Chainmaille Jewelry

This gorgeous piece was my first attempt at an inlay. I had seen chainmaille inlays before, and I discovered a program that allows you to easily plot out inlays for a few different weaves. I know now that the program's advanced enough so you can transform any image into the weave grid, but when I made this, I hadn't figured that out yet. So the I painted the weave grid link by link, according to a free cross-stitch pattern I found online. (I didn't put that time into the labor cost, of course.)

Then I set about the daunting task of constructing the inlay. As you can probably guess, it took a very long time.

About three quarters of the way through, I realized I wouldn't have enough black rings! Everything that you see here in brown was originally black. So I went back and replaced those black rings with the brown ones you see. (Again, I didn't put that time into the labor cost.) This was my least favorite part. Anyone who makes things can tell you, it makes you feel sad to have to undo something you spent time doing.

Once the inlay was finished, I had to decide what to do with it! I finally chose to make it into a purse. So I made the back panel, connected them, and added a strap. And here it is! I'm very proud of this purse, and I always get the most compliments on it.

To see more pics, and to buy, if you're interested, check out the purse's etsy listing.