Accesories to match The Wedding Gown

Yesterday I posted about a wedding gown that's been under wraps since it was finished last month, today it's the turn of all the accessories that I made to go with the dress!

First, the bride's tiara, made from fine silver wire and beads that match those on the dress:

The groom wore a custom-made cravat from the same material as the bride's gown:

Instead of adult bridesmaids she chose to have her 2 year old niece as a flower girl. Her really cute dress was made from duchess satin in a beautiful dark blue (there is a matching sash that I somehow forgot to photograph, oops!):

And the Best Man had a cravat to match the flower girl:

Although if I stopped to think about it making all the bits for the wedding was a lot of pressure it was an honour to be asked to do and lovely to be able to do. I'm thrilled with how everything turned out and it seems the bride was too so I think it can be counted as a success!

 

I'm back!

Oops, bit of a longer break from blogging than I'd planned but things all ended up getting a bit hectic! On the plus side, this does mean I have loads of stuff to show you... I'll try not to send it all out at once though so you won't get overloaded!

A few weeks ago I had a rather efficient weekend and finished off lots of little bits of jewellery that's been loitering partly done in my workbox. Some of them really did only need the slightest bit of work to be finished, but it's amazing how easy it is not to get round to doing the tiny things!

First off, a pair of simple spiral earrings made from silver plated wire. I've got a bit of a thing for spirals at the moment, these came out of wanting to play around with making some double-spiral shapes. All I had left to do was to add the hooks, that's how lazy I was being not finishing them!

Secondly, another pair of earrings, this time solid sterling silver with silk tassles made from silk dyed with logwood:

I also finished off and added jump-rings to two little copper shapes that I made during an 'Introduction to Enamelling' course at York School of Jewellery during the summer. I really like how they've come out even though it was my first attempt at enamelling:

And finally, something that I've been working at on and off for years and had a big push recently to finish. This is a tear drop fossil (can't remember the proper name, sorry!) set in sterling silver which has been chemically treated to give it a grey sheen. I haven't entirely decided what it'll hang on permanently so I'm using a black rubber necklet for now:

Handmade retirement gift

Today I've got a really pretty commission to share with you that was a real pleasure to make. Some of you may know that I finished my previous full-time office job in November 2010 (which seems like it was yesterday and ages ago at the same time). This week a longstanding member of the team I led retired, and I was approached to make the jewellery that was to be given as part of her retirement gift. 

The designs chosen are part of my standard range of fine silver wirework, but the amethyst beads we decided on were a stone I didn't have anything made up in so this set of a bracelet, earrings and necklace was made specifically for her:

I know she's already got any number of plans lined up for activities to fill her day, so I hope she enjoys her retirement! (& her gift, of course)

Making triangle from straight pieces...

Ok, a change from the dressmaking now to show you progress and final pics from a pendant commission I've been working on.

The brief? A 'simple' inverted triangle with a hanging loop at the top. Sounds easy, and in a way it is, but there are a lot of stages involved nonetheless.

I started with a flat strip of silver and filed a v-shape in the centre (unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of this so you'll have to use your imagination) then folded the resulting piece up to create the bottom half of the triangle:

Once this was soldered to secure it, I then filed the tops of the two prongs so that they lay flush with the piece going across the top and soldered the top bar in place:

The protuding ends were filed back flush to form a perfect triangle before all the faces were emeried smooth:

I then attached a small ring to the top of the triangle for the jump ring to go through, and polished the whole pendant up. The result is indeed a simple but beautiful pendant:

(although try as I might I couldn't get it to lie flat and not look wonky while photographing it in the box!)