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The Work Room is the Creative Journal of Wendy Sue where she shares her creative journey in all things handmade. The Work Room also offers an alternative to your typical jewelry making workshops. Scroll down to the end of the page to see how you can learn to make your unique piece of artisan jewelry online.

Saturday 28 February 2009

Wrapped loop vs. Lolly loop

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Work Room chat:
I believe some, if not many are trying out this home jewellery business thingy. Here's a website I come across which gives lots of tips for a successful home jewellery business.

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Since I’ve been on this loop business already, I think I just want to share my two cents here. The difference between wrapped loop and lolly loop or is there even a difference between the two to begin with?



Both serve the same function, that is to join beads together. So why wrapped or why lolly, or, when wrapped and when lolly?

Well, if you ask me, I’ll say that there’s no clear cut answer, really. Apart from saying it as a matter of preference, I’m also going to say that it’s a matter of your calling, as in you decide which is going to suit your design and style best as well as your work on hand.

That is of course after you consider these.

I think the foremost consideration in deciding on either is the liberty for a change of mind. In another words, subsequent alteration.

Subsequent alteration could mean one of two things. Alteration in size and alteration in design. When making a piece, I think it is advisable to make it with the possibility for alteration in size kept in mind. That is of course only when you are not making it for yourself.

If you are making it to sell or as a gift, you should foresee the possibility that potential customer or the wearer might request for an alteration. No doubt there seems to be standard sizing that jewellery makers adhere to but knowing that a piece is a handmade piece lends it a much more personal touch, unlike those carbon copied mass production ones. In such cases, people are more open to request for customization to suit them better, whether size wise or design wise.

When it comes to alteration in design, this happens to me a lot. Very often, I tend to want to make some adjustment-some call it fine tuning; upon completion of a piece.

What I normally do after I complete a piece is to position it against a mannequin that I have with me and then stand from afar to look at it to get a feel of the design. (this is just some of my artistic eccentricity...ahaks!) If it feels right, then I’m done. If it feels like something’s tugging at the sleeve of my heart, I know something’s amiss in that piece and alteration will inevitably follows.



So, this is how the consideration of a wrapped or lolly loop comes in.

With a lolly loop, you can still change your mind later on. A lolly loop leaves you the option to open and close the loop at any point in time which allows for subsequent alteration after joining.



A wrapped loop, however, makes a ‘dead’ connection. Which means once you have make the wrap, it pretty much IS a ‘WRAP’. You know, the phrase so commonly used by directors to signify the end of filming? Lol..... ;)

Therefore, if you would like to have the ability for subsequent alteration, you might want to stick to a lolly loop.

At this point ‘Lolly’ does seem to have the upper hand as compared to ‘Wrapped’, doesn’t it? If that’s the case, you might wonder why even bother to consider ‘Wrapped’ in the first place?

Well, one thing that you might be interested to know is this. Wrapped loop is a much stronger and secured connection as compared to the Lolly loop. Remember how I just mentioned that a Lolly loop gives you the option of opening and closing the loop at any point in time? That is exactly the insecurity in connection when it comes to a Lolly loop.

That is why it is important to make sure that when you close the loop to make sure that you close them properly as any gap might result in a slip of connection.



This is especially after years of use and tear. The loop might open up and dissembled the connection. I am not saying that it will definitely happen. What I’m trying to say is not to rule out the possibility. That is why if you have ever notice, handmade jewelleries of this kind are always advised to be treated gently.

There is no disputing that handmade jewelleries of this kind is far more fragile than those machine mass produced carbon copied ones. But I do think that when it comes to buying handmade jewelleries, I think the artistic consideration should carry more weight than the durability factor. Just look around us, how many things are handmade these days and how many people are willing to handmade things these days?

However, this does not mean that handmade jewelleries cannot be long lasting. But, I’ll save this discussion for the next time.

So, why else do people use wrapped loop? One of it is probably the design factor. Some like to have a long wrapped ‘stem’, like how a fruit hangs from a long tree branch. That will be one of the reason.

Also, sometimes the bead you are using may have a larger hole. Some handmade glass bead for example have relatively big compared to the others due to the mandrel used for making the bead.



In such circumstances, using lolly loop may not be so suitable of you want to create a loop with the bead in place i.e. where the bead won’t be moving around so much. Due to the larger hole, a lolly loop on that bead may come across as being a bit loose and I personally don’t like it when there’s movement from the bead within the loop.

The best solution for me is to add a smaller bead on both sides of the bead and then make a wrapped loop to finish them off. I like to do it this way because the bead within the wire stays put.



So, wrapped or lolly? You decide. ;)


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