Tutorial: Woven Cage Pendant

Created by Donna Spadafore

www.gailavira.com
gailavira.blogspot.com
Please do not distribute, lend or copy. Do not mass produce.
Please always give credit to the designer.
Copyrights 2009 Donna Spadafore

This lesson teaches you to make a woven cage to

show off your beautiful focal beads. There are
many ways to alter the final look of the cage.
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Materials:
24 of 22g Round Wire (dead soft or half
hard)
13 28g Round Wire (dead soft)
1 5 headpin 20g or 22g (headpins this long
are difficult to find. If you do not have a
torch to make your own ball headpin you can
find a free tutorial for knotted headpins on
my web-site: http://tutorial.gailavira.com)
1 10mm focal bead
9 4mm spacer bead
1 accent bead (size depends on your
personal taste)
8 2mm beads

Tools:
Wire cutters
Round Nose Pliers
Bail making pliers or mandrel that is the
desired size for the bail
Needle file or wire rounder

Copyright 2009 Donna Spadafore

Page: 1

Step 1:
Cut the 22g wire into 8 3 pieces.

Step 2:
Cut a 4 piece of 28g wire. Wrap one end around
one of the 22g wires 4-5 times. Try to make this
wrap about 3/8-1/2 away from the end.

Step 3:
Put another piece of 22g wire next to the first
one. Bring the 28g wire over the top of the 2nd
piece of 22g wire, then wrap it around the wire,
bringing it back up between the two 22 g wires.
The way this is being joined is also the way the
entire piece will be woven.

Step 4:
Continue adding the rest of the 22g wires as in
step 3.
After all the wires have been added, be sure to
line up the tips of the wires, to get them as even
as possible. This will be more difficult to do after
the next couple of steps, so it is best to keep
everything even at this stage.

Copyright 2009 Donna Spadafore

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Step 5:
Take your piece of scrap 16g wire and wrap the
bundle of 22g wires around it.
The 16g wire isnt necessary, but will make it
much easier to hold onto the bundle as you
continue to weave. It will also help them stay in a
circle instead of being flattened as you work.

Step 6:
Close the circle by wrapping the 28g wire around
the first 22g wire the same way you added all the
other wires.
You have just completed your first round of
weaving.

Step 7:
Below the first woven round, bend all the wires
outward at approximately a 90 angle. Try to
space them evenly around the center.

Copyright 2009 Donna Spadafore

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Step 8:
Begin weaving again. The weave is done in the
same manner that the wires were joined.

Step 9:
Keep weaving until you have a web-like circle
that is 12-13mm in diameter.

Step 10:
Bend all the wires downward at the edge of the
weave at another 90 angle.

In this picture I have taken the 16g wire out of

the center to make it easier to see the position of
the other wires. However, as you can see through
the rest of the tutorial, it is still being used to
help hold the pendant as it is being woven.

Copyright 2009 Donna Spadafore

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Step 11:
Add a 4mm bead to the 28g wire and wrap it
around the next wire as if you were continuing a
normal weave.

Step 12:
Continue adding 4mm beads as in the previous
step until you have a full circle of beads.

Step 13:
Weave two more rows underneath the row of
beads.

Copyright 2009 Donna Spadafore

Page: 5

Step 14:
Turn the pendant over and push the wires inward
toward the center. The angle that the wires take
at this point is completely up to you and how you
want your finished pendant to look.
It will be easier to continue weaving if you curve
the ends of the wire outward so that none of the
wires actually cross each other at any point.

Step 15:
Continue weaving, allowing the 22g wires to
come together to give the top of the cage a
tapered look. You can weave as far down as you
like, just be sure that you still have wire to keep
going.

Step 16:
Once you reach the point that you would like to
be the bottom of the first woven section, add
another row of smaller beads (for this pendant I
am using 2mm beads) the same way the first row
of beads was added. (Optional)

Copyright 2009 Donna Spadafore

Page: 6

Step 17:
Bend the wires outward just beneath the last row.
Do not worry about the angle at this point. The
wires will be shaped around the bead after it is
added.

Step 18:
Wrap the 28g wire around the 22g wire that is
closest to where the weave ended several times
to anchor it. Do not cut off the tail yet.

Step 19:
If you have not already done so, cut the
beginning tail off of the 28g wire at the top of the
pendant and press it close to the 22g wire.

Cut the top wires to approximately away from

the top of the pendant. File them smooth.

Copyright 2009 Donna Spadafore

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Step 20:
Using your round nose pliers, curl one of the top
wires outward till it touches the top of the weave.

Step 21:
Repeat step 20 with the remaining top wires.
Set this piece aside for now.

Step 22:
Place your beads onto the headpin. For this
pendant I have used four beads.
Bead 1: This one is only there because the accent
bead I am using has a rather large hole. This
bead is to keep the accent bead from slipping
over the end of the headpin. If the accent bead
you are using doesnt have a large hole, then this
bead is optional.
Bead 2: Accent Bead
Bead 3: This bead is being used to keep a
sufficient amount of space between the focal bead
and the accent bead. Without it, the bottom
section of the woven cage will cover too much of
the accent bead.
Bead 4: Focal.

Copyright 2009 Donna Spadafore

Page: 8

Step 23:
Take the 16g wire out of the center of the cage
and insert the top of the headpin into the center
of the cage, coming up through the bottom of the
cage.

Step 24:
Cut a piece of 28g wire and coil it onto the part of
the headpin that is coming out of the top of the
cage. You will need a coil that is about 2 long.
Push the coil all the way into the cage. You
should still have about 1 of coil over the top of
the cage.

Step 25:
Holding the headpin so that the beads are
pressed up against the last woven row of the
cage, bend the coiled headpin at a 90 angle
5mm above the top of the curls at the top of the
cage.

Copyright 2009 Donna Spadafore

Page: 9

Step 26:
Using your bail making pliers, or a mandrel that is
the size you want the bail to be, make a loop out
of the coiled wire, just above the bend from the
previous step.

Step 27:
Wrap the coiled wire around the stem just
below the loop until it touches the coils at the top
of the pendant.

Step 28:
Cut the wire, through the coil, and press the end
against the stem. Try to tuck it up under the
curls, if possible.

Step 29:
Using the tail wire from the weaving (step 18)
continue wrapping around the 22g wire. Hold the
wire against the bead occasionally to see where
you are. This coil should end about 3/16 away
from the bottom of the focal bead. If you need to,
you can add another piece of wire if the tail wire
from the weaving isnt long enough.

Copyright 2009 Donna Spadafore

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Page:

Step 30:
Coil 6 of the other wires so that the coils all end
the same distance away from the bottom of the
focal bead as the first wire (step 29).
This should leave you with 7 coiled wires.

Step 31:
Cut another 3 piece of 28g wire. Coil it around
the remaining 22g wire so that the end is even
with the other coils. Do NOT cut this wire.

Step 32:
Bend the 22g wires outward approximately
below the bottoms of the coils.

Copyright 2009 Donna Spadafore

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Step 33:
Press the coiled wires against the bead to shape
them. Try to keep them evenly spaced.

Step 34:
Begin weaving again, as before, keeping the
wires evenly spaced as you go. Weave until you
cover the spacer bead.

Step 35:
Wrap the 28g wire around one of the 22g wires
several times to secure it.

Copyright 2009 Donna Spadafore

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Step 36:
Cut all the 22g wires about 6mm () below the
weave.

Step 37:
Curl all the bottom wires upward to match the
curls at the top of the pendant.

2009 Donna Spadafore, Gailavira Jewelry

This tutorial is intended for use by one person
only. Please do not share this tutorial with anyone
else. Distribution of this tutorial is not allowed
without express written consent from the author.
If you wish to use the techniques in this lesson to
teach a class you must first contact the author for
permission.
If you are an individual, independent jewelry
artist you may use this lesson to make jewelry
for sale. You may not use this lesson to mass
produce items for a commercial operation.
Derivatives of this tutorial (instructions using
designs based on the one in this tutorial, even if
they are not exact duplicates) are not allowed
without written consent from the author.

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Copyright 2009 Donna Spadafore

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As you can see here, there are many ways to

alter this design.
The Blue Aventurine Caged Pendant on the left
was used as the model for this tutorial. The Onyx
pendant below it was made without the accent
bead on the bottom. I did not have any bead the
correct size for the top of the pendant, so I used
several daisy spacer beads in each space.
The Rhodonite and rose quartz pendant below
also does not use an accent bead. Instead, I have
added extra rows of beads to the weave to accent
the focal.

Copyright 2009 Donna Spadafore

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