I am so excited to share with you this beautiful chain maille bracelet by Irina from Irina’s Cute Box. Chain maille goes back to medieval times as a metal weaving technique they used to make armour worn by knights. Now it is a common jewelry technique. I have always wanted to try chain maille, but have been intimidated by its complex appearance. This is Irina’s first attempt, which encourages me to try out the technique. Her piece came out beautifully, and I would never have guessed she was a novice. See how to make your own chain maille jewelry, incorporating pearls! Take it away Irina…
I’d like to share how I made this chain maille bracelet with pearls.
I made jump rings of sterling silver filled wire (18 ga, half hard). The rings have to be a little bit bigger than beads.
To make first bracelet link, connected 4 rings as it shown on the picture.
Then keeping them in fingers fingers as shown on the image below, I “opened” the rings forming them in a shape of nest. Places a pearl bead inside the nest.
Then, closed upper rings like it shown on the picture…
… and connected them with two more jump rings. This rings are starting next chain maille bracelet link.
Again… opened rings to make a nest, placed a bead inside.
Closed the rings and connected with more jump rings.
And so on until the bracelet is needed length. In the end, I attached a clasp, and the bracelet is ready to wear 🙂
Awesome!!…I love this!!
Thanks, sis! Now I have a Christmas idea 😉
Do you sell your bracelets?
This is really nice and easy thankd
I’m using 6mm beads and 10mm jumprings but that does not hold the beads in. What sizes should I be using????
Unfortunately, jump ring manufactures don’t measure by a set standard, so there are differences between companies. Some use the inner diameter of the ring, and some the outer. You are going to have to try larger beads or smaller jump rings and just keep at it until you find what works for you.
love the tutorial on chain maille with pearls !!! Thank you so much for the info.
I am glad you love it, Cindi. I wear mine all of the time. Let me know how it goes when you try it. People are having difficulty with the pearls not staying in the cages. I had no problem, and I only hear from people if there is an issue, so I want to know if there is a success!
Ive tried and tried and cant do it is there anyway you could do a video on it dont understand what Im doing wrong
very hard to find correct size jumprings to work with 6mm beads
I was able to follow this tutorial and mine came out great. I used 6 mm pearls and 8mm jump rings.
Rachelle,
What brand 8mm jump rings did you use? Is the 8mm the dimension of the hole or the measurement of the ring you used.
Thanks,
Sylvia
I’m having trouble getting the correct size, too. Either the rings are too tight and stiff or the beads slip out.
I made this bracelet using 4mm pearls. The wire is 20 guage I make my own jump rings and I used a 4.5 mm shaft (mandrill) to wind the wire on (I use sterling silver only) There is a spring back when the wire is removed from the mandrill. The inside diameter is the measurement to use. After the spring back the diameter is close to 4.63 mm. I like the size that it turned out to be. A little more delicate looking than using the 6mm pearls.
Wow! Great method and it totally worked for me. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Hi I have been using masking fluid for my pliers which works well to stop my pliers from slipping just brush a small amount on and let to dry takes a few mins then ready to use hope good info for you
That is really cool. I put it on my list to do. Can’t wait to try it.
Hello! I was trying out this bracelet, and I found it to be difficult to attach the “vital” jump ring for each “nest”. The length of bracelet that I have so far is also kind of stiff, or at least stiffer than I would have expected from the pics. Is yours at all stiff, or is it loose like a bracelet would be? Thanks!
Ally M.
allymadeit@gmail.com
http://www.facebook.com/birdnestnecklaces
Ally, the fact that it is stiff combined with the fact that you are having a hard time attaching the nest jump ring makes me wonder if your pearl are too large for the jump rings you are using. How long is your bracelet? Mine is definitely stiffer that a regular bracelet, which is inherent in the design. Keep at it!
[…] I had Irina from Irina’s Cute Box here to share with you her gorgeous chain maille pearl bracelet tutorial. My sister fell in love with it, so when we had a night together this weekend, we knew it was […]
[…] to Make a Chain Maille & Pearls Bracelet I love this tutorial from Saved by Love Creations – we are sharing it here for you to try. This is actually a VERY easy process – whether you […]
[…] You can find the tutorial right here! […]
[…] Original Source: https://savedbylovecreations.com/2012/09/how-to-make-chain-maille-pearl-bracelet.html […]