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My first attempts at maille jewelry were with rings far too large to be comfortable bracelets or necklaces - and while I'm sure that they were well-received (or perhaps only politely received) at the time, I would like to offer an apology to those individuals who received maille in rings that were either too large or of unideal materials (galvy steel does not a perfect necklace make).
Since then, most of my jewelry work has been done with aluminum rings - light and often colorful as well. Recently, I've been incorporating rubber rings into some pieces, to allow for some small degree of stretching in a piece. This is perfect for bracelets that don't need clasps and have increased durability to wear and tear. However, rubber rings cannot (of course) be opened and closed like metal rings can, so careful planning is key to using them. Speedweaving is a must.
Most recently, my jewelry work has been done with bright aluminum 20g 1/8" rings - tiny and shiny. Having started with large pieces and sizable rings, there's something very satisfying about working on projects involving small rings with such a degree of delicacy.
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This is an example of the maille that really does involve rings somewhat too large for full comfort. This Isolated Byzantine pattern has 1/2" rings sectioning off 1/4" ring segments. Perfect for a charm bracelet, though - meant for wrist of...more substantial thickness, one could say. |
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Again, the 1/2" ring with a section of 1/4" ring Byzantine within. Nice enough pattern, but perhaps not meant for earrings. It was a good attempt, though, before I moved to the tiny 1/8" rings. |
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Now, THIS is a pattern well suited for 1/2" and 1/4" rings. This is a belt that I made a few years ago. You might be wondering why a belt is in the jewelry section, but take a closer look at the belt. For one, it's not meant to go through the pant's belt loops. It's decorative. Secondly, it's more a belt for belly dancers, if anything; the hanging sections add alot of jingle even without bells being attached. It's about 5-6 feet long; meant to go around the waist, with the excess belt running down the leg decoratively or clipped back up to the belt, as in the picture. Again, this is made of sections of Byzantine. |
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A closer look at the pattern in the belt above. Byzantine is a simple pattern to prepare ahead of time, and lends itself well to both chains and sheets, so you will see alot of examples of this among maille-makers of all experience levels. In fact, some maille jewelry books focus exclusively on variations and patterns that only use Byzantine. |
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Now we get into the 1/8" rings that I've been using for my most recent jewelry pieces. This pic features a 9" box chain bracelet, a 24" Byzantine necklace, and a 27" Spiral 4-in-1 necklace. Yes, the picture is absolutely huge, but that's so you can see the detail of the patterns closely. |
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Michael's Arts and Crafts is a great store. I love shopping there. I found this watchface that didn't have a band and decided to maille it myself with European 4-in-1 out of 1/8" rings. This pic is from before I mounted the clasp (it's not exactly adjustable) |
The Tiered Spiral Necklace
Chain maille was originally accomplished by those talented in the ancient art of blacksmithing. Ingots were turned into wire, wire was turned into rings, rings were turned into maille. It was a long, difficult process that required varying degrees of mastery. Turning rings into maille was relatively easy, but turning wire into rings was harder, and turning ingots into wire was even harder than that. Therefore, even when working on duplicate pieces, a 'journeyman' blacksmith would turn out a product that was inferior to that of a 'master'.
With the Tiered Spiral Necklace, I have officially become a Master of maille. I truly feel that the successful completion of this piece was the cusp of Masterhood for me, and I feel as if my horizons have been broadened by this creation.
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I began with the clasp; the section at the top that would later join the sections together. |
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Having a barrel clasp with three rings on each side, I decided to make
a piece that would have multiple chains - and for maximum effect, that
each chain would be larger than the one before it. It was a massive undertaking. In total, the chains totalled six feet in length, far longer than any piece I had made before that - and with rings far smaller than anything else that came close! The piece in this picture is composed of approximately 1150 rings. I decided to use the Spiral 4-in-1 pattern because of the lightness of the pattern, as well as the fact that the spiral would throw back sparkles of light in all directions, rather than in focused directions like Byzantine or Half Persian would. |
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Here's a close-up of the Spiral pattern. I had to be careful not to wind the Spiral too tightly, or it would have crimped at the bottom of the bend. The link goes to a HUGE picture of the weave to provide the level of detail necessary for proper illustration. |
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Here's a picture of the properly draped finished product. The three chains are 20", 24", and 28" respectively. The curve of the bottle that it's on provides the proper display of dimension and form. |
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Here's how the necklace is intended to look (displayed on a mannequin that we happen to have handy). |