Even though you can buy premade jump rings for chainmaille, it's fun to experiment with different metals to make your own rings.
For this lovely Byzantine chainmaille necklace, I made rings using 20-gauge German Style Wire from Beadalon. Each Byzantine chainmaille segment is separated using SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS 4mm pearls.
The instructions for the Byzantine chainmaille weave are available in my book “Basics of Chain Maille” available at your local bead shop or on my website www.TheChainMailleLady.com.
It’s easy to make your own jump rings. Just wrap the wire around the appropriate size mandrel to make a coil and use your flush cutters to cut the coil into individual jump rings.
There are a few ways to attach the pearls. One way is to take a piece of wire and make either a wrapped or simple loop, string the pearl and make another loop at the other end. The way I did it for this necklace is to take a small piece of wire and starting at either end of the wire, wrap it around a mandrel twice, add the pearl, and wrap the other end of the wire twice around the wire.
For instructions on how to make jump rings and a simple or wrapped loop, visit the Beads, Baubles & Jewels video section of the Design Workshop at www.Beadalon.com for videos of Katie Hacker demonstrating the techniques.
Lauren Andersen
Beadalon Design Team Member
It looks so beautifully chained with the pearls and I think it has created an innovative and stylish contemporary look absolutely.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very gorgeous and high quality necklace. This necklace is entirely hand made. A very beautiful design that is dramatic,elegant and trendy.A fashion forward women will love to wear it everyday. Thanks a lot.
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