WELCOME TO
BEADSELLER
Making
Friends, One Bead At A Time
"No act of kindness, no matter how
small, is ever wasted." ~Aesop
FREE
JEWELRY MAKING LESSONS
Wrapping
Loops
You will need:
Your
choice of wire
Wire cutters
Round nosed pliers
Bent/flat nosed pliers
1. Start by bending the wire to a
90 degree angle so that you create an upside down L shape.
2. Hold the bend with your round
nosed pliers, and use your fingers to wrap the wire around the nose of
your pliers to form a loop.
 3. Keep the round nosed
pliers inside the loop, and hold the loop against the nose of the pliers
with one finger. So, you should have your round nosed pliers in one hand
with one finger pressing the loop against the nose. (I'm right handed,
so I use my left hand to hold the pliers and my pointer finger to hold
the loop against the nose.)4. Using your other hand (in my
case, my right hand), start to wrap the loose wire around the straight
piece of wire that is directly under your loop. If the wire is soft, you
can probably do this with your fingers. Otherwise, use a bent (of flat
if you prefer) pair of pliers to hold the loose wire and wrap.
5. Continue to wrap as
many times as you want, and if necessary, trim off excess wire.
6. Use your bent nosed
pliers to press the wire wrapped end flat to make sure it doesn't stick
our and scratch or poke the wearer of your jewelry.7. If necessary, use your round
nose pliers to straighten the loop.
A Few Tips:
Be patient, and be prepared to
practice. There is no way you will do this perfectly the first time. The
more you do it, the better you will become.
- Be careful not to wrap too
close to a bead if you are including one on the wire as it could
crack the bead. Though some jewelry makers like to get their wrap as
close as possible to the bead, I don't mind a little room, but this
is personal preference.
- For beads with small holes,
like pearls, you will need thin wire such as 24-28 gauge. Otherwise,
21 gauge seems to work will with most bead sizes.
- When making long, loop wrapped
chains, instead of cutting lots of small pieces of wire for each
loop, try using longer pieces (about a foot or so in length), and
cutting the wire after each loop is made. This will keep wire waste
down.
All
graphics and lessons created by Tammy
Powley.
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