How to make a chain necklace
Chain necklaces make amazing jewelry accessories both adults and teenagers. You can design the patterns and add your own ideas into the project which can either make it young and trendy like or sophisticated and fashionable. This way, it makes a wonderful project if you want to gift something original and handmade but at the same time, you can make different variety of chain necklaces for yourself and add your personal ideas within the patterns and designs. Here are a few set of instructions that can help you get started if you are a beginner. Once you know the basics, you can modify certain steps where necessary, in order to bring in your creative patterns!
The directions given below will make a necklace which will be around 25 inches in length. You can modify the steps if want a longer or shorter necklace.
Some of materials that you might require include jewelry supplies and beads which are optional and depends on your design. If you do want to use beads, bead design boards and beading needles are good to have. You will definitely need a jewelry wire. Plastic dips can be very useful too. Pliers which are of the appropriate size for jewelry making and safety glasses are also good to have for this project.
Firstly, select your chain weight so that it matches the size of your beads, if you are planning to use any. For example, if you plan to use very delicate beads, it is better to select a smaller and lighter chain.
Once you have selected your chain weight, make six pieces by cutting your chain, where each piece is around 3 inches in length.
The next step depends on whether or not you are using beads. If you are, then make around five of bead on wire type of sets. If you are not familiar with this step, you can look for a detailed tutorial that talks only about how one should carry out this step. However, if you are not planning to use beads then you will not have to deal with any bead related step.
In the next step, make sure you properly attach your clasp using its ring to one of the pieces of your chain. Tiny and suitably sized needle-nose types of pliers seem to work perfectly for carrying out this step. These are extremely helpful when you are trying to pull a ring on your chain gently. Put your ring of your clasp in place. In the next step, use your pliers, the needle nosed ones, in order to close your ring.
In the next step, take one of your bead sets and attach it by taking the loop and hooking it to your chain. To close it, you should use your needle nose pliers. Again, this step applies to you only if you are working with bead sets.
Next, carry on these steps. Alternate one chain followed by one set of the beads. Continue to do so until you finish using the six chain sets you have, along with the 5 sets of beads.
Once you are done with the previous step, attach the second clasp end to your chain by using your pliers which are needle-nosed shaped and complete your chain necklace!
Some of the following tips and cautions can provide further directions that will prove useful whether you are a complete beginner or even an expert. For example, always make sure you are using your needle nose pliers very gently on the wire. Do not squeeze them too tightly. If you do so, you might produce an area which is very rough and this can then catch on to your clothes when you wear your necklace or even scratch the skin which is, of course, not desirable. If you have the habit of using them in a rough and tough way, it is suggested to use pliers with a round nose instead. Once you get better at using them gently, you can perhaps switch over the needle nose pliers later. There are even plastic coatings available these days for the jaws which can be purchased easily.
You should feel free to explore other ideas and variations within this chain necklace tutorial. For instance, many opt for making a Y shaped necklace since it looks very delicate and pretty especially for cocktails and proms. You can also replace the bead set that was mentioned here with a single jump ring with a drop. Even with the bead sets that were mentioned here, you can add another simple step to make it more beautiful. You can attach your bead sets with delicate jump rings!
A final instruction is to use safety glasses at all times because the wires you are dealing with are very small and they are pointed ends that might fly when you cut them so it is always best to have some sort of eye protection when you cut wires.