Metalwork: Making a brooch.

I wanted to make my piece of patterned copper 'wall' into a brooch, without just shoving a pin on it. I decided I wanted most of the pattern to be on the inside, so only the wearer knew it was there, and to keep the outside fairly minimal. I thought of what would be on a wall, like railings, and because the pattern was similar to patterns of paving slabs I have looked at, I also looked at what would be on floors, like footprints. I decided finally on drainpipes, because that would be a decorative way of attaching it to something, because a pin or a few pins could go into the pipes to hold it on. I also went out and did some observational sketches of how pipes fitted together, and how they were attached to the wall, to get ideas of how I could arrange the pipes on my brooch.

I decided to have one straight piece of pipe, and one bent, so I could have one long pin that would go all the way through the pipe, and not fall out. I soldered a bent piece of wire to the straight piece of pipe (it is solid wire not pipe because it doesn't need to hold the pin, and wire is easier to bend without miss-shaping it) and then made small loops from thinner wire, and used lead solder to join them on without melting the previous soldering.

 After polishing it in the tumbler, I super glued the brass pieces on so they would stay still while I was drilling, and centre punched each side of each brass piece so I knew where to drill.

I drilled the holes, then neatened them and made them a little bit bigger so the rivets would go through.

 The rivets are decorative on the other side, so it will still look nice when worn so that the main pattern is hidden.

I wanted the pin to go through the pipe, and hold on to the garment at both the top and bottom, so it would hold on securely.

 I used a piece of wire, and melted the end so there was a small blob, which would stop it going through the fabric. I also curved the wire slightly, so the tension would keep it held in the right place.