 –> 00:04:19 easy and it was clear– the information was clear enough that I could make it exactly
00:04:19 –> 00:04:25 how she made it sot that was good. Then there was another little thing in here I had made
00:04:25 –> 00:04:35 before. I done lots– oh there’s lots of hooks and clasps you’ll– in my necklace tutorial
00:04:35 –> 00:04:40 or not tutorial the video that has the million necklaces in it, I show a lot of clasps and
00:04:40 –> 00:04:47 things and these are shown how to make them in here some of them anyways. They also show
00:04:47 –> 00:04:54 how to do earring hooks or ear wires, we often call them. The nice thing I read in here,
00:04:54 –> 00:04:58 one of the things I always look for when somebody teaches you how to make ear wires is whether
00:04:58 –> 00:05:04 or not they tell you to use a cup burr and round off the the very end that goes into
00:05:04 –> 00:05:09 your ear and she does she mentions that so that means that this is a person that knows
00:05:09 –> 00:05:15 what they’re talking about. And the reason for that is that you can– if you just cut
00:05:15 –> 00:05:21 off the end of the ear wire, and you don’t file it or round it off really nicely, it
00:05:21 –> 00:05:27 can end up scratching and cutting your ear hole in your ear so– and a lot of people
00:05:27 –> 00:05:32 don’t mention that. So seeing that means that she takes care to the instructions. Also there’s
00:05:32 –> 00:05:39 several different ear wire designs us the ear studs really neat stuff in here. Oh here’s
00:05:39 –> 00:05:43 the one that I was saying that I had not tried before I’ve made lots of cord ends I’ve done
00:05:43 –> 00:05:50 some tutorials on that actually, but I hadn’t made one like this one here that’s just a
00:05:50 –> 00:05:57 closed-off end that you would make for like a bolo tie or something like that and so I
00:05:57 –> 00:06:02 just followed the instructions and made a couple of little cord ends for this wire here.
00:06:02 –> 00:06:06 I didn’t glue them on cause I’m not going to keep them on here I’m gonna use this leather
00:06:06 –> 00:06:13 cord for something else but it works really well. The design– the information is is good
00:06:13 –> 00:06:20 so there’s a whole section lots of information there and use. It’s nice and thick there’s
00:06:20 –> 00:06:28 lots of. Its a good encyclopedia then they go into using a wire jig, maybe there’s a
00:06:28 –> 00:06:34 better picture here that will be where you use the pegs in the pegboard and then you
00:06:34 –> 00:06:38 bend your wire around the jig. There’s lots of neat things that you can do with that.
00:06:38 –> 00:06:42 I actually don’t have one of those yet, I have lots of things but I don’t have that
00:06:42 –> 00:06:47 yet so it’s something that I haven’t done much of, obviously, if you don’t have the
00:06:47 –> 00:06:53 tool and but they’ve got lots of neat little ideas in here some patterns. And in fact in
00:06:53 –> 00:06:59 the back they have some patterns that you can copy. I’ll talk about those in a second
00:06:59 –> 00:07:05 here she talks about wire coiling which is a nice technique to add done some of that
00:07:05 –> 00:07:11 and all this information is good in here. some crinkley tools for putting little kinks
00:07:11 –> 00:07:19 and wire-making spirals that kind of thing I’m how to use jewelry mandrels this section,
00:07:19 –> 00:07:23 oh it’s not here yet. I’ll come up to it, there is some neat designs in it that I’ll
00:07:23 –> 00:07:30 show you a sec okay she also talks about doing French knitting which is kind of– we used
00:07:30 –> 00:07:34 to do something similar to that with just some yarn when I was a little girl and now
00:07:34 –> 00:07:40 they’ve got this little tool for doing that with wire. She even does the Macrame with
00:07:40 –> 00:07:50 a wire, wire twisting, handmade chain, she’s got the same pattern here for making the Byzantine
00:07:50 –> 00:07:55 chain though I don’t believe she called the Byzantine she just doesn’t call it any particular
00:07:55 –> 00:08:01 chainmaille. That is the same chain mail that I have made for this polymer clay necklace
00:08:01 –> 00:08:09 here, I mean this is quite a few years ago with different instructions and it is a neat
00:08:09 –> 00:08:15 technique to be able to do, you take a little jump rings and you are attached them into
00:08:15 –> 00:08:24 a nice chain, lots of other chain kind of things in here so there is– like I said some–
00:08:24 –> 00:08:29 oh here’s some really good information that was missing from the book that I previously
00:08:29 –> 00:08:39 reviewed. They show you actually how to use the ribbon cord ends and the tube caps, closed-ended
00:08:39 –> 00:08:45 cabs, how to add the cord and they’ve got some neat little tips and here using tape
00:08:45 –> 00:08:51 and then glue and cutting it and trimming it. So this is really well thought out, it’s
00:08:51 –> 00:08:57 got the information that you need to do a good job. Then there’s a section on the projects,
00:08:57 –> 00:09:04 if I have any– if I if there’s anything that i didn’t really like about this book, it’s
00:09:04 –> 00:09:10 this little section on the projects, I’m not super crazy about the project designs these
00:09:10 –> 00:09:15 ones are okay but there’s a couple in here that’s just really not my style. So I probably
00:09:15 –> 00:09:22 won’t make these projects anytime soon. This one I kind of like it’s simple in and pretty,
00:09:22 –> 00:09:29 this twisted bangle, but some of the other ones are kind of I didn’t like but that’s
00:09:29 –> 00:09:35 mostly taste, I think. And then there was another thing– where is it– a little bit
00:09:35 –> 00:09:42 further in, they have some of the show you how to make a brooch of another project then
00:09:42 –> 00:09:49 where is it– OK there’s a section of the back here called a pattern directory and they’ve
00:09:49 –> 00:09:55 got– where all these different patterns that you can follow along at to make these different
00:09:55 –> 00:10:02 wire patterned things on a jig. I think that’s really quite clever though a couple of the
00:10:02 –> 00:10:09 designs– a lot of them are really neat but a couple of the designs i just can’t see working
00:10:09 –> 00:10:15 in a very functional manner. Most of these are fine but there was a couple in here–
00:10:15 –> 00:10:24 let me just show you example. For example, this martini glass, here’s the pattern here,
00:10:24 –> 00:10:28 looks neat, flat maybe it would work on a card but in jewelry it’s not going to work
00:10:28 –> 00:10:35 very well. First of all, how is that that stick going to stay there? It’s just a separate
00:10:35 –> 00:10:39 piece so it would just be somewhere on your bracelet or something. I’m not sure how that
00:10:39 –> 00:10:44 would work and then the bottom, this is where the the wires cross at the bottom, they’re
00:10:44 –> 00:10:49 not attached to each other at all, they’re just kind of sitting on top of each other
00:10:49 –> 00:10:53 and that’s going to cause problems it’s going to snag on things you’d have to maybe put
00:10:53 –> 00:10:58 a coil along the whole bottom or whatever. And the same thing goes with this house design
00:10:58 –> 00:11:03 there’s some sort of just overlap parts but these other ones like this heart where they
00:11:03 –> 00:11:09 actually take the end and wrap it into an end, that could work quite well and a lot
00:11:09 –> 00:11:13 of the other ones are fine but some of these ones where the wires just kind of sit across
00:11:13 –> 00:11:18 from each other. That’s not going to work in jewelry very well, it’ll work fine in a–
00:11:18 –> 00:11:24 some other kind of crafting project but not jewelry, in my opinion. But there’s some neat
00:11:24 –> 00:11:32 patterns in here lots of great stuff. Now my opinion is, on this book, is that it is
00:11:32 –> 00:11:41 a great book. I really liked it even is kind of– it sparked some neat ideas for me. I
00:11:41 –> 00:11:48 think this is one of those books that is actually worth the price out there. The price of this
00:11:48 –> 00:11:55 one today’s date, we’re in like 2016 it says on the back there about twenty three dollars
00:11:55 –> 00:12:04 in the US and about $27.50 in Canada of course, everything is more expensive in Canada. But
00:12:04 –> 00:12:09 I think it’s worth the price. I think you’ll go back to it, anyone who’s never worked with
00:12:09 –> 00:12:13 wire before, I think it’s got– there is no it holes in the information that i could see
00:12:13 –> 00:12:20 anyways and I think it would make a good book for someone who wanted to add wire to their
00:12:20 –> 00:12:25 jewelry making skills. And it really makes a big difference to your just grabbing some
00:12:25 –> 00:12:34 store-bought ear wires and hanging some beads on it. That is not near as artistic as making
00:12:34 –> 00:12:39 your own ear wires and then we’ll make a big difference if you’re finishing work is nice
00:12:39 –> 00:12:44 and the ends are nice and you’ve filed and followed a lot of the instructions and done
00:12:44 –> 00:12:49 some good wire working with your polymer clay beads and stuff like that because it– it
00:12:49 –> 00:12:55 ups the value of your piece and it makes it come across much more professional. Alright,
00:12:55 –> 00:13:02 so I hope that was helpful for you if it was do let us know if you liked this video and
00:13:02 –> 00:13:08 if you’ve got a book you’d like me to review, a product you’d like to learn more about,
00:13:08 –> 00:13:14 a technique that you don’t understand and you don’t see it in our great huge list of
00:13:14 –> 00:13:18 videos that we’ve done already, then make sure to leave those suggestions in the comments
00:13:18 –> 00:13:23 section below. Alright, and so we’ll see you next time and bye for now.
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Resource Links:
- Amazon: The Complete Guide to Making Wire Jewelry **
- Related Video: Using Perler Bead Patterns to Make Polymer Clay Canes
- Related Video: A Million and One Polymer Clay Necklace Designs
- Related Video: A Million and One Polymer Clay Earring Designs
- Related Video: Micro Macrame Bracelet With Polymer Clay Focal Bead
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There is certainly a lot of books on wireworking out there and I was fortunate to get a couple of really good ones early on and this one is very similar to one of them. I went through a lot of wire learning all the techniques of ear wires, bails, classic wire findings , chain mail, using jigs and even coiling and spirals. The book you reviewed looks like an excellent tool for anyone who wants to get serious about wire working and would certainly be a good investment. It’s okay to watch videos and follow along but there is nothing like a good basic book for your library that you can use for reference when needed. Thank you for the great review.
Yeah, even though I do prefer video for teaching… obviously! :) I do think books are great to have as a reference tool… that is if they are good. I liked this one.
What was the name of the books you have that you like? I am sure others would like to know those as well. Books are expensive and take up space, so it is always good to know which ones are good and which ones aren’t worth getting.
My first book was “Wire Art Jewelry” Step by Step Techniques and Projects by Sharilyn Miller. This came with a DVD also and I went through every technique in the book including making the Egyptian Coil Necklace. The other one is called “Easy and Elegant Beaded Copper Jewelry” by Lora S. Irish which is really a wonderful reference not only for copper wire but for the others as well. It has a terrific section called the Complete Link Section and I think I made every one of them. You then use what you learn to make various projects. These 2 and the book called Polymer Clay by Yonat Dascalu sit by my side for reference at all times.