Coiled Circle Bracelet

This is a present I made for a Christmas gift exchange. I wanted to make something slightly different from what I usually make, try some new techniques. I had used coiling before, but just to end the wire, not to make a complete shape. Despite the fact that it costs some time to coil the circles, I think this is worth it. This probably isn't the best idea for a last-minute gift, but if you have the time you could surely make this. Using different colours can give the bracelet a complete different look, so you can really give it your own twist, maybe even adding some beads? I'm really happy with how it turned out and I hope you like it!

To make this bracelet, you will need the following:

Using the wire you chose for this, make the basic circles you will be coiling the coloured wire around. I used this jump ring making technique, but then on a wider object (that's where the marker could come handy)

When you have made your basic circles, you can start coiling. Cut off a piece of coloured wire and fold it around the circle as shown. When you have coiled for a while (it can help to open up your jump ring and just let the wire slide in) , it's time to join the two sides. Carefully let the coiled part slip of one of the sides (not completely, just a part) and add the other side to it. When you have done that, make sure the shape still is a circle, if not make it a circle, and continue coiling. Now you can also coil the short part you had left from starting, just cut off the end when you're done. When you have reached the beginning of the coiling with your other side of the coloured wire, cut it off and make sure there are no sharp pieces sticking out.

Start by making some of these, in the next step I will show you how to determine how many circles you will need so you can possibly make more after that.

For this bracelet, you will need to know the wrist size of the person you are making it for. I asked and the answer was 15 cm, which was perfect for me, since this is my own wrist size so I could try it on to see how it looked, if it was long enough, if you could open and close the closure, etcetera.

Take a ruler. Lay all your pieces next to it: your closure and your circles. All together you should reach the wrist size of the person you are making this for.

I first wanted to make a long piece of chain at the end, but that would have been a LOOOOONG piece, so I decided to add another circle. This is why the pictures first have six circles and later seven.

For the assembly I used the silver plated wire. I bended double jump rings with it, as shown in the picture. I made double jump rings because those are very unlikely to open while wearing the bracelet. For the chain part I made jump rings that were somewhere between single and double.

Open up the double jump rings as shown and use them to join the coiled circles. At the endings, add the single/double jump rings and at the end of those the closure.

So, it took some time, but I really think it was worth it. There are a lot of possible variations on this bracelet: different colours, different shapes, different sizes and anything else you can come up with!