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Chain Drop Earrings



These delicate earrings are well-balanced to give you a lot of volume and movement without too much weight!


Materials & Tools

5 inches of 20 gauge sterling silver wire, or 1 pair of pre-made earwires
6 inches of 20 gauge sterling silver wire, cut in half
6 ½ inches of sterling silver chain
14 head pins
2 round pearls, 8 mm
4 faceted crystal rondelles, 7 x 4mm
2 rice pearls, 6mm
2 round pearls, 4mm
4 sugilite rondelles, 6 x 3mm, or other gemstone to match your color scheme
A few size 8/0 seed beads

Chain nose pliers
Round rose pliers
Wire cutters
File
Ball peen hammer
Ruler


1. If you want to make your own earwires rather than using pre-made ones, cut a 5 inch piece of 20 gauge sterling silver wire in half.  Wrap a small loop at the end of each 2 ½ inch piece and bend the wire approximately 90 degrees away from the loop.  Form the wire with your fingers or around a pencil or jig and adjust the curve until you are satisfied.  Clip off the other end if it needs to be a bit shorter, and bend the tip up slightly.  File the end of the wire very well so that it doesn’t scratch your ear when you insert it.

2. Cut a 6 inch piece of 20 gauge sterling silver wire in half, and wrap a small overlapping loop in the center of each piece.  Form the sides with your fingers or around a jig, and turn a very small inward facing loop on each end of the wires.  Flatten each arm of these connectors slightly with your hammer.  Be careful not to strike where the wires cross each other.  At the same time, flatten just the back half of the curve of the earwires, the part closest to the turned loop. 

3. Cut two 1 inch pieces of chain and two 2 ¼ inch pieces.  Slip the ends of the long piece into the turned loops of your connector first, and then add the short piece.  Tighten the loops well so the chain will not slip out.




4. On headpins, hang your pearls, crystals, and gemstones, adding an occasional 8/0 seed bead for size and color where you desire.  Turn a simple loop right above each bead and clip the ends.  Space the beads out and hang them from both pieces of chain, 7 per earring.      


Copyright 2012 Cyndi Lavin. All rights reserved. Not to be reprinted, resold, or redistributed for profit. May be printed out for personal use or distributed electronically provided that entire file, including this notice, remains intact.

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Comments

Michelle Mach said…
A great reminder that you don't *have* to buy all those fancy links and ear wires to make earrings--you can make your own!
Thanks for this, Cyndi. I never thought chandelier earrings could be this easy to make. Yet they're still very pretty.
Cherie said…
Boy, I really like this. They are beautiful and once again you make it look so easy to do.
Tina said…
Great Pattern. Thank you for sharing. I just finished making a pair of these. They turned awesome!
Cyndi L said…
I'm so glad! I'd love to see them :-)
Esther said…
Nice! think I'll make a of these tonight!
Unknown said…
these earrings are really nice I'm going to make a pair. thanks for the tutorial.