hoop earring tutorial question
by Joanne Forman
(Sound Beach New York)
Good Morning !
I love your hoop earring tutorial and your entire site. I make these earrings often. When I make them out of 18 gauge wire and add beads, the beads tend to slip off at the non loop end. I have flattened the sterling silver wire considerable with a chasing hammer and would not want to do so more. If I use a bead with a smaller hole, it tends to bread the bead as there's not enough room on the wire for the bead to move. Any suggestions for eliminating the beads coming off.
Stacy's Answer:
Sorry I missed this question Joanne!
Yes, to help make it more difficult for beads to slip off of the hoop-style earrings, simply bend the straight ends of the hoops up at a 90 degree angle vs. the eye-pin/loop end. Allow about 4-5mm of wire for this. I actually make all the hoops this way now.
Of course, really big hole items will still come off. For those, try adding a smaller hole spacer bead such as a daisy spacer on either side of the large-hole bead. Smaller holes cannot make the angled turn at the end of the earring, keeping the items from sliding off. (Sorta of like the top finished earring photo in the tutorial, but with a sharper turn. In the photo, it's slightly rounded.)
The right angle bend of the straight end is more effective than bending the loop-end up for keeping items on the earring and it's more secure. Something I've discovered by wearing hoop-style earrings. Be sure to "lollipop" the eye-pin loop. (the main wire coming off of the eye-pin loop is in the center of the loop - just how a stick protrudes from the center of a lollipop) This makes for a better round shape to the earring and it's easier to align when putting them on.
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