As someone else said... no hitches on wire. You want to keep it as smooth as possible. Large projects that need a long piece of wire require it to be wound on a (preferably fat) bobbin and have some sort of hook to keep the wire from unwinding.
Your brooch pieces might be similar to flower petals I'm making. They have a wire gimp on the edge to hold the shape. My pattern calls for size 22 or 24 wire. I tried 26 gauge but thought it a bit weak for the my petals. My petals run 3 to 6 inches long. Since I need a 'stem' on my petals, I cut my wire so it hangs 3 inches longer on each side of the petal. I don't try to put it on bobbins. I curl up each end in a loose coil, the sharp end of the wire in the center of the coil, and have the length of the wire slightly curved up from the tip of the petal. It looks weird.... the bobbins and thread lie on the pillow, and the wire curls up above them. When working, I lift my thread up over the wire coil instead of moving the wire like a normal gimp thread. As the petal grows, the wire is fastened down in place. I do use extra pins at the point of the petal to anchor the wire in place when I begin each petal. Wire is more cantankerous to work with than thread but sure saves having to heavily starch all the petals. My petals are worked with a pair of passives on the outside of the wire gimp. I've also worked in the past where the wire was the outside edge and the workers just wrapped around it and back into the threads. Just be sure to have a good twist or two on each side of the wire so it's securely held in place. A local craft store sometimes carries a craft wire that's 22 or 24 guage and covered with a plastic coating, in colors. I've been using up a supply I got some years ago. I hope they have some more when I go shopping again. Experiment with your project and see what works for you. Alice in Oregon -- expecting relatives momentarily. Been cleaning for weeks. <G> ----- Original Message ----- From: Ayla Middleton <ayla.p.middle...@gmail.com> I've been thinking of trying something like the brooches with wire gimps at the edges. Does anyone have any advice on what type and gauge of wire to use? Can you just wind them on bobbins as you would thread? wouldn't the half-hitch cause problems? - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
