I haven’t made any chain maille jewellery for a while but whilst in lockdown I’ve been inspired to use some of the supplies I had already and try something a bit different. I’ve previously explored making various necklaces and bracelets using different chain maille weaves, sometimes incorporating different colours and sometime including beads as well. This time I decided to try making chain maille pendants using some of the different weaves that I had used previously: Japanese 12-in-2 and Helm’s Weave.
Japanese 12-in-2 or Japanese Lace
I previously tried this design in making a coloured ‘chain of flowers’ bracelet. A single ‘flower’ could be used as a cute pendant by itself or you can expand it out further to form a different shape such as this ‘diamond’-shaped pendant.
- 18g 5.5mm and 3.18mm jump rings
- Start creating the ‘flower’ design
- Flower design can be used as a pendant
- Expanded Japanese 12-in-2 design
Another variation that I tried is a variant often referred to as a Shenandoah design where larger rings are combined with the smaller rings both linking them and creating a decorative ‘S’ shape around them.
- Select your jumprings
- Start assembling the design
- First circle complete
- Connect second circle
Finished pendant
Parallel or Helm’s Weave
I made a Helm’s Cuff Bracelet for an earlier post and was quite intrigued to see how it could be used to make a substantial elegant pendant that would suit evening-wear.
It follows the same linear weave as is used for the cuff but you create a series of chains that are one repeat bigger than the previous one and then link them together to form a triangular shape, and attach chain at the top corners to create your necklace.
- Start creating your helm’s weave chain
- Make each chain one repeat longer
- Link the chains together
- Completed pendant
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