How to Make a Wire Wrap on a Top Drilled Bead

Commonly referred to as a briolette wrap to honor those lovely little tear drops or a Bail wrap to attach a large pendant, wire wrapping these beads can be a challenge.
If you are familiar with how to wrap beads onto head pins, this should come more easily.
1- Cut a piece of suitable sized wire 2-3 inches.
2- Fold it up on either side of the bead. One side of the wire should only extend about 1/4 inch past the tip of the bead.

The rest of the length will be doing all of the work making the loop and wrapping on the other side of the bead.
3- Pinch the wire tight at the tip of the bead (or top of the pendant). The wire must be as close as possible to the sides of the bead for security. If you are using heavier wire, making this pinch with your pliers helps.

Steps 4 on are how you would make a wire wrap on a head pin as well.

4- Using the tip of you needle nose pliers, grip both wires at the bead. Working with only the longer wire, make a 90 degree angle.
5- Change to your round nose pliers. Grasp the longer wire only with these pliers, one side of the pliers on top, and one underneath at the bend you made in step 4. Look at how the pliers meet around the wire. Imagine how the number "8" is shaped. That is how the pliers should meet; to look like the #8.
6- Pull the long wire up and over the top of the pliers, and then straight down.
7- Loosen and rotate your pliers to again look like a figure 8, but the loop you started should be between and on the bottom half of the pliers.
8- Complete you loop by following around the bottom and out the back, again finishing at a 90 degree angle.
*your loop should now look like a lollipop. If it looks like a "P" your plier position was off*

9- Before you finish wrapping attach the loop onto whatever you want to attach it to.
10- With your needle nosed pliers get a secure grip on the loop towards the back of your pliers as well as the short wire which should line up across the center of the loop.
11- Using your fingers or bent nose pliers wrap the long wire from under the loop to the tip of the bead.
12- Cut off excess at the bottom and bend the short wire out at a 90 degree angle to get it away from your loop before trimming it.
13- If the wire is sticking out, smooth it in with your bent or needle nose pliers so it won't catch.

If you are wrapping a briolette, you can continue down to make a "cap" on it.

To see pictured free step-by-step instructions visit www.InspiredByStones.com under the Learning tab.

Learn more about this author, Karey Grant.