Common jewelry making mistakes beginners make and how to avoid them

As exciting as jewelry making is, the hobby is filled with opportunities for mistake especially for beginners. You might be making them subconsciously and thus, they can make your learning process very frustrating. Address them head on and solve them as the pros do. And finally, don’t let the possibility of making mistakes stop you from fully pursuing jewelry making. Here are a few of the most common mistakes made by beginner jewelry makers and ways to fix or avoid them entirely.
Starting out too ambitious
Taking on a project that’s too complex as a first one is one of the most common mistakes you can make. You might have seen a cute earring in an online shop and set yourself onto replicating them on your own. Well, you might also be setting yourself up for disappointment. If you’re only beginning in the craft, chances are you’ve only done basic projects or haven’t finished any projects at all. Pick first projects that will suit your current skills set or one that will relatively improve them without reaching for the stars.

Improper wire cutting
Learn how to properly use your wire cutters. Your wire cutter will have two sides: the front (or above) and the back (or below). Flush cuts, as opposed to pinched cuts, are what you’ll want. To make straight flush cuts, use the back of your cutters to cut your wires.

This tip applies to every tool in your jewelry making box. If you can master using other essential tools like pliers and crimpers, you are building a great skill foundation for learning more complex techniques in the future.

Wasting expensive supplies in making practice pieces
You don’t need to use your quality materials when you are just practicing or learning a new technique. So, save that expensive sterling silver and gold for when you want to make serious pieces. You can opt for wires for practices instead to avoid wasting expensive materials in case you make mistakes.

Not uniform loops and final pieces
Uneven loops and finishes can make your final pieces look cheap and unprofessional. But as beginners, it is often unavoidable to end up with loops of different sizes. Experienced jewelry makers recommend making markings on your round nose pliers. With a permanent marker, mark the size of your first loop on your pliers and follow it as a guide for your consecutive loops. Tape can also be used to do this. Another tried and tested tip is using a necklace and bracelet board. They will keep your beaded designs even and symmetrical.

Not using recommended materials
As beginners, you’ll be following tutorials a lot in making your own jewelry. To get the nearest results from the pictures, you should use the recommended materials (bead, string, wire size) and not deviate too much from them. Some beginners make the mistake of trying out tutorials but foregoing following the recommended materials to be used. It’s probably because they don’t have them on hand or have ran out of it. Just remember that by doing this you might end up with a final piece that doesn’t look much like the one on the tutorial pictures.

Which of these mistakes have you been making the most often? We hope that you found these tips helpful to stop making them and improve your jewelry making skills.