Thursday, August 13, 2009

"Chainmaille Jewelry Patterns" E-book Review

I'm very interested in chainmaille. I developed the interest when I found a store that sells jump-rings at a stupidly low price. As soon as decided to look into chainmaille jewelry, the first thing I did was Google it. Now I'm a full book on what resources are available, free and for sale, book and e-book. I've tried the beginners weaves, discarded them as too simple, hurt myself trying the more complicated weaves and finally found a nice balance.

From the very start of my research into chainmaille jewelry there was one resource that taunted me. Culture Jewelry (http://www.culturejewelry.com) sells an e-book called "Chainmaille Jewelry Patterns". Unfortunately its $37US and I live in Australia. The first time I saw it, the exchange rate was so bad it was going to cost $60AUS for something couldn't pick up!

But I was patient. I made use of the free resources , continued to learn the basics and attempted a few of my own designs, all the while monitoring the exchange rate until finally all of the pieces fell into place, and I bought it.

Darn it.

Don't get me wrong, the weaves are lovely, the tutorials are comprehensive and it comes complete with videos demonstrating each weave. In fact, if I'd bought the e-book back when I first found it I would have found it incredibly useful. It comes with beginner information, descriptions of the tools you need, instructions on opening and closing jump-rings, and a couple of freebies thrown in (But wait! There’s More!). For someone with no wire jewelry making experience who just want to make some chainmaille, it’s a worthwhile purchase.
The problem is that by the time I bought it, I already where to find 90% of the tutorials and information for free. Most were just as comprehensive and some even had animations demonstrating the weave!

However, all is not lost. There is one thing that is very useful for the intermediate chainmailler. The e-book also comes with a jig design to make chainmaille making easier. Much, much easier! The design is simple and inexpensive to make and will save so much time that I wonder why I didn’t think about it before. It's not quite worth the cost, but will make use of it all the same.

So that’s my story. I’ve written this article in an effort to let people know exactly what is in the "Chainmaille Jewelry Patterns" package. If you’re going to buy it, do yourself a favour and don’t look anywhere else. If you have successfully made a chain on you're own, it's probably not worth it.

I just wish you could buy the jig design without the e-book. For less than $37US.

I also wish I could have read this article before I was inspired to write it.
You live and learn...

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