Changing jewelry according to the dress every time you go out – for a lazy person like me, it is a chore. I love the small stud on my ears and it is a constant, even though I have a box full of different types of earrings for every occasion. I love collecting earrings.
You can look at some of my earrings made of fabric and yarn here.
If you want to build your own earring collection or want earrings that match your dress, you need not go around the shops looking for them. You can easily make the earrings yourself in the color and shape you want. All you should buy are some findings. All the other things are there probably already in your house.
Findings for making earrings
Findings form the core of the jewelry – the fasteners, other components that join, etc. Other than getting the best findings you can find, you need things to embellish your earrings – it can be beads, buttons, fabric and other things in your home, as I have done. A flat nose plier and a round nose plier are handy tools to have when you have to twist wire when making these earrings. You also need a strong quick drying glue.
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French hook, Kidney wires, Simple hoops, Earring posts, Ear wires – these are the most commonly used findings used to make earrings. You can also buy more expensive Hinged Hoops, leverbacks, etc.
If you want an alternative to french hooks that will carry heavier hangings you can buy V wires which is a variation of the hook with a v shape. You will also need some jump rings and eye pins.
The french hook (also called Shepherd Hook ) is the most commonly used earring finding. You can easily open the bottom loop of the french hook and then add your hanging things directly.
Sometimes the loop will be permanently closed (soldered) in which case you will have to use the jump ring to hang things.
A kidney wire is a similar hook- the wire hangs from the ear on either side and they fasten on itself almost like a hoop.
The earring post is a flat or round-shaped finding on which you can glue your embellishments. My earring post is a flat-backed one on which you can glue the earring front but there are other types with small rings on the bottom edge for hanging things.
Make your own earrings – tutorials
Method 1. Make the most simple beaded earring
If you have a nice bead that you want to hang on your hooks, you can use this method.
For this, you need two eye pins, 2 earring hooks, 2 jump rings, and the necessary beads.
How to make the beaded earring
Open the jump ring with a round nose plier , creating a gap in the ring to insert your hook. Keep aside.
Thread the beads on to the eye pin. Use a flat nose plier to bend the extra projecting wire on the top- if you are inserting only one bead you will have enough wire to twist the wire around or you can cut off the extra with a wire cutter.
If you are twisting, hold the wire with the plier and bend it over the plier and then wrap the wire on itself. I added another bead and just bend the top wire into a small loop.
Method 2. Make cute earrings
If you like cute things and love wearing cute charms as jewelry, these earrings are best for you. Find the cutest of all charms, fabric flowers, etc, and attach the earring post to the back with quick-drying glue. An instant earring.
Method 3. Make Button earrings
You can attach the earring post to the back of nice looking buttons. You need to find buttons with the hole in the back for that seamless look.
These are festive buttons that I found in a small haberdashery store and no one would say it was a button and not an earring.
Method 4. Make Novelty Button earrings
If you love fun things you can make any type of earrings combining various found items with novelty buttons.
I have a bunny novelty button which I combined with a felt ball. Check out this post on making felt beads here
Attach a jump ring to the button with glue or thread.
Method 5. Make beaded fabric earrings
To make these, you need a base fabric, a surface fabric, some beads, some shiny cord, earring hook and whatever else you need to add to them.
The surface fabric needs to be bigger than the base fabric for that puffy look. The base fabric should be slighlty stiff. I am using a stiffened jute fabric.
Gather the surface fabric to the base with a hand sewing needle and thread.
This is how it will look. I mean, it can be neater than mine, ofcourse, but generally this is how it will look.
Sew the cord to the edge of your design.
Sew the beads to the edge. Checkout this post on attaching beads to the edge of the fabric.
Make a loop with beads at the top edge.
You now have a loop to attach the earring hook.
Method 6. Make easy bead attached earrings
If you cannot be bothered about beading and stitching the beads onto fabric etc, you can simply glue the beads onto the base fabric.
You can use tweezers to pick the beads and place them all over the design. Keep the beads packed on your base fabric so that the fabric doesnot show through.
Method 7. Beaded earrings with a base
You can make or buy small mirror embroidery bases (follow the tutorial to make the mirror embroidery base here)and attach beads on to them. If you know how to crotchet you can crochet small round bases – they also look good as embroidery.
Make a thread hoop on top for attaching the hooks.
Method 8. Beadwoven earrings
You can weave small tapes on a bead weaving loom and use that for making your earring. Make a loop with small beads on top for hanging the hooks.
Find the tutorial to weave on a beadweaving loom here.
Method 9. Make hoop earrings
Open up the hoops and add interesting beads to your hoop. Be careful not to bend the wire out of shape when you do this.
Method 10. Make drop earrings
Add a single drop bead to your hook to make a beautiful chandelier earring.
My large crystal drop beads are perfect for being made into jewlery. It looks prettier in real than in pictures. Just the jump ring and the hook were all I needed to turn them into jewelry.
You can hang drilled coins, shells, tassels etc the same way. What can you find at your place to turn to earrings?
Related posts : 55 Different types of beads ; Tools needed to make these beaded jewelery; Make tassels ; How to make bracelet – 5 easy methods
