You can also start at the top and wrap in the right direction. You will definitely want to use an extra piece of tape to cover the lever mount if the lever doesn't have a hood, but you should be able to maintain the wrap direction around the lever, then you can use bar end plugs to hold the dead end of the tape. Without a hood, you'll need a good length of extra tape as you'll want to wrap around the bar, cover the lever, then wrap around the bar on the bottom (or top, I'm not sure how much it matters, just the opposite side you started from). Do this before wrapping the bars themselves. If you start at the bar end, you'll need something to secure the dead end near the stem. I like to use twine with that, but most people use tape. I've done both ways and I just go by which method fits which bike. My more modern road bike started at the top to keep it clean looking, but the old bikes start at the bottom and are secured with twine.