A little while ago I discovered a tutorial on LampworkEtc (LE), by Bobby, about making off-mandrel leaves (thanks Bobby!). That started me on an interesting quest. After making a whole bunch of leaves I needed to do something with them. So, again, thanks to Bobby’s example, I decided to put my (somewhat limited) metalworking skills to use and to make a simple bracelet.
Well, that simple bracelet, which I never actually finished, led me to discover chain maille (there are various spellings, I’ll use this one). Here is the first chain maille bracelet that I made. I wound the brass wire to make rings, cut the rings and wove them. The weave is european 4-in-1, with rather large rings. The bracelet is a little showy for my tastes, but I’ve gotten good responses from other people. One day I’ll get around to doing something similar in sterling.
This gives you an idea of how it hangs on your wrist. It’s a wonderfully noisy bracelet. And strangely the glass leaves feel “soft”, not at all hard, as you’d expect.
This purple one made from 1.0 mm (18 gauge) sterling silver rings is woven in a Wiggly Chain. I don’t know another name for the weave, or indeed if it’s a true chain maille weave, but that’s what Glen Waszek calls it in Making Silver Chains. I have used two leaves as a counterweight near the clasp. I have noticed quite a lot of bracelets for sale on the net which don’t have a counterweight. I often wonder if those bracelets then travel around the wrist so that the clasp rides to the “top”, which would be a real pity.
This blue one uses 1.0 mm sterling silver rings, with a Byzantine weave. The rings are too large, so the weave looks a bit messy…a work-in-progress.
And the last two are fun to wear together:
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