How to Make A Bespoke Tiara

If you are brave enough to attempt to make your own tiara here's how to do it.

First of all you are going to gather all the supplies. You will need:

1. Round Nose Pliers, preferably with fine tips to get into the tight spots.
2. Snipe Nose Pliers, again the finer the better,  I love the ones by beadsmith or lindstrom.
3. Wire cutters, preferably fine jewellery or electrical cutters that have a flush cut, don't go for cheap ones, they don't cut very well at all and don't use the ones you can buy at the DIY shop they just are too bulky.
4. 1-1.5mm thick wire to make the band or a manufactured band (these can pinch so we prefer to make ours)
5. .40mm wire to do the detail, not too thick as won't work easily or too thin as it may snap and break
6. Selection of beads to put on the tiara.  We like to use Swarovski, you pay a bit more but the cut is brilliant so your tiara dazzles, freshwater pearls are lovely as are seed beads.  You can purchase cheaper czech cut glass beads, but they are not as sharp and don't have the dazzle of swarovski.  Don't use acrylic or plastic as these will look cheap, the tiara will also feel light and won't make you feel as special as you deserve.
7. Ribbon to wrap the band.
8. Glue to secure beads and ribbons
9. Good light to work under, 
10. a suitable space at a desk or table, you can also purchase bead boards which are handy.  On your lap or sofa is not ideal.

Ok so now you have all your equiptment together the next step is to design your tiara.  Don't copy a designers work it isn't ethical you need to think about exactly what you want from your tiara.  Do you want sprays, do you want it to be encrusted with beads and diamante? do you want it to be tall or short?  Sketch your ideas. have a look for inspiration in magazines, nature, from shapes and forms of things you love.

Once you have a design your are ready to begin making it.
The design you choose will influence the techinques you need to bring it to life,  Many tiaras are simply beads on long wire stems twisted.  Others are intricately woven, some are threaded together to form shapes and leaves and flowers.

To begin to make tiaras it can be a fiddley trial and error process. If you would like to know more about how we make our tiaras, please leave your comments and questions below.