Hello and welcome. In 2002, I started making chains. It fueled a passion in me I didn’t know I have. It started out as something to dabble in for my free time, but soon turned into an obsession. I started cutting jump rings and selling them to finance my need to make chains. From that, Chainweavers was born in 2004.
I know, I know. “What’s ‘Chainweavers’? This is the Handmade Chain.” Chainweavers was how I got my start teaching chain making. My goal in starting Chainweavers was to provide high quality jump rings and teach how to make chain over the internet (before online learning was really a thing). I wrote tutorials, cut jump rings, put together kits, and did a bit of in person teaching. It was exciting. It was a lot of work. Chainweavers was taking off but the time I gave to the business was causing drama in my family and something had to give, so I sold it in 2009.
From there, life took me in many directions, and I made lots of jewelry for a while. Then more drama and I walked away from the bench. Actually I packed it up and put it into storage. I missed it though. So very much.
Recently a friend challenged me to make a chain. I debated for weeks, sketched, looked at others work, sketched some more. I thought about passing on the challenge, after all “Life is busy”. Then I unpacked my tools, coiled some wire, cut some jump rings, twisted more wire, sawed, soldered, tumbled, polished. And my passion, my love of making chains flared back to life.
There is a dearth of creatives who can make chains by hand. It is a dying art form. It takes skill and patience. But it is so worth it.
The Handmade Chain is a way for me to reignite the flame I had back in 2004. To actively bring teaching chain making back into my life. To be able pass my knowledge and skills on to others.
If you’d like to learn, please come along, and join me.
Let’s turn that spark into a flame.
~Michelle