Onion Dome Jewelry Wire Earrings with Beads Jewelry Making Project          Page 2

Step 1:  Cut a segment of 18 gauge soft wire 4 1/4" long. 

Step 2:  Make a loop in one end of the wire using fine step jaw pliers or round nose pliers.

Step 3:  Hold the wire by the loop you just made and straighten the wire by repeatedly pulling it through the jaws of nylon jaw pliers. 

Step 4:  The peg pattern for making these earrings is shown above-right.  Pegs 1 and 3 are regular metal pegs for your jig.  Pegs 2 and 4 are 1/2" Super Pegs for the jig.  We used a WigJig Centaur for this piece, but the pattern could be adapted to any jig.  While the peg pattern for these earrings requires four pegs, we begin by adding peg 1 and 2 to your jig.  Place the initial loop in your wire segment on peg 1 and bend the wire against peg 2 as shown at right.  We are bending the wire against peg 2 so that with no pressure applied, the wire rests adjacent to the empty hole for peg 3. 

Step 5:  Add peg 3 to your pattern and bend the wire against peg 3 as shown at left.  To help make this piece more consistently, we placed a finger from our left hand against the wire on the left hand side of peg 3, while with our right hand we pushed the wire to the position shown.  The goal is that with no pressure applied, the wire will rest adjacent to peg 4 once it is added.  This will require a little trial and error.  It may be easier for you to mark the edge of peg 4 on your jig with an erasable marker to help in finding out how far to push the wire. 

Step 6:  Add peg 4 to your pattern and bend the wire against peg 4 as shown at right.  As in all the steps above, the goal is that with no pressure applied, the wire will rest in the position shown with no pressure applied.  In this case, since peg 1 is already in place this is more difficult to achieve.  You will need to lift the wire over peg 1 and push it so that when you release the wire, it will spring back to rest in the position shown without pushing against peg 1.  As a test, if you remove peg 1 the wire should remain in the same position.  If it doesn't you need to put peg 1 back in and push the wire some more. 

These instructions continue on the next page.