How to Make a Celtic Star Pendant
Hello crafty friends,
I've got something a bit different for you today: a chainmail pendant called Celtic Star. It's made purely with jump rings, though you could add seed beads to the star points if you wanted. Although I've said that this one is suitable for beginners, I would recommend that you do a couple of other chainmail weaves before attempting this one, just because the design looks a bit of a mess part way through, and it's possible to get yourself lost if it's your very first time trying chainmail.
As always, for any newbies who have discovered my blog, here's a video with a demo of how to open and close jump rings correctly, before you get started, just in case you need it.
You will need:
- 15 x 6.5mm jump rings (1.2mm thick wire)
- 21 x 4mm jump rings (1mm thick wire)
- 10 x 3.5mm jump rings (1mm thick wire)
- 1 leather cord or a chain
- 2 pairs of smooth-jawed jewellery pliers
A note about the jump rings:
If you're making your own rings, you'll need 16 gauge AWG wire for the big rings - just make sure it's 1.2mm thick and not 1.25mm. I've tried making this pendant with 1.25mm wire, and it doesn't quite work.
Celtic Star Pendant Tutorial
Step 1:
Close 2 and open 10 of the 4mm rings.
Step 2:
Drop the 2 closed rings onto an open ring, then close.
Step 3:
Add the other 9 open rings to the 2 closed rings. the original 2 closed rings will be the centre of your pendant.
Step 4:
Take a 6.5mm ring and loop it through 2 of the small rings, then close.
Step 5:
Repeat step 4 until you have 5 big rings each going through 2 of the small rings.
Step 6:
Add another big ring by weaving it through 2 small rings so that it overlaps 2 of the large rings from step 4.
Step 7:
Repeat step 6 with 4 more big rings until your piece looks like the photo above.
Step 8:
Flip the pendant over and add another 5 big rings in exactly the same way as step 6, so that the first 5 big rings from step 5 are sandwiched in the middle.
Your piece should now look like this.
Step 9:
Weave a 4mm ring through an eye-shaped gap created by 3 large rings. The small ring should go through all 3 large rings.
Step 10:
Push 2 of the outer 4mm rings over 2 of the double big rings.
Step 11:
Connect the 2 rings you just pushed together, using a 3.5mm ring.
Step 12:
Add another 3.5mm ring going through the 2 big rings and the other 3.5mm ring. Repeat steps 11 and 12 to create 5 points.
Step 13:
Add a large ring to any of the 5 point and close.
Step 14:
Thread a cord or chain through the large ring to complete your pendant.
I've made a kit for this pendant in sterling silver, which is available in my Etsy shop. When I've sourced the right wire in other metals, I'll update this post with more choices in metal.
