DD: I'm not slacking, I'm sidetracking. Really!

[janestarz]

Welcome back to the dress diaries. Previous posts in this dress diary:
The prelude;
Part I;
Part II;
Part III;
Part IV;
Part V;

I should probably stop procrastinating. I really ought to not focus on accessoiries right now. I should just work on the new, pink dupioni bodys. But there I was, lo and behold, on the midsummer faire. And these lovely aluminium maille rings were staring at me. Their shade of purple was just right, it would match the dress perfectly!

Ahum.
I come bearing pictures.


The weave is called Byzantine and it's really not all that difficult. You just need to get the hang of flipping the rings back to make that kind of x.





Thing is, the rings are rather small. That ruler has both inches and centimeters, so take your pick. The official measurements are 0.8 x 3.5 mm. I used tweezers at some point to grab hold of a ring because my pliers were almost too big. And I'm using chain-nosed pliers.


The finished product!

Lovely. I now have most of the 500 rings of each colour left, but I can make more jewelry. Working with these tiny rings is kind of addicting, although I really need to learn new weaves. Also: I suck at European four-in-one.

I have until November for the purple dress, so it's not like I am really in a rush.

Comments

[erwinl.livejournal.com]

Really lovely. I love the way the purple rings contrast with the other rings and the skin of your arm.
And they are small! One pouch with 500 rings couldn't be more than 4 X 5 cm! If you sneeze you could lose half your rings. :-) Respect frmom me for being able to weave these small rings. I wouldn't be able to.

European 4 in 1 isn't that difficult. The only problem is that it has a real tendency for the first rings to flip back, thereby losing the right weave. I solved this by fixing the first rings with pins on a peice of cork board.

Shurf

[janestarz.livejournal.com]

I secretly hope I can find a similarly coloured thin linen for my partlet, camicia and head-thingy, but I doubt it.

Sjoerd said he hung his work from a wire. I can see how having a fixed point can be easy. I just can't get the hang of four-in-one, but that can be because these rings are some damned tiny. They've been dubbed KKR - Kleine Kut Ringetjes.

I'm working on a bracelet for Victor as well, in Inverted Round (no idea why it's called inverted, but it is definitely round) and I want to make another in spiral. Victor will get all-bronze, and I'll wear the purple ones.

[erwinl.livejournal.com]

Ooh me like inverted round! :-) Very labour intensive though.

Maybe you could even put in some captured inverted round in a different colour. Like here http://cgmaille.com/tutorials/cir.shtml
That is also pretty.

Again. Respect for this weaving.

Shurf.

[janestarz.livejournal.com]

No, actually it's really simple to make. The problem is, if I try captive inverted round, I can't get the ring to lie still. Got any superglue handy?

[erwinl.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. I can see that this could be a problem.
Maybe a touch of olive oil, or some wax to make them stick together somewhat? Afterwards you can then remove the stickiness, with a bit of hot water. Provided the rings handle hot water of course and don't rust or discolour.

Shurf

[steelweaver.livejournal.com]

New weave names have this tendency to change throughout time, the recent ones seem to 'stack' a lot. Regular roundmaille is a wider version of box, which is a rolled up, semi-hollow tube version of 4-1. Inverted roundmaille is the same weave, but turned inside out, like a sock going into the wash. Captive inverted Roundmaille has floating ('captive') rings. It all works the same from there. For instance, you can have Captive Inverted Roundmaille sheet, which is CIR but woven together into a sheet, instead of one cord of maille.

[the-gersemi.livejournal.com]

Oooh, that's really pretty. =)

[janestarz.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I agree! ;)

[steelweaver.livejournal.com]

Muahahaha.

[janestarz.livejournal.com]

They were staring at me. Staring I tell you!
I find myself oddly drawn to fiddling around with them. Wondering what it would be like if I had six more colours. Whether my mother would enjoy a bracelet in that hideous pink you have.

Thou art evil, EVIL!

[fyrane.livejournal.com]

Thats one cute bracelet! Does it require a lot of strength to make mail thingys?

[steelweaver.livejournal.com]

Not in that size/material, it doesn't.

Generally, softer metals (alu, copper, copper alloy) and/or thin wire= easy to weave rings. Only steel and things like that in large wire thicknesses really ask more strength than fine motor skills.

[twilightbanana.livejournal.com]

It's so pretty! And good job on your closures.

[alhandra-s.livejournal.com]

Really nice...

it looks so good! I'm getting more and more curious to the finished dress and accessoires.

[cabaray.livejournal.com]

hmm (the stepping in a warm bath kinda hmmm), fidling...thats why i paint miniatures...nice result btw!