Overview

While looking for new weaves to create, I discovered Double Step on M.A.I.L. by Minigal. This member of the European and Japanese weave families is essentially a kinged 2-in-1 Chain. If you are interested in making this weave yourself, I have created this tutorial as I couldn’t find any pre-existing ones.

Materials

For the sample peice showcased in this post, I used three sizes of rings. The small rings, purchased from The Ring Lord are made from 18 SWG Copper wire with an ID of 3/16” for an AR of 3.4. The medium rings, also purchased from The Ring Lord, are made from 16 SWG Bright Aluminum wire with an ID of 1/4” for an AR of 4. The large rings, which I made myself, have an ID of 10mm for an AR of 6.15

Tutorial

  1. Pick either right or left as your direction and remember your choice. The images and models in this tutorial use right as the choice of direction.

  2. Place the center of 1 medium ring in the center of 1 large ring. The medium ring should fit in the large ring, and the less space between them, the better. When done, it should look like this:

  3. Lay 1 new large ring and 1 new medium ring (green in the image below) on the rings from the previous step (blue in the image below) in the direction you chose in step 1. The edges of the rings should overlap. When done, it should look like this:

  4. Join the rings from the last step (red in the image below) and the step before that (blue in the image below) together with 2 new small rings (green in the image below). When done, it should look like this:

  5. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until you are happy with the length of your chain.

  6. Enjoy your length of Double Step chain, or integrate it into a larger project.

Notes

The Double Step weave is easy to understand and create, making it a great choice for beginners. It has an attractive appearance, although in my case, the AR difference between rings was a bit too high, resulting in a visible gap. For the weave to work, the large rings must have an AR at least 2 higher than the medium rings; however, the greater the AR gap, the larger the visible space between them. As a flat and wide chain weave, Double Step is great for making chokers and bracelets, but not cordage, as the small and thin rings joining units together make it weaker. Overall, given its good looks, ease of learning, and smooth creation process, I recommend learning how to make this weave.

Pictures

Flat

Flat: Angled

Flat: Profile

Vertical

Vertical: Profile

In Process




Interactive Model