I have to say I was a little disappointed in this book. I was looking for some advanced weaves -- Jens Pind, Dragonscale, that cool Caterpillar thing she does, Cyclon or even Half Persian. The majority of the weaves were a base of byzantine, Japanese or helms.
I gave this book 4 stars anyway, because the book was very well written -- it was like talking to an old friend about her passion. It relaxed and conversational, and packed with TONS of useful information for a beginning weaver.
The photos are also gorgeous, and Rebeca's instructions are the best.... and I've purchased a ton of patterns ... if you can't learn it from Rebeca, you can't learn it. If you're newer and having a tough time with a weave, you need these instructions. Period.
She goes through all the pros and cons of metals, which was also nice for the beginner. I felt like there was too much time spent on opening and closing rings, but again, if you're beginning, you need to know how important a perfectly closed ring is.
It did leave me feeling like there's room for alot of creativity in weaving and using color, which I tend to shy away from because I don't care for aluminum and niobium is too pricey.
Additionally, she's confident enough to tell you where you can purchase supplies at places other than her store, which is just plain cool.
Rebeca's perfect quality of work and her use of color make her pieces shine. If you're just beginning, you'll be out buying rings in no time after reading this. If you've been addicted for awhile, you'll be eagerly awaiting her next, hopefully Expert Only, book, and I'll be waiting with you.
My daughter-in-law introduced me to chain mail jewelry. I was hooked immediately, but needed a book with projects. While there are hundreds of tutorials on the web, they are mostly for learning weaves, not making completed projects. "Chained" not only has simple instructions and teaches basic weaves, but you learn by creating gorgeous projects as you go.
Pluses:
The book doesn't jump right into projects, but rather it starts with the very basics of how rings are made, sized, how to open and close rings properly. This is invaluable in producing jewelry that looks professional, not home-made. Techniques taught also corrected some bad habits I picked up early on.
All projects have listings for both precious metal ring size requirements and base metal sizes. This means you can make an inexpensive version of each projects before ruining precious metal rings, which can be quite expensive. Also, many projects look so good in the base metal versions, I'll never bother doing precious metal versions.
Reviewed: Chained, by Rebecca Mojica
The pictures and instructions are VERY clear and concise. The photographs of finished projects grab your interest, but the project instructions don't let you down.
Each project is rated beginner through advanced. Most of the projects are beginner or intermediate level. Also, each project is rated according to the time it will take to complete. For example, one beautiful necklace is a beginner level project, but epic time length. This sets realistic expectations of how long you will have to devote to each project.
If you want to shop at Blue Buddha Boutique, which is owned by the author, kits are available for each of the projects shown, so you can make one exactly like the one shown in the book. But since the materials lists are given and are complete and clear, you can buy your supplies anywhere that sells quality rings.
Minuses:
I haven't found any real drawbacks with this book yet and I have completed several projects already and I've had the book only a week.
Bottom Line: Buy this book and start with affordable projects today. Leave books like "Chain Mail Jewelry: Contemporary from Classic Techniques for the folks with the deep pockets and want expensive boutique type jewelry. Buy this book (Chained) and begin creating gorgeous affordable pieces that are more approachable. Jewelry that is both beautiful and fun.
First of all the pictures are gorgeous! The weaves are introduced by categories. She teaches technique right away so as not to develop bad habits before you even know what you are doing. BUT best of all she shows how to fix your mistakes (I should say MY mistakes in opening and closing jump rings).
Her patterns are written for the inexpensive (albeit beautiful) Anodized Aluminum jump rings with Sterling Silver and Gold sizes in Italics. I find this so appealing.! The designers in the beading magazines, with a few exceptions, can't seem to design anything that doesn't require hundreds of crystals and a zillion sizes and colors of beads.
I am VERY new to this craft, but with this book; I am confident I will be able to learn it. I couldn't be more pleased.
Wonderful step by step instructions on how to make beautiful chainmaille pieces. Highly recommend it! my purpose for buying this book was for the instructions for the Rondo a la Byzantine Bracelet. What a beauty!!! See how beautifully it turned out?
I had seen chain mail jewelry at an arts show and really like it. Not your run of the mill jewelry. I have an art degree so I figured I could learn to do it myself. I only bought one book to start off with and this was it. I can't say enough about the book. The illustrations are wonderful and within no time I was able to make one of the most difficult bracelets in the book with no real problem. The reason? The photos in the book! They are clear, large enough and close up enough to see everything very well. I am a visual learner and if I have to rely mostly on written instructions I have fits. Don't worry about that with this book. While the written directions are good the photos pull it all together for a very easy and fun learning experience. So many great projects in the book and variations on so many of them. You absolutely can't go wrong with this book.
Feature Product
- Northlight
Description
Unchain your creativity!
Whether you are new to chain mail or a seasoned weaver, Chained will introduce you to the art of combining metal jump rings into intricate designs, in a new way. No other book shows how to use so many weaves in so many ways, or gives this ancient art such a beautiful and modern twist. Techniques once used for armor now have a new life and can be used to create elegant adornments.
Open Chained and find:
- Clear, detailed step-by-step photos that will take you from opening and closing jump rings to finishing your first (or fiftieth!) project
- Easy-to-navigate "Weave in a Nutshell" options for many weaves that will show advanced chain mail weavers the weave of a project in just a few steps
- 22 beautiful projects plus dozens of variations, including earrings, bracelets, necklaces and pendants, each with its own skill level and time investment rating
- Endless options: choose your favorite colors, your favorite metals, customize the size of your project, and find inspiration to add your own unique stamp to any piece of chain mail jewelry
Gather your pliers and piles of jump rings and weave your way to beautiful jewelry with Chained.
I am new to chainmaille and wanted to try my hand at a few projects, so I bought this book and found it to have awesome patterns, instructions and supply lists. Over the last couple of months I've made several of the projects which have received rave reviews from friends who also "want one".
The single drawback is the binding which is not the aurthor's fault but the publisher's, the book has fallen apart in just a few months and I treat my books very well. I have quilting books I've used for years and they are in pristine condition.
With this book however, every single page, with the exception of the cover and the first and last page, has fallen out. I've had to resort going to Kinkos to get it spiral bound which is an extra cost.
This book would have been way more practical if spiral bound considering the use it gets as an instruction manual. The current binding is totally unacceptable and extremely disappointing.
Chained: Create Gorgeous Chain Mail Jewelry One Ring at a Time
This book has beautiful color photos, and the directions are clear, the designs are gorgeous! There are easy up to advanced designs, some easy earrings, actually it's all just opening & closing jumprings and following directions, with practice, some of the advanced designs can be learned quickly. There are also listings on where to get supplies. Very happy with this!
Classic Chain Mail Jewelry: A treasury of weaves
Creative Chain Mail Jewelry
Chain Mail Jewelry: Contemporary Designs from Classic Techniques (Lark Jewelry)
Beaded Chain Mail Jewelry: Timeless Techniques with a Twist (Lark Jewelry Books)
Chain and Bead Jewelry Geometric Connections: A New Angle on Creating Dimensional Earrings, Bracelets, and Necklaces
Link It!: Colorful Chain Mail Jewelry with Rubber O-Rings (Lark Jewelry Books)
Links: Inspired Bead and Wire Jewelry Creations
How to Make Chain Mail
Chain and Bead Jewelry Creative Connections: New Techniques for Wire-Wrapping and Bead-Setting
I have fiddled around with chainmail in the past but I never seemed to quite get it. I am trying to get more serious about it. I'm beginning to wrap my brain around aspect ratios and wire gauge but I needed a book that laid it out with clear instructions and projects I could do. This book fit all of that. I love the weaves included and the variations of each. I just finished the reversible bracelet this morning. I fudged a bit on the wire gauge. I used what I had and it was a step smaller. It still came out lovely. One of the previous reviews said that if you're an experienced weaver, this book wouldn't show you anything new and that's probably accurate. But if you're new to the craft and really want to learn, this is the book for you. The informational chapters in the beginning are clear and easy to understand and the projects are wonderful.
Got this book through lending library (wanted to see if I wanted this as a new hobby!) I really enjoy the information this book gives. I also took a class just after I read thru part of the book. I only sort of understood what was going on with the book- coupled with a local store I was able to fully grasp everything and the book makes more sense to me. It's a good book for me having just started out and I'm so glad my local store has it ready on hand and could help me better understand ring sizing. I made the byzantine by myself with the instructions and found them delightfully simple to understand. Definitely looking forward to making more of the designs in the book and highly recommend if you're considering this as a hobby. I bought it after having it a few weeks from lending library :-)
This was a good publication with fun projects and good instructions. I have tried several of the projects and I was successful in the creation for a newby chainmailler. My one issue, and it's not a biggie is the pictures don't enlarge well for me. I only have an iPad, no computer so it's limited in the ability to inlarge pictures without them being grainy, loosing the detail
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