Woven Leaf Earrings

Cut two 12-ft pieces of 16g wire. Make a loop on one end of each wire. Make the loops the same size with either round-nose pliers or the smallest step on the 6-step bail making pliers.

Use your fingers to shape the wire into an arch right under the loops.
I run the wire along the top of my thumb, using my thumb to push on the wire slightly while my ring finger keeps the wire on my thumb. Doing this should create a arch in the wire away from your thumb. Bend both wires to try to make the arch the same.

Gently bend the wire to form an arc in the opposite direction Try to make it a smooth transition. Try to make very gentle S shapes.
Both the arcs together should be about 2 ½ inches long. If longer the earring will be longer if shorter the earrings will be shorter.

Put the two wires on top of each other. About 2 ½ to 3 inches from the top of the loop bend the wire back up towards the loop.
I find it best to bend both wires at the same time to make the earrings as close to the same shape as possible.

Use flat- or chain-nose pliers to pinch where the wire is bent till it touches. Try to make the bend as tight as possible.
As always, when making shaped earrings, do both of them at the same time so they match.

Open up the closed wire, only the point should be close to touching. Make a gentle arc right above the bend going back up to where the top loop is.
The arc should go from the point just made to the base of the loop on the top of the earring

Wrap the wire around the loop on the top of the earring. Make sure to wrap the wires on opposite sides of the leaves so when done you have mirror images in the earrings.
To bend the wire on opposite sides on one wire bring the tail end of the wire behind the loop and wrap around to the front, on the other earring bring the tail end to the front side of the loop and wrap it to the back.

Take the end wire and bend it back to meet the side of the wire with just one arc on it. The wire should meet the outside wire 1 to ½ inches down from the loop.
This is the space the weaving will be in. Stack the two earrings on top of each other to get the curves as close as possible

The side of the earring where the wire comes up and around the loop is now the back side of the earring. With a 3' length of 26 gauge wire, the weaving wire, wrap it around the outside wire 3 times. The weaving wire will start next to the loop and wrap away from the loop. Wrap so the end of the wire is coming up from the outside and back of the earring. Cut off the small tail end of the wire and smooth with either flat- or chain-nose pliers.

Take the weaving wire to the back of the other wire the weave is going to go in. Wrap the weaving wire around the 2nd base wire one full time. The wire should be coming up from the outside and bottom of the wire. Take the weaving wire to the back side of the 1st base wire (the wire the weave began on). Wrap the wire one full time around the base wire and then take it to the back side of the other base wire. Repeat. This weave creates a cross-over effect because you go from the top of one wire to the bottom of the other wire.

Continue this weave till the wires meet about 1 to 1 ½ inches from the top loop or about ½ way down. While doing this weave use your thumb nail or pliers to push the wire up and keep it uniforme. Take this slow because the weave is going to try to slip down the wires.

Use the bail pliers or dowel and bend the wire up and around the largest step of the bail making pliers. Bend the wire around till it is coming off the bottom of the bail making pliers, so just over one full wrap around the pliers. The tail end of the wire should be going toward the outside of the earring with the 2 curves in it.

Gently bend the tail of the wire in a curve till it touches the outside wire with two curves then bend a curve the wire back the other way just above the bottom point of the earring. It should be a nice gentle curve from the bottom of the loop to touching the outside wire, then away from it.

Take the weaving wire and wrap it around the wire forming the large loop. Take the weaving wire thru the bead and wrap it around the loop on the other side one or two times. Take the weaving wire back through the bead and wrap around the wire making the big loop.

Wrap the weaving wire around the wire going toward the bottom of the wire making a loose coil. By loose coil I mean go around the wire but instead of making the wraps right next to each other leave a space between each wire two to three times wider then the wrapping wire. When the wrapping reaches where the two big wires meet, wrap the weaving wire around the two big wires three times, then wrap the weaving wire around the wire being coiled around 3 times to end the weaving wire. Cut the wire and smooth down with pliers.

Cut the end off the thick wire about 1 inch from where the weaving wire ended. Using round-nose pliers, swirl the tail end of the wire up into the space available. The first earring is now done.