For this tutorial we are using our 2mm Silver Plated Coil Crimps. These are suitable for round cords up to 2mm in diameter and thinner multi thread designs which we will touch upon later. Lets get started..

First off take your crimp and pop in your chosen cord. Here we are using 2mm Lilac round leather cord which has a lovely metallic sheen to it although Waxed Cotton cord works just as well.

Slide the cord all the way into the crimp but not so far that is comes out at the other end if your crimp design allows this.

Now comes the tricky part. Using a good pair of long nosed pliers grip the FIRST and ONLY the first coil between the pliers jaws. The top jaw should grip the coil at about a third of the way around this first loop. The idea being to 'bend' or 'crimp' (hence the name) this part of the fastener so that it traps the cord preventing it from pulling loose. Be careful, there is a danger here of being too overenthusiastic and over-crimping. This will result in several problems.

• A deformed crimp
• Damage to your cord which will weaken it
• Damage to the outside of the crimp caused by excessive pressure placed on the pliers

I'd suggest that to start with you take a spare piece of cord and a few crimps and practice a few times until you are happy with the result.

You will probably find that you will be more comfortable placing the crimp in the middle of the jaws of your pliers rather than using just the tip. This is how we prefer to grip the crimps but for clarity we used the tip in the photo above otherwise you would have had difficulty seeing where to grip the crimp.

Talking of pliers we would normally recommend that you only use proper jewellery pliers that have a smooth inner jaw to protect against damaging your jewellery, however when using crimps you really need pliers that can securely grip a very small section of wire so you may find that pliers with a serrated jaw work far better for you.

When you crimp your cord it is best to do it in stages until you get a feel for it. By this I mean crimp gently at first then test the hold by gently pulling on the cord to see how firm the crimp is gripping. If your cord moves before optimum pressure is applied simply crimp the cord end a little more and test again.

It is of course possible to glue your cord into the crimp but be careful. Epoxy Glue will create a very strong bond which can have safety issues. By crimping your cords in the manner shown if the wearer should inadvertently manage to get their jewellery caught on something then extreme pressure will cause the cord to pull free from the crimp thus freeing the wearer. This is much less likely to happen with Epoxy Glue.

Now just because your crimp takes 2mm cords does not mean that you can't experiment a little. Here you can see 4 strands of our 1mm Round Leather Cords. We've mixed the colours up so you can see them better (even with my poor taste I wouldn't dream of using this colour combo) lol

You can see how useful these crimps can be for multi thread designs

Once you are happy that your cord(s) are nice and secure all that is left to do is add add your clasp of choice and a chain extender if desired.

Enjoy your Craft

Shelley & Steve

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