Woven Wire Rings

Intro: Woven Wire Rings

I'd been eyeing this tutorial of a simple wire ring for a while, but I was unwilling to pay for something I thought I could figure out myself (No offense to the artist! I just like to test my intelligence from time to time.). Eventually, I got around to trying it out over my winter break (whilst watching The Legend of Korra...) and discovered the fun in weaving for aesthetic design rather than to add strength by binding wires. Figuring out the patten for that inspiring ring spurred me to try inventing my own designs, and the rest of the story is told within the steps of this tutorial.

STEP 1: Inspiration

The pictures above are images of my first attempt at recreating the ring I referred to in the intro. I'd love to share a tutorial for it with you (such a gorgeous design!) but this design is for sale by its original creator. If you do want to learn how to make this design, I suggest you non-cheap-and-broke-college-students support the author and purchase the tutorial complete with what will probably be far more descriptive instructions than what I can provide.

STEP 2: Materials

• wire (I mixed and matched different colors and gauges. Colors: rose gold, black, gunmetal. Gauges: 20, 24, and 26 gauges.)
• pliers
• paper and pen to draw designs

STEP 3: Introductory Breakdown

For the base wires that will be woven around, I cut out 20 gauge wire around 3" long. I left a bit excess so that I could curl the wire ends (rather than allowing them to poke holes on the inside of my hand..). For those with soldering equipment though, soldering the ends would work perfectly.

For the thin weaving wire, I cut out about 1.5' of 24 or 26 gauge wire. This length is a generalization only, as the length really depends on how long your ring band is, how much weaving will be done, etc.

For ending the ring, you can see four ways in the above picture. The first one just involves wrapping a lot of thin wire to hide the ends -- the best method I liked for ending rings with 5 or more strands (because loops would take too much space).The next three just consist of curling the ends into loops, and the arrangement of those loops determines whether your result will look like the second, third, or fourth design.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Let's get down to business, shall we?

The ensuing steps will guide you through how to recreate the designs I came up with (ordered in terms of relative difficulty), and instead of instructions in paragraph form I typed them up as notes for each accompanying picture to make step-by-step instructions.

A last note: it's a good idea to practice a bit with weaving wire and searching up tutorials on google for basic wire working if you're new to this. It can be difficult to understand at first. Also, trying out designs using chopsticks and yarn is a great way to test out your design or skill before committing to using wire.

STEP 4: Disconnected Stripes

Main concept: discontinuity (creating unconnected units by repeatedly beginning and ending a design)

Basic guide to my shorthand lingo:

• 1, 2, 3, etc. = these numbers (unless referring to a number of wraps or something) refer to the thick base wires counting from the top
• (u) = underhand wrapping; this means that you wrap the thin wire behind a thick base wire up and around.
• (o) = overhand wrapping; this means that you wrap the thin wire behind a thick base wire down and around.

STEP 5: Double Stripes

Main concept: starting with two wires (starting at two locations and alternating them to create a design)

Basic guide to my shorthand lingo:

• 1, 2, 3, etc. = these numbers (unless referring to a number of wraps or something) refer to the thick base wires counting from the top
• (u) = underhand wrapping; this means that you wrap the thin wire behind a thick base wire up and around.
• (o) = overhand wrapping; this means that you wrap the thin wire behind a thick base wire down and around.

STEP 6: Diamond

Main concepts: starting at the middle AND criss-cross (winding the middle of your thin wire around the middle base wire AND crossing your wires so that you don't end up with a tangle)

Basic guide to my shorthand lingo:

• 1, 2, 3, etc. = these numbers (unless referring to a number of wraps or something) refer to the thick base wires counting from the top
• (u) = underhand wrapping; this means that you wrap the thin wire behind a thick base wire up and around.
• (o) = overhand wrapping; this means that you wrap the thin wire behind a thick base wire down and around.

STEP 7: Triple Threat

Main concept: crosses (inserting wire into a gap to create crosses)

Basic guide to my shorthand lingo:

• 1, 2, 3, etc. = these numbers (unless referring to a number of wraps or something) refer to the thick base wires counting from the top
• (u) = underhand wrapping; this means that you wrap the thin wire behind a thick base wire up and around.
• (o) = overhand wrapping; this means that you wrap the thin wire behind a thick base wire down and around.

STEP 8: Have Fun

Of course, have fun weaving wire for you or your loved ones. Mix and match my designs' concepts to create your own rings -- give your creativity free-rein to design the perfect ring for your unique self. I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial; if anything is unclear for you, feel free to drop a comment explaining which step, and I'll do my best to clear your confusion.

Comments

[JacobSumus]

What brand wire do you recommend?

[watchmeflyy]

Try not to use standard wire that you get at hardware stores, since they tend to smell weird and don't look as "pretty". I have always used Darice brand wire that I pick up at a local craft store since it's the most inexpensive and it works well. You do have to be careful not to remove the colored layer of the wire, but that's pretty much the same for all wire that isn't solid (like pure copper or silver wire).

[LesleyK11]

The design look easy but is it really will have to give it a go

[watchmeflyy]

The first attempt or two might be frustrating, but perseverance would likely pay off! Others have posted pictures of their version below, so I'm thinking that effort will be worth it. Looking forward to your version when you get to it. ;)

[KrystalR13]

This is what my fiance made me its a twist version or this

[watchmeflyy]

Spectacular job from your fiancé!

[pachytrance]

cool

[watchmeflyy]

Thank you. :)

[kyserrolls]

I really like the way these look!

I can't wait to go to e store to get some wire.

Thanks for the instructable.

[watchmeflyy]

I hope you have fun then! Looking forward to your pictures. :)

[HeatherK15]

I love this idea! and the pictures for the explaining could be a better, but I still got the ideas and the general idea. So, I went ahead and tried to make a one. I will show you a picture when I am done.

[watchmeflyy]

Great; I'm looking forward to those pictures!

[duckwalk]

[Shaktipaj]

Congrats on figuring out the weaving patterns on your own !! Nicely explained variations, too.
The challenge of any ring made in wire is designing it so that the ends are dealt with neatly and comfortably. But making those ends almost invisible is the 'Holy Grail' - which was the point of your original inspiration ring. :-)
The way the original author did it doesn't require soldering - the work is done in the round, but leaves the ends slightly widened to keep the ring simple. I'm not really 'giving away the secret' because it really isn't a secret once you start looking at the construction a bit more critically. :-)

But I will say that I would rather have loops turned on the ends than the way the original inspiration shows. Even when they are smoothed really nicely, those tiny ends can sincerely irritate the crud out of the webs between your fingers - and they can definitely catch on knit clothing and hair, since most continuously woven rings tend to try to rotate the 'joins' to the top of the finger.
I've designed many continuous rings, and there are ways to avoid the ends showing altogether - but they require a little more time than many people want to spend. :-) Your loops solutions is definitely the sweet simple answer if you don't want to get into the work in-depth. :-) Nicely done!

[watchmeflyy]

Ahhh.. Thank you for that explanation and feedback! :)

[MichelleB9]

Very nice I love rings and look forward to making some. Thank you for sharing!

[watchmeflyy]

You're more than welcome; I look forward to seeing pictures of your rings once you get around to it! :)

[bionicgeekgrrl]

Nice guide, thanks.

[watchmeflyy]

Thanks for your nice comment (and for answering the question below ^^)!

[Londonbrig0]

So is your black wire just insulated copper wire for electronics, or are you using a specific kind with a thinner outer layer?