What wire for Net Bezel?

I received the following question via email:
"I just downloaded your Net Cap tutorial (looks awesome, by the way!), and this particular piece calls for 28ga soft wire, for the bezel, and 28-30ga wire for the netting. Is it necessary to use soft wire, or will half hard work for the bezel? And how about the netting? If I'm using 28ga, will half hard work for it? (The type of wire work I do, I seldom ever use wire any smaller than 24-26ga, so the 28ga isn't very familiar to me!)

This is what I answered:
"You CAN use 28 ga half hard to coil the bezel, as long as you have strong hands. I find it a tad difficult to coil with the 28 ga half hard because it's so springy, and because the coils tend to become loose if they are not really tight.
The netting is a totally different story: the wire becomes springier as you work, and if you start with the half-hard, it becomes a nuisance to manage. So you have to work with soft wire.
You can use lower gauges such as 26 to make the netting, but it will be even more difficult. I would use it for a large piece, and make the loops proportionally larger. "