How to Make a Wire Wrapped Dragon Pendant

I love dragons. Whether it's the mighty Smaug, the adorable Falkor or the icy Viserion, I will forever root for the dragon. I also love making jewelry and decided to combine my two loves into the pendant you see above.

In this Instructable I will show you:

How to go about designing a piece of jewelry.
How to make a dragon pendant.
How to add seed beads to wire wrapping.

Supplies

You will need:

Wire: 20 gauge, 28 gauge and 26 gauge (just my recommendation but can be done with different sizes)
Seed Beads: I'm using turquoise ceylon miyuki beads in size 8/0 (when it comes to seed beads the higher the number the smaller the bead)
4mm beads: for the eye and wing of your dragon, mine are glass pearls but again feel free to experiment with the size and colour.
Pliers: Round nosed, Flat nosed, Snips
Measuring Tape/ Ruler: I find that a sewing tape is great for measuring wire.
Cloth: Just to straighten out your wire. (you can use your sleeve!)

Tip: When choosing what beads to use in a piece of jewelry, I find anything with "ceylon" in the description pairs well with pearls/glass pearls.

Step 1: Designing Your Pendant

I find it a really good starting point when coming up with an idea for a piece of jewelry to search things like "line art" online or "simple tattoo designs". Once you have basic idea what you want to make you can start with some small sketches. (Please don't judge my scribbles)

I like to start with a circle (Pic 1) and build my design from there. I find starting with a circle is a lot less daunting than a big blank page even if the final design isn't circular in the slightest.

I then started to sketch the mouth of my dragon and promptly decided I didn't want it to have a mouth at all but a snout (which doesn't sound as cool but well...).

I did a couple of sketches of the wing and then combined everything into a final drawing (Pic 4)

Step 2: Cut Your Wire

Grab your 20 gauge wire and using your cloth/ sleeve straighten it out and cut a length 34cm (13.4") long. Remember it's always better to cut too much wire than too little!

When using wire the lower the gauge the thicker the wire.

Step 3: The Dragon's Snout

I'm using my round nosed pliers here to make the snout of my dragon to get the desired shape I want, feel free to use a flat nosed if you'd like a more square shape to your snout.

To make the snout of your dragon measure in 10cm (4").
Using your round nosed pliers bend the your wire around the pliers.

And there you have it, now your dragon can sniff out its enemies!

(Pic 4) For simplicity I'm going to have my wire orientated this way for the rest of the project. Any extra details like the ear and wing will be made with our longer piece of wire on top.

Step 4: The Dragon's Ear

To create "softer" curves when making any jewelry I like to use my thumb instead of pliers when bending my wire. I find it gives a piece a more natural looking shape.

Using your thumb bend your long piece of wire up vertically.
Grab your wire with your flat nosed pliers (Pic 2) and depending what size you want the ear (mines about 1cm) bend your wire back down. Squeeze the bend you just created with your wire to give the ear a pointed look.
Using your thumb again, bend your wire back in line with the rest of your project.

Step 5: The Dragon's Eye

Measure a length of 28 gauge wire 80cm (31.5") long. You will also need your 4mm bead.

To attach your 28 gauge wire wrap it 3 times around the top of "the head" of your dragon.
Put your chosen bead onto your wire
Secure your bead by wrapping 4 times around the bottom wire.

Step 6: Wire Wrapping Part 1 (with Beads!)

Top tip: When wire wrapping push it back in line every once in awhile with your flat nosed pliers to keep it looking neat and clean.

Wrap your wire twice around both the bottom and top wire.
Wrap 3 times around the bottom wire.
Add a seed bead to your wire.
Secure by wrapping 3 times on the bottom wire.
Keep going (add a bead, secure, add a bead) until you have 4 beads on your project.

Step 7: The Dragon's Wing

Making the wing of your dragon is probably the hardest part of this project but don't let that put you off! (Unless of course you want to make a Drake Dragon, in that case skip this step and avoid my excessive use of the word "bend") I find having my reference near by while making the wing is vital to helping me get the shape I want.

Give your wrapping a bit of a bend before you start (Pic 1). This doesn't have to be its final shape it just helps when making the wing.

Take your long piece of wire and bend it back towards the dragons head (Pic 2)
Grab your wire with your flat nosed pliers at the point you wish and bend it until you get a similar angle to Pic 4.
Using your thumb again, smooth your wire into a nice curve (Pic 5)
Grabbing your wire again (Pic 6) this time you're going to bend your wire on top of itself. Squeeze your wire at the part you bent to make a nice point to your wing (Notes on pic 7)
Pinch the part you just bent in between your fingers so it doesn't lose its shape and bend your wire back the ways to create a small curve like in Pic 8 (you can also use your round nosed pliers here to help you shape the small curve)
(Pic 9/10) Like what you did earlier bend your wire on top of itself (don't forget to squeeze the point!)
Instead of making a small curve this time you want to bend your wire downwards (Pic 11)
Smooth/Bend your wire back in line with the rest of your project. (Pic 12)

"Bend" Word Count: 9

Step 8: Secure the Wing

As you can see in Pic 1, my wing is a tiny bit smaller than my reference but I'm fairly happy with it. Using your thin wire, wrap 5 or 6 times on your bottom wire just to bridge the gap making the wing created (Notes on Pic 2).

Wrap twice around both pieces of wire.
Wrap 3 times around your bottom piece of wire

Step 9: Wire Wrapping Part 2 (with Even More Beads!)

For the sake of everyone's sanity from here on in I will refer to wrapping around both pieces of wire as a "double wrap" and wrapping around your bottom piece of wire as a "single wrap". This step is very similar to Wire Wrapping Part 1 except this time we will have a set of "double wrap" between each bead.

Add a bead.
Single wrap 3 times.
Double wrap twice.
Single wrap 3 times.
Add a bead.

Keep going until you have 12 beads after your wing and a total of 16 seed beads on your project.

Step 10: The Dragon's Tail

As you can see in Pic 1 I did 4 more sets of wire wrapping without beads in order to make the tail just a teensy bit longer. Single wrap 6 times on your top/long piece of wire this time. Cut off your thin wire and push in the end.

Snip off your top piece of wire just after your wire wrapping.
Using your round nosed pliers create a small loop on your bottom piece of wire (you may need to snip off a tiny bit to get the loop the size you want).

Step 11: The Final Shape

Using your reference as a guide, bend your dragon into your desired shape. I again just shaped this part with my hands for a more natural looking shape.. As you can see in Pic 2 I decided on a sort of "squiggly question mark" shape (I'm sure there's a better description for it but alas I can't think of one).

Step 12: Finishing Touches

Cut a piece of your 26 gauge wire 8cm (3") long. You can use 28 gauge for this step either. I just prefer to use 26 gauge when filling in blank spaces.

Attach your wire to the bottom of the wing by wrapping 3 times.
Add your chosen bead.
Keep going by zig-zagging until you have added all your beads (in my case 3!)
Snip off any excess and push in any sharp ends.

Step 13: Eye Clasp

Eye clasps are usually used in jewelry to attach things together. You can even make loads of these little fellas and join them up to make bracelets. In this case we are clipping it onto our dragon to hang on a chain.

Measure a length of 20 gauge wire 2.5cm (1") long.
Using your round nosed pliers, make a small loop on either side.
Open the clasp and clip it onto the middle of your dragon's wing.

Step 14: You're Finished!

Congratulations!

You now have a little companion to take with you wherever you go. Just make sure that when he's not hanging around your neck to store him away from any family heirlooms (I hear he has a penchant for all things shiny and precious).

Just look at him in the above pic! Absolutely shameless!