My first try at Chain Maille

My first try at chain maille: the Byzantine Bracelet

I bought a Chain Maille kit at Hobby Lobby years ago (I know NONE of the rest of you find lost hidden treasures like I do) and thought, "Now just how hard can this be?". Well after countless hours of just trying to figure out the ins & outs of these little jump rings.....I was bound & determined to DO it!

After having problems with my car yesterday, I thought, why not further frustrate myself! So out these little jump rings came, along with jewelry pliers, the T-pin that came with the kit (what the heck?---I soon found out that little T-pin was a life saver), jeweler's mat.......and I was READY to begin.

After starting over countless times, I finally found the pattern emerging from my hands. I must say my first try turned out beautifully. I did change the clasp that was in the kit to a lobster claw and shorten the length to fit my wrist (proto-types are always mine). Here's how it turned out!

After the first couple of tries on this bracelet being a total disaster, I feel confident to try again and perhaps again! The feel of the bracelet is lovely. Nice weighed feel. Perhaps in funky colors!

How our ancient ancestors (back in the Knightly days) thought of using this method to keep knives from piercing their skin with a outer covering of this is beyond me. And the TIME it must have taken to make a whole shirt. I can only imagine!