DIY Hijab Pins: Make a Small Beaded Brooch

A DIY hijab pin becomes a useful project when you know exactly how the decoration is attached. This tutorial makes one small beaded brooch: a bead sits on a jewellery headpin, and a wrapped wire loop connects it to a ready-made brooch finding. You choose the colour and finish while keeping the fastening mechanism intact.

The finished piece is a decorative accent for a supported shoulder or upper-chest fold, subject to a fabric test. Keep your usual comfortable hijab fastening underneath. A homemade accessory should not be the only thing holding your coverage in place, and a heavy brooch finding is unsuitable for a delicate scarf.

What you will make

Start with one bead hanging from one fixed attachment loop on a brooch base. This keeps the first project manageable and makes it easier to inspect the connection. Jewellery suppliers describe this component as a beaded dangle; the same basic attachment appears in shawl-pin projects. [1]

A jewellery headpin is a short length of wire with a stop at one end. It holds the bead; it is not the sharp part that passes through your scarf. The brooch finding supplies that separate pin and its closing catch. Choose a finding with an attachment eye on the decorative bar, clear of the moving pin and catch.

This is a small wire-working project for an adult who can handle jewellery pliers and cutters. If you are new to wrapped loops, practise with a spare headpin before attaching your chosen bead to the brooch. Allow time to remake an untidy connection.

Gather compatible parts and tools

• One small brooch finding: a smooth, ready-made base with a working enclosed catch and at least one fixed attachment eye. Avoid a large, heavy kilt pin simply because it has loops.
• One small, smooth bead: a round bead around 4–6 mm is a suggested starting size, not a guarantee of suitable weight. Its hole must fit the headpin wire while remaining smaller than the headpin’s end stop.
• Jewellery headpins: approximately 50 mm long, plus spares for practice. Choose pliable wire intended for wrapped loops, with a material and thickness your cutters can handle. The bead must slide on without force.
• Round-nose jewellery pliers: for forming the curved loop.
• Two pairs of smooth-jawed chain-nose pliers: one to hold the loop and the other to guide and tuck the wire. Smooth jaws help avoid marking it. [2]
• Suitable flush cutters, safety glasses, a ruler and a bead mat or tray. Keep a small container beside you for wire offcuts.
• A spare piece of similar scarf fabric: for checking the completed accessory before it touches a favourite hijab.

Check the bare finding first: open and close it, inspect the point and catch, and test its thickness on spare fabric. If it already pulls threads or needs force to pass through, choose another base before adding decoration. Glue, paint, glitter and ribbons are unnecessary for this version.

Make the beaded attachment

1. Plan the colour and the hanging position

Lay the closed finding and bead on the mat in the arrangement you want. Try the bead against the scarf colour in daylight. A tonal bead gives a quiet detail; a contrasting one makes the small accent easier to see. Keep the first design to one bead so you can judge the result before adding more weight.

Locate the fixed eye you will use. The bead needs room to move beneath it without crossing the pin’s opening path or resting inside the catch. Keep the brooch closed while making the attachment.

2. Put the bead on the headpin

Slide the bead down to the end stop. It should remain on the wire when you lift it. If the stop passes through the bead hole, use a better-matched headpin or bead. Do not try to solve an incompatible hole with a blob of glue.

Leave the remaining wire long for now. You need it to form the loop and its wraps; trimming it before forming the connection can leave too little to grip.

3. Form the bend and loop

Using chain-nose pliers, make a right-angle bend in the wire roughly 2–3 mm above the bead. That short straight section is the space for the wraps. Rings & Things’ headpin guide explains that the space varies with wire thickness and the number of wraps. [3]

Place the round-nose pliers just above the bend. Bring the long wire tail around one rounded jaw, repositioning the pliers as needed to form a small round eye above the bead. Keep the eye large enough to fit around the finding’s attachment loop. Leave the tail unwrapped at this stage.

4. Connect it to the finding before wrapping

Pass the brooch’s fixed attachment eye into the new wire loop before you close the connection with wraps. This order matters: a finished wrapped loop cannot simply be opened like a jump ring. AMCAW’s technique guidance specifically identifies attachment to a closed component as a step to complete before wrapping. [2]

Hold the new loop steady with one pair of chain-nose pliers. Use the second pair to take the wire tail around the short straight stem below the loop. Make neat adjacent turns towards the bead, usually two or three for this small connection, adjusting to the space and wire you are using. Stop before the wraps press hard against the bead. Artbeads documents this wrapped-loop construction and finishing sequence. [4]

5. Trim and tuck the wire end

Wear safety glasses and follow your cutter’s instructions. Keep the offcut controlled and directed away from yourself and anyone nearby. With flush cutters, place the flat cutting face towards the part you are keeping, then trim the surplus tail close to the last wrap. Xuron’s jewellery-bench guidance explains this cutter orientation and controlling the offcut. [5]

Use chain-nose pliers to tuck the remaining end against the wrapped stem. Turn the piece around and inspect it from every side. There should be no projecting tail waiting to catch a thread. If you cannot make the end sit neatly, remake the connection with a spare headpin.

Check the finished piece before wearing it

Work through these checks on the table first:

1. Attachment: hold the metal base and give the bead a gentle pull. Stop if the connection opens, the wire moves out of place or the finding bends. This is a basic workmanship check, not a formal strength test.
2. Clasp clearance: open and close the brooch. The bead and wire loop must stay clear of both the moving pin and the catch. The point must sit fully inside its closure.
3. Snag check: gently move spare fabric over the wrapped connection and decorative surfaces. If it catches, locate and correct the rough area before continuing.
4. Weight and puncture: attach the brooch to spare fabric or an inconspicuous test area, then lift the fabric. Look for sagging, distorted threads or a mark after removal. Do not force a thick pin through fine cloth.

Only after those checks should you try the brooch on a supported fold away from your face and neck. Turn your head and put on your usual outer layer or bag. If the accessory drags, catches or presses into you, remove it. A successful craft connection does not make a particular brooch suitable for every scarf.

For the wider relationship between scarf fabric, undercaps and a comfortable wrap, see our complete hijab guide.

Fix the making problem, not just the appearance

The finished loop is not attached to the brooch

The attachment step was missed before wrapping. Make a new connection on a fresh headpin. Do not prise open the finished coil or distort the brooch’s fixed eye to fit it.

The wire is marked or the tail keeps sticking out

Check that your pliers have smooth jaws and that the wire suits the technique. Remake the dangle if the finish is damaged or the tail cannot be tucked neatly. Paint or glue over a rough end does not replace a sound connection.

The bead collides with the catch

Choose another fixed eye if the finding offers one, or use a smaller bead and remake the attachment. Do not bend the working pin or catch to create extra space.

The brooch pulls the scarf down

Reduce the decoration or choose a lighter base. If the bare finding was already too heavy, changing the bead will not solve the whole problem. Keep that piece away from the scarf rather than tightening your wrap around it.

Turn a colour idea into a repeatable design

Before making a second brooch, keep a simple design card for the first. Record the supplier's description of the finding, bead size, headpin material and wire thickness if known. Add a photograph of the back and attachment as well as the decorative front. A colour name alone will not help you identify a different-sized bead or a finding whose attachment eye is in another position.

Mark missing information as unknown. A silver-coloured finish does not establish a particular metal, and the price of a bead does not establish how well the complete accessory will suit a scarf. Keep component packaging or a copy of the description with your notes. This is especially useful if you want to explain the materials to someone receiving the finished piece.

Compare colours before making more

Set two or three possible beads beside the same scarf and photograph them in the same light. Decide which effect you want: an accent close to the scarf colour, a small contrast or a colour repeated elsewhere in the outfit. Choose the visual direction before assembling several versions. The comparison can be made with loose components on the table; there is no need to finish every idea to decide which one you prefer.

Keep the first variations close to the combination you have already checked. Changing colour alone makes the result easier to compare than changing the bead's size, shape, material and finding together. Each finished accessory still needs its own connection, clasp and fabric checks. A similar appearance does not establish that two sets of components behave identically.

Make a small number consistently

If you are making a pair of gifts, lay out a separate tray or marked area for each set of parts. Complete and inspect one piece before starting the next, noting any adjustment that helped the connection sit neatly. Keep spare components separate from finished pieces so an untested finding does not get mistaken for one that has already passed your checks.

For a practice session with another adult, agree which technique you will work on and who will demonstrate it. Give each person their own work area and a place for offcuts. A photograph of a completed brooch may help with the design, but watching the attachment order and asking for feedback on a practice loop is more useful when learning the construction.

Prepare a useful gift note

Ask whether the recipient uses decorative brooches and what sort of scarf they would consider wearing one with. A preferred colour is useful information; so is the answer that they would rather avoid pins altogether. If the project suits them, package the brooch closed and separate from any scarf, with a short note about its materials and intended decorative use.

The note can say that the bead is attached by a wrapped wire loop, identify the components you know and explain that the wearer should check the catch and test the brooch with their own fabric. Include any actual care information supplied with the components. Avoid adding a promise that it will never tarnish, snag or cause a reaction when you have no evidence for that claim.

Count the cost of a usable piece

Keep the cost of tools separate from the cost of components used. Record practice headpins and unsuitable findings as part of the learning cost, rather than dividing the price of a bead packet by its total contents and calling that the cost of each brooch. Review which leftover parts you can realistically use before ordering another selection. This makes the next project easier to budget and helps you avoid accumulating components that do not fit together.

Personalise it, then record what worked

Once the first piece passes your checks, make a second version in another colour or with a bead that has personal meaning. Record the bead size, headpin material, finding and number of wraps that gave you a tidy result. A quick close-up of the finished connection is more useful for repeating the project than a photograph of the front alone.

Include tools and practice materials when deciding your budget. Making an accessory is a creative choice; it is not automatically cheaper than buying one. If you give it as a gift, pass on the known component details and explain that the recipient still needs to test it with their own scarf.

Store the brooch closed in a small box, separate from delicate fabric. Check the catch, attachment and wire finish before later wears. Loose beads, rough wire or a failing closure are reasons to stop using the piece.

Technique references

The wire-working steps draw on the following primary craft guidance. The small scarf-accessory arrangement and checks above are editorial applications of those techniques; they are not a claim that a particular combination has been physically tested by Amani’s.

1. Fire Mountain Gems and Beads, Ask the Experts: Pins — Shawl, on decorating pin findings with beaded dangles.
2. Alliance for Metal Clay Arts Worldwide, An Introduction to the Wire-Wrapped Loop, 5 December 2024, on smooth-jawed tools, attaching closed components before wrapping, and finishing the wire tail.
3. Rings & Things, Techniques for Beaded Head and Eye Pins, on the bend, loop and space for wrapping above a bead.
4. Artbeads, How to Make a Wrapped Loop, on headpins, loop formation, wrapping, trimming and tucking.
5. Xuron, Katie Hacker’s Ten Tips for Avoiding Mistakes at the Jeweler’s Bench, 30 August 2020, and Quality, Precision Hand Tools for Wire Processing, on cutter orientation, controlling offcuts and eye protection.