French wire, Bullion Wire and Gimp Wire making & uses in Goldwork Embroidery

French wire: – These goldwork wires are also called purl wires. You usually have rough purl and bright purl wires. The rough purls are dull wire and the other is shiny wire.

Coiling copper wire around a round needle makes these wires and that’s why they are hollow from inside. These wires are very delicate and cut in small pieces to use. That’s why some people say their work is cutwork embroidery. These wires don’t go inside the fabric. They stay on the top of fabric.  In India and around the world these wires are used for making wedding dresses. Check the below pictures to see the uses of these French wires cut in small pieces and then different designs had been made from them.

One other big use of these metallic wires is in making jewelry. Whenever you want to hide your base thread or give excellent finish around these curves around beads or pearl then use this wire as shown in below picture.

Bullion Wire: – Also known as Check purl wires. These are made by coiling around a rectangle needle and because of that it gets lots of facets that shine at different angles. Delicate but it has rough surface. Again these are hollow from inside and cut in pieces to use.

Its better to use these bullion purl wires in small pieces, when using on garment because it can get tangle due to its facets and then the wire can open. So, always check that the place where you are using this bullion wire doesn’t get touched too many times.

In this below design of brooch you can see that check bullion purl wire is giving much more shine then the French wire. 

Gimp Wire: – Also know as pearl purl wires. Very stiff as compared to above goldwork wires. Again hollow from inside and been made from copper. So, that needle and thread can be passed through it smoothly. Best way to use them is to use them around the edges to hold the whole design like the below beetle and leaf embroidery broaches.

All these above goldwork wire can be bought online through www.embroiderymaterial.com . We do worldwide delivery and accept payments through Credit/Debit Card, Paypal, Payoneer and Bank transfer. Let us know at care@embroiderymaterial.com if you have any query.