Chainmaille 4 in 1 Tutorial

 

I've recently been getting more and more into chainmaille jewelry and figured I would post a simple tutorial on  how to make a really lovely 4 in 1 link design. This design is simple to make, and lays really well on the wrist or neck. It's a flat-laying weave, and feel silky smooth when you're all finished.

For sake of example I'm using larger pink rings and smaller dark blue rings. This will make it easier for you to see what I'm doing. However, you can use any color and any size ring you wish. The weaving principle is the same regardless of ring size.

Step 1:

Take one ring and open it. This will be your center ring.  The key to making the 4 in 1 weave easy is to open as few rings as possible, keeping the rings tight and un-warped.

Step 2:
Put 4 rings onto the "center" ring and close it tight.

Step 3:
Lay out your weave so two rings are on top, and two are on the bottom. Make the rings face "away" from each other. So that if something is threaded though them they don't just come together side-by-side.

Step 4:
Weave a "center" ring inside of the two upper rings. This might be a little tricky cause if you do it wrong your two rings may come together side-by-side onto themselves, or if you're doing a long chain strand, you might notice the pattern of "over/under" can get messed up.

I've found if I hold my chain, and take the center ring and thread it up through the underside of the right ring, and then thread it down through the upper side of the left ring, it works rather well.

Again, your links should stay spread apart. If they come together side-by-side you've done the weave wrong. This step does take a little practice.

Step 5:
Don't close the center ring just yet. Instead, add two more rings to it, and then close it. Now you can use those two rings you just added to add another center ring.

Step 6:

Just repeat step 4 and 5 until you get the length that you want. Make sure your links follow an over/under pattern. Sometimes you can get a ring with two rings "over"  or "under" it. If this happens, simply remove the center link and fix how it's affixed to the two rings.

You can do all sorts of stuff with Chainmaille links. Make bracelets, necklaces, and more. You could even make your own shirts and armor if you really wanted to get creative. You can connect strands of 4 in 1 weaves together to make larger pieces. I'll discuss this in another tutorial. Until then, happy creating!