Bead Jewelry
Wire Wrapping Techniques for Beginners

Jewelry Wire Wrapping Techniques...Get step by step illustrated wire wrapping instructions on how to wrap a briolette bead. Learn two beginning beading variations!

Beginner jewelry wire wrapping is fun and easy!

Try these beginner beading techniques...

Two variations of a wire jewelry technique: wrapped wire loop.

Use the techniques in this tutorial to wrap any shape side drilled bead, briolette or not.

A wrapped wire loops above side drilled beads are used in bead stringing projects. But are a basic beginning wire wrapping jewelry making technique.

Remember, when cutting wire wear safety glasses. You don't want a snip of wire getting in an eye!

Let's start another Beading for Beginners Beading Basics lesson!

Wire Wrapping Technique #2:
How to Wrap a Briolette with a Closed Wrapped Wire Loop

Tutorial Category: Jewelry Wire Wrapping Techniques

Skill Level: Beginning Beading

Jewelry Making Supplies

• 20 gauge (.81 mm) round half hard wire (for practice use brass or copper wire)
• a few briolettes or any side drilled (east to west) bead for practice

Jewelry Making Tools

• one pair round nose pliers
• one pair chain nose pliers
• wire Cutters

Beginner Wire Wrapping Instructions

Make a wire wrapped bead unit.

1. Gather supplies and tools.

Use a fine point marker and mark the jaws of your round nose pliers at about 3/8" (4.76 mm) (or other measurement) from their tip. This will help you to make consistent sized wire loops.

2. Cut a piece of wire about 12" (30.5 cm) long.

Thread the bead onto the wire about 1 1/2" (3.8 cm).

3. Use your fingers to cross the wires to form an 'X' above the bead. Leave enough room for the top of the bead to swing freely.

4. Pickup the bead and wire with your non dominant hand. With your dominant hand, pickup the chain nose pliers. Where the wires intersect, use the pliers to bend one of the wires to a vertical position.

5. With your non dominant hand pickup the round nose pliers and grasp both wires above the bead between the pliers jaws.

With your dominant hand pickup the chain nose pliers, grasp the tip of the unbent wire.

6. Tighten your grip on the round nose pliers. Using the chain nose pliers, bring the tip of the unbent wire over the bent wire and downward to a vertical position. You've made one wrap.

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Beading Basics lesson!

7. Now bring the tip of the wire upward and over the horizontal wire to a vertical position. You've made two wraps. Trim and tuck the wrapping (short) wire (not pictured).

8. With your dominant hand, use the chainnose pliers' tip to grasp the wire directly above the bead. Use your non dominant hand to bend the vertical wire at a right angle over the pliers' tip.

9. With your dominant hand pickup the round nose pliers, grasp the horizontal portion of the wire at the bend. Line up the wire and the pliers on the mark you made on the pliers's jaws. Make sure the pliers's jaws face or open in a north and south direction.

10. Tighten your grip on the round nose pliers. With your fingers or the chain nose pliers, bring the wire over the top jaw of the pliers and downward to a vertical position. The wire now drapes over the top of the pliers's jaws.

11. Rotate the pliers so that the bottom jaw of the pliers is now on top of the wire loop.

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12. Using the chain nose pliers or your fingers, bring the long wire upward and back to its horizontal starting position. You've now made a loop, the first half of a wire wrapped loop.

Note: When you're making a project, this is where you would attach this bead unit to another bead unit, chain, jump ring or other connector before you close the wire loop in the next step.

13. With the round nose pliers in your dominant hand, grasp the wire loop. With your non dominant hand pickup the chain nose pliers and grasp the long wire. Wrap it around the stem wire of the loop.

14. Wrap the long wire around the stem wire of the loop until it meets the other wraps.

You can stop here, trim and tuck the long wire and you'll have a completely wrapped wire loop. Or, you can complete a variation: Wire Wrapping Technique #3.

Top of Wire Wrapping Technique #2

Or...Let's continue our Beading for Beginners
Beading Basics lesson!

Wire Wrapping Technique #3:
How to Wrap a Briolette Bead with a Long Tail Wire

15. Continue to wrap the long wire around the wraps, the triangular shaped wires and the top of the bead.

16. Use your fingers and the chain nose pliers to keep the wraps close to one another.

We're almost finished our first Wire Wrapping Techniques lesson!

17. Ensure that the wrapping wire stops on the back or front side of the bead.

18. Now make a slight bend in the end of the wrapping wire.

19. Tuck the end of the bent wire under the wraps.

20. A perfectly formed wire wrapped closed loop above a bead.

This Beading for Beginners lesson, How to Wrap a Briolette, is now complete.

Congratulations, you did it. You can wrap a briolette or any side drilled bead!

Learn More Beading for Beginners Techniques on
How to Wrap a Briolette

If you missed it, here's Wire Wrapping Technique #1 How to Wrap a Briolette with Open Wire Loop.

Or, go on to make this seriously beautiful little wire wrapped briolette by wire jewelry artist Marlize Kasselman.

Wire Wrapped Briolette
by Marlize Kasselman

Learn More Wire Wrapping Techniques

Or, first, read my review of all her stunning wire jewelry tutorials and go on to learn more wire wrapping techniques.

Exquisite Wire Wrapping Tutorials
by Marlize Kasselman

Either way you can't go wrong. And, you'll learn lots of wire wrapping techniques. Enjoy!

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