Chain Maille Jewelry Workshop: Techniques and Projects for Weaving with Wire

This is the best chainmaille book I have found and I think I have them all. I am a GIA graduate and bench jeweler for over 25 years. Karen Karon has covered it all in this book it is the most complete, well engineered text I have found. Hats off to Ms Karon job well done! She has really thought the projects through, included information you need with jump ring sizes that make sense not some off the wall ID that I found in other books. I have completed several projects and they really look great, her instructions are easy to follow, I have learned more from this one book than most of the other 20 or so in my library. I make all my jump rings with a "Pepe" jump ring maker, and cut them with a flex shaft so ID of 3.5 mm, 4.00 mm are easy to make. She sticks to 18, 16 gauge for many of the designs which are much easier to stock and use for other designs. This book is for the beginner and the seasoned jeweler. A must for any workshop that weaves wire! Thank you for all your hard work and attention to detail Ms Karon.

Honestly, that would be Phong's but finally, here's a chain maille book devoted primarily to skills building instead of projects highlighting variations on a handful of techniques. My first book on chain maille was the classic "Great Wire Jewelry" by Irene From Peterson. Chain Maille Jewelry Workshop by Karen Karon seems to be the heir to Peterson's book. It's an anthology of chain maille weaves.There are some excellent books and DVDs on chain maille jewelry currently on the market and those into chain maille already have them. Chained by Rebeca Mojica is probably the best not only because of the photography and stunning projects but also the quality of information and instruction. However, Chained doesn't feature the European 4 in 1 or any of the Persian Weaves but it covers the Japanese 12 in 2 which isn't in Chain Maille Jewelry Workshop.Chain Maille Jewelry Workshop has few variations on the weaves.... it's devoted teaching a diverse number of classic weaves, not just 4 or 5 weaves before the author veers of on their own unique weaves. A good chain maille book will will go into the basics: wire guages, metal types, jump ring opening and closing and the math (yikes) of doing chain maille. Karon uses the following terms for inserting a new jump ring through the intersections created by previous jump rings: TE for through the eye and AE for around the eye are used when discussing the placement of rings using clear illustrations. She provides an in-depth discussion of the all important aspect ratio. .Now for the chains. It starts with the basic - the 1 in 1; 2 in 1; and the 2 in 2,What follows are the classics of chain maille:European 4 in 1Byzantine/(aka Birdcage)Box (aka Queen Link, Inca Puno)Flower/rosette weave is taught is this chapter because it's used as a connector.Celtic (aka Parallel, Helm)Spiral/Double SpiralJens PindThe Persian weaves:Full Persian (aka foxtail)The Half Persian 4 in 1 using a template to stabilize the rings while developing the patternThe Half Persian 3 in 1The Half persian 3 in 1 sheet. No GSG (Great Southern Gathering)but it's similar to this weave.Round weavesInverted or open round chain mailleRoundmailleTurkish RoundDragonscale with instructions for an awesome dragonscale collar.The instructions are clearly illustrated using color coded jump rings. There are beautiful photographs of each weave. The final chapter give in-depth hints on using clasps and other findings and using the weaves to design jewelry. The back of the book has about 20 pages of aspect ratio and conversion charts.To those into chain maille or just getting started, add this to your library.

I know I have spent at least $1500 on my library of jewelery books. I tend to use them for inspiration more than technique because no one book is really as detailed as I believe it should be.I started stringing, then beading, then wire-wrapping, and now chain maille. I am so pleased with this book and think it may be one of the best books ever purchased. I have read MANY of these type of books and I am hard to please.The introduction to materials and techniques is very thorough. The illustrations and explanations for each project are as easy to understand as possible given there is not someone in front of you actually showing you the technique. The graduation through the material is appropriate and relevant. And the designs are skill-building, versatile, and gorgeous.I suspect any additional chain maille books I might buy will be for inspiration only. Had I purchased this one first, I might have foregone buying several others. The techniques I learn here will help me fashion many unique designs.This is a fantastic book and I highly recommend it anyone that wants to learn this art form.

"it's okay" - I don't like how the book is laid out - if you are working on a weave/pattern that is shown on page 100 and some of the instructions have been shown on another weave on page 10 - you are directed back to that page - it makes it confusing since you have to mark the page, go to another page, and then return to 1st page. Just not my favorite and the 1st time I have found that ....SO ..... I am not really using this book. I go to YouTube and find a tutorial that's all in one place. Not sure if this was a money-saving effort or what.

I saw this book in a local crafts store, and it was want at first sight. I make jewelry and love history, so wanting to try chain maille is a natural conclusion for me. The directions are very well written. There is so much more to opening and closing jump rings than you find in the average jewelry making book or magazine, and Karen Karon describes it all very well. My only complaint is not about the book, but the inability to obtain the supplies needed to make the projects locally. It seems that just about everything has to be mail ordered.

I had searched for a book that had multiple weave patterns that teach the basics of the chain weaves. This book is that! Other books have only a couple weave patterns with additions of ugly ways to use them. This book shows the basic weave and I can use my own imagination to design what I want.Other books also include wire wrapping designs that I would never use. This book is straight forward. It is a good chunk of basic weave patterns that will allow my work to expand. No ugly page fillers. No wire wrapping. Only chainmaille.It also shows the gauge and diameters for anyone who needs it or wants to convert to AR.

For a beginner at chain mail jewellery and the success I have had since using some of the projects and knowledge contained in this book, I am most impressed with this book and highly recommend this for anybody who is new to this style. It starts out with an introduction and all the basics you need to know to get started from tools, items that will help make the job easier, jump rings and various methods on opening, closing them and common problems found by incorrect technique when closing rings. It them goes through a number of styles and ways of linking jump rings which progress from a very basic chain of single jump rings linked one into another gradually becoming more complicated to the dragonscale weave pattern at the very end which looks stunning even in it's simple sheet form and has a spectacular statement collar combining at least three different types of chain mail pattern including the dragonscale weave. This progression makes sense as while the simple patterns may almost be a little demeaning, they are good to start with as in order to be successful at chain mail you really need to get the basics of opening and closing jump rings neatly and fully first and as in the project pieces there are ways of dressing up even the simplest of chains. Having said that with patterns such as the Byzantine in this book, it is very easy for a beginner to make an impressive looking piece and so this encouraging, in fact I began on Byzantine for my first project and the confidence boost I had from creating that was great.The instructions are clear with illustrations and different colours are used to help identify different rings from each other and it is clear enough for me to have along side the piece I am learning. As with any new technique, it is best to take your time and go through the instructions as laid out and then as you have the pattern more committed to memory then you can have a look at the speed weaving tips for the pattern you are working on so you can make the process a little quicker.The book doesn't really put you off any more complex ones, in fact on the dragonscale it does say if you want to try it is sometimes worth getting stuck right in, but with patterns like the Persian weaves that sections does get you to start out on the single row weaves before going onto making a sheet out of these weaves. My only quibble is that it would have been nice to see more examples of how to use chain mail to make earrings however the book does provide you with the means to go off and do a bit of creative thinking on how to apply what you have learned.I love the photographs as they are very inspiring and with some of the projects which incorporate beads or coloured rings they are great on that aspect if you need any inspiration or ideas on how to do this.At the end of the book there are instructions on how to finish pieces off, how best to attach clasps to the various types of weave, if you need to know how to do some other basic jewellery making techniques such as make a loop in a headpin for a bead for example it shows you, and it also contains details on aspect ratio, how to calculate it and has lots of tables to help you with this when it comes to designing your own pieces or in some cases find alternative jump rings if you can't find exactly what is required in a pattern. This is an American book so the suppliers listed are generally from that side of the Atlantic but I have found these useful as I have found it difficult at some times to find just what I need or want in the UK.Overall this is a great book for anybody who wants to start in making chain mail who also wants to be able to see progress in their efforts. I do think that this is possible with this book and as confidence and seeing good results can be such a motivator in somebody carrying on or giving up, I think that most people who start out with this book as an introduction to chain mail jewellery will more than likely carry on and find out what is a simple in principle craft but can also produce some amazingly complex looking pieces worthy of many an envious look.

This was for my wife who is into all manner of crafts and wanted to try this one. the instructions are very detailed with some nice colour coded illustrations. There are some really nice projects in the book, but some are quite challenging for a newbie. Practice will make perfect (eventually!)

Last year I embarked on creating an aluminium chainmaille shirt. I'd never done anything like it before. I found a website with some low-res line drawings and tips, and I was off. It took a long time, but I got there.I've recently bought this book, and have found it incredibly useful. The diagrams are very clear, and the photos are of excellent quality, providing inspirational images of different styles of weave, and how different coloured rings can add variety to your designs.I highly recommend this book for a beginner in chainmaille with little previous experience.

This is an excellent book. If you want to learn how to make chain maille jewellery, this is a must have book.Step by step clear instructions. Several patterns to learn. Best buy for me this year.

I bought this book to expand my abilities on chain making by learning new weaves and was not disappointed. This is a great book with step by step instructions on many different types of chain with great pictures. It is technical but very easy to understand and accessible to beginners, as well as those with more experience. Would definitely recommend.