Welcome to the Wire Weaving Revolution!

Are you tired of trying to get straight answers to simple questions about wire weaving? Are you frustrated because you can’t achieve the results that are shown in the pretty pictures in that expensive tutorial that you just bought? It’s time for a wire weaving revolution.

I’ll let you in on an insider secret. One of the reasons you find it difficult to match those results is because some authors of tutorials use one wire gauge to make their finished piece. And they specify a different wire gauge in their written instructions. This is most frequently true of the weaving wire gauge. The artist may use 28ga or even 30ga wire for weaving, but they specify 26ga in their tutorials. And then beginner’s wonder why they can’t get their weaves to look as nice and neat as the project images. It’s confusing, at best. Misleading, at worst. In either case, it’s not a good approach to teaching.

That’s not what you’ll find here at Door 44 Studios. I promise to specify the exact materials that I use in my wire weaving tutorials. I’ll even provide links directly to my sources whenever I can. That’s not always possible because I often use supplies that I’ve had on hand for years. But I do my best to provide links to the same or very similar materials in my tutorials.

Hello and welcome to Door 44 Studios. My name is Wendi, and I’ve been making wire jewelry for about fifteen years now. Because I’m sort of a rebel by nature, I’ve decided to use this platform to start a wire weaving revolution. I’m going to teach you everything I know about both the art and the business of making jewelry. And when I say everything, I mean everything. No questions are off limits. My goal is to become your most trusted wire weaving friend and resource. And the only way to do that is with absolute honesty and transparency.

Life Lessons

My first Etsy business was very instructive. Mostly, I learned that I don’t want to run a small manufacturing company. Not today, anyway. It became almost immediately clear that I needed to hire and train wireworkers in order to expand to other sales channels. Either that or I had to drastically change my business model. That wasn’t an easy decision to make, so I forced myself to take a sort of sabbatical. I put down my pliers and picked up a crochet hook instead.

You see, I hit a wall with Door 44 Jewelry. That doesn’t mean that I crashed and burned, exactly, but I did run into a particularly complicated problem to solve. So, I stepped away from that problem in order to gain a clearer perspective. Closing Door 44 Jewelry and keeping my hands busy with a new medium while I sorted out the Door 44 business puzzle in my head helped me find the perfect solution to my problem.

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Changing Course

I had no idea when I picked up a crochet hook that there was such a huge community of yarn lovers out there. Crochet, as it turns out, is a much more popular craft than wire weaving, and it’s only slightly less popular than knitting. The sheer size of the knitting and crochet communities can be attributed mainly to two things, in my opinion: 1) the fact that yarn is readily accessible to almost anyone anywhere, and 2) the fact that yarn aficionados love to share their work. Openly. And in many cases for free!

I took a full year away from making jewelry to teach myself to crochet. And I spent next to nothing on education during that year. I started out with one fabulous class on Craftsy, which I happened to catch on sale; and I bought a handful of patterns for between $2 and $7. Mostly, though, I found answers to my questions and learned specific crochet stitches and techniques by watching YouTube videos and reading crochet blogs. It was through this process that I had an epiphany.

I discovered many crochet bloggers along my crochet journey who are making full-time incomes from their blogs. And they’re not selling finished garments or home decor products. Instead, they’re churning out tons of fresh ideas and patterns that they share with the world for free on monetized blogs.

Most of them also sell those same patterns in ad-free PDF format through channels such as Etsy or Craftsy Do you see where I’m going with this? I’m recreating that business model here at Door 44 Studios.

Between ad revenue, affiliate sales, sponsored posts, YouTube channels, and online sales venues, those smart crochet entrepreneurs are making a living without selling a single finished product.

Y’all. We could do the same thing with our craft! Can you imagine it? Dozens (maybe hundreds!) of wire weavers who share their designs and tutorials on blogs. That’s my ultimate goal for Door 44 Studios.

I want to pave the way for other wire jewelry makers (that’s you!) who want to create a jewelry-based business of their own. Whether you want to sell finished jewelry, tutorials, or both, there’s a way for you to make a living doing what you love. And I’m here to blaze a trail for you. I’m here to kick off a wire weaving revolution.

Is It Viable?

I know what you’re thinking. Sure, Wendi, crochet bloggers sponsored by Lion Brand Yarn and featured on the manufacturer’s website are bound to do okay, but how does that apply to wire weaving?

Frankly, it doesn’t apply at all. Not yet, anyway. The truth is that there aren’t many jewelry suppliers who are interested in partnering with jewelry bloggers. I know this because I’ve done the research.

Furthermore, there aren’t many jewelry makers who are sharing their knowledge and skills through blogs. They’re promoting their finished work and selling tutorials, but almost no one is openly sharing their process. That really limits the resources available to those who are interested in learning to make wire jewelry. And I think that’s a shame. So I’ve decided to do something about it.

You’ll find whole aisles of yarn in pretty much any craft store in the country. The big three being Michael’s, Hobby Lobby, and Joann. What you won’t find in those same stores are the supplies needed to make wire jewelry. Not all of the supplies, anyway. You’ll find some beads, and in some cases a small selection of craft wire; but you’re not going to find fine silver wire or even bare copper wire in appropriate gauges and hardness for making wire-wrapped jewelry.

Which Comes First?

It’s kind of a chicken and egg problem, right? Wire weaving won’t become a more popular craft until the materials and instruction become more readily available. As it stands now, the wire jewelry community is something of an exclusive club — a club I don’t belong to, incidentally.

Call me a rebel, but I just don’t get the concept of gated communities. I’ve never cared much for fences, and I don’t want to be a part of a club that has secret handshakes, unwritten rules, and high initiation fees. I just want to create something beautiful. And once I’ve created it, I want to share it with people who can appreciate it.

I’ve always known, at some level, that I have the soul of a teacher. Live classes don’t have a strong appeal for me, though. I don’t want to have to market and sell classes any more than I want to market and sell finished jewelry because I have a busy household to run and an 11th grader with an even busier activity schedule.

I need to squeeze working on Door 44 in between all the daily demands of running a busy household. That means that marketing and selling aren’t particularly good uses of my limited time. But writing? Now, there’s something that I can work into my family’s schedule!

Revolutions Require War Chests

Fair warning: I’m building this site with the intention to monetize it. There will eventually be ads here. You’ll also find affiliate links, where they make sense, and perhaps even some sponsored content. On the other hand, there will also be loads of free wire weaving tutorials, basic jewelry making techniques, links to my favorite tools and supply sources, and of course, jewelry business resources.

There has to be a fair trade, right? In order to continuously provide value for you, I need to be compensated for my time. There are already too many wire weavers out there charging too much for too little. But I need to make a living, and I’ve chosen to do that through a monetized teaching platform. And my hope is that, by starting this wire weaving revolution, I might blaze the trail for an entirely new jewelry business model based on a successfully monetized jewelry blog.

Join the Wire Weaving Revolution

So, there you have it. Door 44 Studios is about revolutionizing the way that wire weaving is taught and expanding the ways that wire weavers, or even jewelry makers in general, can make a living. I’m going to set you on the path to wire weaving mastery by sharing all my favorite resources, tips, tricks, and my own original jewelry designs. Here. And mostly for free!

Who knows? Maybe I’ll even inspire other jewelry makers to start sharing their own knowledge and designs. Possibly even for free. That’s what it will take to grow our craft into a thriving industry. As instruction becomes more widely available, there will be a greater demand for supplies. And that will make jewelry suppliers take notice. Before we know it, wire weaving supplies will become more readily available at local craft stores and bead shops. And just as in the crochet community, we’ll all be able to thrive. More importantly, we’ll expand our options when it comes to the kinds of jewelry businesses that we want to build.

Revolutions begin with a few stubborn rebels who refuse to accept the status quo. Am I that rebel? Am I willing to face the backlash from an angry mob of established wireworkers in order to start a craft revolution? Yeah. I am. Are you?

Welcome to the wire weaving revolution, my friend! Let’s create something beautiful together. I’m going to teach you everything I know.

Discover More Behind Door 44

Door 44 Studios is growing. I have so much new content planned for this year, so be sure to stick around.

I like to share useful wire weaving tips and tricks on my social media channels, and we have some great conversations about wire jewelry in my private Facebook Group. Also, be sure to connect with me @door44studios on Instagram, and Facebook to keep up with everything that’s happening behind Door 44. And if you haven’t already done so, be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel where you’ll find new wire jewelry videos weekly.

Until next time go make something beautiful!

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