In an earlier post I described some of the Viking Knitting projects I had been doing, making simple knitted wire rope jewellery based on an ancient technique but made easier with modern tools. The Lazee Daizee™ Viking Knit Tools were developed by Stephanie Eddy and I was browsing her website to see what a more advanced jewellery maker could make - her inspiration gallery is certainly inspiring - and discovered that she had a sale on some jewellery kits. Unfortunately she is moving away from … [Read more...]
Chain Maille Cuff Bracelets
My latest foray into jewellery making has been to make chain maille cuff bracelets using a couple of different more advanced designs: European 4-in-1 and Helm Cuff. These bracelets are both more of a statement piece of jewellery and I'm very pleased with the results. European 4-in-1 Design I followed the design for this in a book called Basic & Advanced Chain Maille that I purchased from Weave Got Maille along with the 3.5mm internal diameter 18 gauge wire jump rings that were … [Read more...]
Coloured Chain Maille Jewellery
Today's post is about making coloured chain maille jewellery using contrasting or complementary colours of jump rings, and I also try some new chain maille designs. I have posted before about my passion for making chain maille jewellery and how I have been trying many different basic chain designs to see which I like the most and then trying some designs that incorporate beads to give different looks. This post expands on that by using contrasting or complementary colours of jump rings in … [Read more...]
Chain Maille Jewellery with Beads
Previously I have shared my new-found passion of making chain maille jewellery. In this post I will show you how I have expanded from the basic designs and tried different sorts of chain maille jewellery with beads. I can't claim any credit for these as I am still trying different kitsets from Weave Got Maille to see what things are possible and which I really enjoy making and giving as gifts. I was delighted to see a YouTube video recently in a series called World's Greatest that show-cases … [Read more...]
Making Chain Maille Jewellery
I have got the bug for making chain maille jewellery - big time! I have been experimenting with lots of different chain maille designs and will share some of these with you. Since I managed to find a source of the required jumprings so that I didn't have to make my own like my friend Elena (see my earlier post for some of Elena's beautiful pieces) life has become so much easier for me to pursue this interest. Elena makes all her materials from scratch from copper or silver wire but the … [Read more...]
Making Chain Jewellery
My friend Elena makes the most beautiful chain jewellery (see some examples at the end of the post). I was so inspired by her efforts that I really wanted to have a go at making my own. I bought a book on her recommendation: Handcrafting Chain and Bead Jewelry by Scott David Plumlee and started getting excited about all the beautiful things I wanted to make. Then I hit a snag! Making chain jewellery depends on having the individual chain links (jumprings) measure particular internal diameter … [Read more...]
Beaded Dragonfly Jewellery
What do you call a group of dragonflies? Officially the collective noun seems to be a flight of dragonflies or a cluster of dragonflies. Some more fitting terms that others have used are a glimmer of dragonflies or a dazzle of dragonflies. But I'll have to admit that the first term that came to my mind when I completed this project was a squadron of dragonflies. I got the idea from 'Queen Bead' Nia at The Bead Hold and you can get a copy of the instructions on her How to page. You will … [Read more...]
Viking Knitting Jewellery
Viking Knitting is an ancient technique of making woven wire rope. Thankfully we can now make it the (relatively) fast and easy way using the Lazee Dazee Viking Knitting tool. You can find a full set of instructions at the Bead Hold's How To pages as well as the tool, wires, and findings. Basically you weave wire around looping it around the loops on the previous row trying to keep it fairly even - that's not as easy as it sounds. Once you have a length of 'rope' you stretch it by … [Read more...]
Triple Helix Beaded Jewellery
In an earlier post I talked about how I often used to go to jewellery classes nearby but now The Bead Hold has moved to rural Taranaki and is now available on-line only. Now that I can’t go to the classes, I have purchased several kitsets/ instruction sheets covering a range of different techniques to try and am working my way through them to see what I like best. Triple Helix The Triple Helix design took my fancy because with my science background I immediately thought of making a DNA … [Read more...]
Ndebele (Herringbone) Tube Necklace
I learned this jewellery technique at a class at the Bead Hold before they left Auckland. When I wrote this, there weren't any instructions or kitsets for Ndebele cuffs or necklaces on their website but I'm sure they will be coming. Ndebele is a stitched Herringbone design that can be made flat or as a spiral tube or rope. I made the rope design as a necklace. It was a bit fiddly to get started but once you get going it is pretty easy. Joining in new threads can be a bit of a pain so I … [Read more...]