Instructions

Making the Coils & Spirals

1. To make the coiled element, place the 18-gauge wire on top of the 14-gauge wire at a 90° angle. Use the needle-nose pliers to tightly coil the lighter gauge wire around the heavier one. Remove the 14-gauge wire. To form a loop that will allow you to attach the coiled component to the brooch later, use needle-nose pliers to flip the last round on one end of the coil away from the rest. Do the same on the other end.
2. Mark the midpoint of the 14-gauge wire with a permanent marker. Use small round-nose pliers to make a spiral that ends at the midpoint mark. Repeat the same process with the other end of the wire, making a spiral oriented in the opposite direction from the first one. With the tips of the pliers, push out the central section of both spirals (see figure below).
    
   
3. Hold the component by its midsection, in the tips of chain-nose pliers. With your thumb and index finger, pinch the bases of the coned spirals together (see figure below).
    
   
4. Use flat-nose pliers to stretch out the spiral to the length of the focal bead. Open the spiral slightly in the middle, insert the focal bead in one end, and stretch the wire over the other end of the bead (see figure below). Twist the wire so that it fits snugly around the bead, and then use flat-nose pliers to adjust the coil’s spacing so that the rounds look even.
    
   

Making the Clasp & Hook

5. To form the spiral clasp, grasp the 16-gauge wire with flat-nose pliers, 1-1⁄2" (3.8 cm) from one end, and make a right-angle bend. Grasp the long wire at the joint with round-nose pliers, holding them parallel to the bent wire (see figure below). Start the spiral by using your thumb to push the long wire away from you, partway around one of the pliers’ tips. Reorient the pliers as necessary to make a spiral with five revolutions, with the short tail of wire sticking out from the center. Grasp the long wire with flat-nose pliers where the spiral straightens out, and make a right angle bend. You’ll place the beads along this wire in a later step.
    
   
6. To make the hook that holds the pin stem, grasp the center of the spiral with flat-nose pliers (with the long wire extending to the right). Bend the short tail up so that it almost rests against the spiral. Grasp the short wire with round-nose pliers close to the bend you just made. Shape the wire back over the pliers into a hook. Cut the tail so that it extends 1⁄4" (6 mm) below the spiral. Using small round-nose pliers, make a small loop in the end of it. Ideally, when you look at the front of the spiral, the clasp shouldn’t show at all.

Putting It All Together

7. Slide on the striped bead close to the right angle bend so the bend will serve as a stop. Slide a loop end of the coiled element you made in step 1 onto the wire. Add the caged focal bead, the other end of the coil, the hematite cube, the plastic disk, and finally the dotted bead. To withstand the rigors of opening and closing the brooch, this last bead should be a sturdy one.
8. Form the spring by holding the brooch so the front of the spiral faces you, with the opening of the clasp pointing up. With long round-nose pliers, grasp the wire 1" to 1-1⁄2" (2.5 to 3.8 cm) away from the dotted bead. Make one and three-quarters revolutions perpendicular to the spiral, making sure the end of the wire rotates under the spring.
9. To make the pin stem, put the working wire into the clasp. Cut the end of the wire so that it’s just slightly longer than the clasp. File it to a point sharp enough to penetrate loosely woven clothing, but not so sharp that the tip can be bent.