Once you finish that step, you’re pretty much done! This is what the completed bead with two loops on either side looks like. Note that one of the loops isn’t closed all the way. That’s OK for now, especially if you are going to add to the chain. But make sure to close the loops all the way after you’re done. This is because you don’t want to leave any space so that things will fall off the loop! You can close loops by grabbing the end of the loop with chain nose pliers or with the same round nosed pliers and gently pulling shut.
To conclude with, I just want to show how to actually re-open a closed loop in order to connect another loop, jump ring, drop or whatever you want. What I like to do is to take chain nose pliers and grasp the end of the loop and twist it open perpendicular to the direction of the loop. I’m not sure if this is the correct way to do it, but I find if you try to open the loop PARALLEL to the direction of the loop it deforms the general circularity of the loop and makes it hard to get it back into the correct shape.
To close it up, simply reverse what you did before. Twist the end of the loop back into place. Remember, that as with all metals, if you stress it repeatedly by opening and closing the loop it will eventually break!
Some people actually like to close loops with connected pieces already on them and never open them up again. That would mean stopping around Figure 4c, inserting your connection piece, and then continuing the loop. I personally don’t like this because 1) It is difficult to correctly close a circular loop when there is a connection piece blocking the way and 2) It’s more difficult to work with a long strand of connections hanging in the air! I like to make all my individual pieces first and then connect the loops together at the end. This also makes the pieces of a project more modular in my opinion.
I hope this tutorial helps you if you’re just starting out making Plain Loops with Wire!
