When you make your string you twist up the top loop, then do you twist all the way down, when i first started building strings i did this and not only did they come up short but they stretched a mile, make the loop then if you use a bowyers not untangle the bundles, i hang mine from a nail, then reverse twist the last foot then to get the length you need i hold it taught and twistthe whole string, might be all wrong but thats how i do it