Welcome to your chainmaille workbench. Find the aspect ratio of a ring, work backwards from a weave, estimate a project, and price it out. Pick a tool to begin, or tap the title any time to come back here.
Your Rings
Pick a wire gauge and inner diameter, the AR appears below.
Suggested Weaves
Weaves your rings will actually sit well in.
My Rings
Your saved stash and how many of each you own. Weaves can be suggested from these alone.
Weave Library
Every weave, by difficulty and aspect ratio, with a tutorial link.
Fidget Toys
Popular chainmaille fidgets to make or sell. Each shows the weave it's built from and that weave's ring AR.
Measure a Ring
Got unlabeled rings? Photograph one next to a coin or card, line up three measurements, and get its inner diameter, wire size and AR.
- Lay the ring flat right next to the coin, on a plain surface.
- Hold your phone straight above them, not at an angle.
- Get close, so the ring and coin fill most of the photo.
Ring Weight
Weigh a sample of rings once. The tool works out the per-ring weight and rings per ounce/pound, then saves it against that ring's size & material so you never have to re-weigh.
Your weight library
Convert
Pattern Planner / Inlay
Lay out or chart a color pattern ring by ring, and get the exact count of each color to make.
Grid & weave
Set Columns and Rows to size your canvas, and pick a Weave: E4-1 or Japanese for flat sheets, Dragon or Scales for overlapping leaf shapes. Scales is built on an E4-1 backing, so the tally adds connector rings for you, see “Rings needed” below.
Colors & base
Tap a swatch, then tap or drag across the grid to paint. Erase clears a ring back to empty. Base ring color fills every unpainted ring with one plain color, useful for a solid sheet with just a few accent rings picked out.
Tools
- Paint: the default. Tap or drag to lay down the active color.
- Fill: flood-fills a contiguous block of the same color in one tap.
- Pan: drag to scroll the canvas without painting.
- Mirror: every stroke is mirrored left-right, handy for symmetric designs.
- Zoom / Fit: resize the rings on screen; doesn't change the pattern itself.
- Undo / Redo: steps back and forward through your paint history.
Import Image
Turn a photo into a starting pattern: pick an image, rotate or flip it to fit, and tap Add. It maps the closest color from your palette to each ring, then you can touch up individual rings by hand afterward.
Build mode
Tap 🧵 Build to step through your pattern while you actually make it. Choose By ring to mark one ring done at a time, or By row to mark a whole grid row done in one tap, useful when you build a row at once. Tap any ring on the board to jump straight to it. Reset clears progress. Your place is saved automatically, even if you close the tab. Scale mode's connector rings aren't individual cells, so only the scales themselves get build steps.
Save, load & print
Name your pattern and tap Save to keep it in this browser; Load and Delete work from the dropdown next to it. Print / PDF exports a clean, ready-to-follow copy of the chart and color counts.
Rings needed
Updates live as you paint: one line per color, a Base line if you've set a base ring color, and, in Scale mode, a separate Connector rings line, since each scale needs 2 to 4 backing rings depending on where it sits in the shape. The grand total is your full shopping list.
Ring colors
Rings needed
Target Aspect Ratio
Enter the AR a weave wants, get the exact ring ID and the mandrel size to wrap on.
Ring Sizes
Inner diameters that yield AR 4.0.
Price a Piece
Cost out a finished project, then mark it up for wholesale and retail.
Price Breakdown
Live as you type.
Saved Projects
Ring Estimator
Roughly how many rings a piece needs, a chain by length, or a flat sheet by area.
Estimate
Live as you type.
Jewelry Designer
Lay out a piece from weave segments, color any ring, and get the parts list.
Build one repeat of your weave. Add Jump Rings, drag them exactly where you want (nothing snaps here), and use Tilt and Tuck so they sit and link like the real thing. When it looks right, name it and tap Lock in weave. It joins the weave strip in the Jewelry Designer, where Length grows it like any other weave.
Add & arrange
Tap a weave in the strip to drop it in the middle of the canvas. In Move, drag a segment to place it (turn on Select, or hold Ctrl, Cmd or Shift, and tap pieces to select several, then drag, flip, color, duplicate or delete them together); its ends snap to other segments when they get close. Drag empty space to pan, pinch or scroll to zoom, and tap Fit to frame the whole design.
Shape
Make your own weave. Open the ★ Weave Builder tab and build one repeat from single Jump Rings. Use Tilt to stand rings on edge or angle them and Tuck to link them. Name it and tap Lock in weave. Back in the Jewelry Designer it appears at the end of the weave strip with a star: add it like any weave, use Length to grow it and Spacing to tighten or loosen how the repeats sit together. The parts list counts every ring. To change it later, select it and tap Edit in Weave Builder.
Select a segment to open its settings: Length (units for chains, columns for sheets), Rows for sheets, Rotate, and Curve to bend a chain into a drape. A single Jump Ring also has Tuck, which sends its top, bottom, left or right half behind so it looks linked through the ring it crosses (for a chain, alternate Top and Bottom), and Tilt: slide it, or tap Flat, Angled or On edge, to show the ring lying flat, at an angle, or standing up off the screen. Duplicate copies it, To front stacks it on top.
Color
- Paint: tap or drag across rings to color them one at a time.
- Fill: tap a segment to make every ring in it the active color.
- Pick: tap a ring to grab its color, then switch back to Paint.
Fine chains
Add a finished chain (cable, curb, rolo, figaro, paperclip, ball, snake, rope or satellite) from the Fine chains strip. Select it to change the style, width and metal color, and set its length in quarter inches or tap a standard length (7", 16", 18", 20", 24"). Chains bend with Curve for a necklace drape, their ends snap to weave ends and clasps, and the parts list shows the total length of each chain.
Charms & cabs
Add a charm (heart, star, moon, leaf, disc, drop, flower, paw, spike or ball) a wire-wrapped cabochon, a cabochon in a maille bezel (round, oval, square or heart, ringed with jump rings), or vertebra beads from the second strip. Vertebra beads come as one bead or a strand, threaded side to side or top to bottom like a real spine, with optional jump ring spacers, in six finishes and sizes from 8 to 24 mm. Drag it near a ring and its bail hooks onto that ring, so dangles and pendants hang where you drop them. Select one to change its shape and size (cabs use standard calibrated sizes in mm), pick the charm color, the stone, or the wire or ring color, and set the bail or bezel ring size. A bezel's parts list counts its rings for you. Paint and Fill recolor the metal; stones change only from their swatches.
Ring sizes & parts
Pick a size for each segment from My Rings, or choose Custom gauge & ID. The custom ID can be an inch fraction or millimeters, in 0.5 mm steps. Rings redraw at their true proportions, so wire thickness and ring size show on the canvas, and the next segment of that weave starts at the same size. Scale maille has a Scale size slider. For weaves in the library, including two-size weaves like Helm and Dragonscale, each ring's AR is checked against that weave's range (see Sources in How to use). The parts list counts every ring by color and size; Send to Pricing carries the total over. Scale connectors follow the neighbor rule: 2 for top and bottom row scales, 3 for edge scales, 4 for interior scales.
My Patterns / Tutorials
Keep the patterns and tutorials you've bought in one place, with a photo of the finished piece. Tap one to open its PDF.
How to use My Patterns / Tutorials
- Add one. Tap + Add, then tap the photo box to snap a picture of the finished piece or choose one from your photos. Give it a name and the designer, shop or teacher.
- Tag it. Type a tag and press Enter, or tap one of your earlier tags to reuse it. Tags like bracelet, Byzantine, beginner or gifts make sorting easy.
- Attach the PDF. Tap Attach PDF and pick the file. On iPhone, save pattern PDFs from email or Etsy to the Files app first so they show up here. You can also paste a link to where you bought it.
- Find it later. Scroll the photos, tap a tag above the grid to show only those, or search by name, designer or notes.
- Open it. Tap a photo, then Open PDF to read the pages right in the app, even offline. Save / Share sends the PDF to Books, Files, Messages or a printer.
- Check your rings (optional). Pick the weave, a ring from My Rings and how many rings the pattern needs, and the pattern shows whether you have enough to make it.
- Back it up. Your patterns live only on this device. In Backup, tick Include My Patterns / Tutorials PDFs to save the PDFs in your backup file too.
Tap Edit on any pattern to change its photo, tags or file, or to delete it.
No patterns or tutorials yet. Tap + Add to save your first one: snap a photo of the finished piece, attach the PDF, and tag it so it's easy to find.
Add a pattern or tutorial
Everything stays on this device.
For patterns and tutorials you've bought, for your own use. PDFs are saved on this device only. You can leave them out of backups to keep the file small.
Backup & Restore
Save your rings, projects, patterns and designs to one file, or import from another device or browser.
Same Gauge, Different Wire
Pick a gauge to see the wire each supplier actually ships under that number.
Ring Suppliers
Blue Buddha Boutique (tutorials still sold on Etsy) and Beadsisters (UK).
How to Use The Maillery
A quick tour of each tool. Everything saves to this device automatically.
Aspect ratio is the one number that decides whether a ring will weave. Each weave has a comfortable AR range, too low and rings won't close, too high and the weave goes floppy.
1 · Rings → AR
Start here when you have rings and want to know what they'll make.
- Choose the wire gauge system (SWG or AWG) and gauge, or tap mm to pick the wire diameter in millimeters.
- Enter the inner diameter, in inches/fractions or millimeters.
- The aspect ratio appears instantly, with the weaves your rings will sit well in.
- Tap Add to my rings to save the size to your stash.
2 · AR → Rings
Work the other way when a weave calls for a specific aspect ratio.
- Enter the target AR the weave wants.
- You'll get the ring sizes (gauge + inner diameter) that land on it.
3 · Measure a Ring
Figure out mystery rings from a photo.
- Pick the coin or card you'll put in the photo, or choose Ruler and type a known length.
- Tap Take or choose a photo. Lay the ring flat next to the coin and shoot straight down, close up.
- Tap one edge of the coin, then the opposite edge. Then tap across the inside of the ring, then across the outside. It moves to the next step on its own.
- Drag any dot to fine-tune; a magnifier pops up. Pinch or use the slider to zoom.
- Read the AR, inner diameter, wire size and closest gauges, then Save to My Rings or See weaves in Rings → AR.
4 · Weave Library
Browse every weave the app knows. Filter by difficulty, search by name, or type an aspect ratio into Fits AR to see only the weaves your current rings can make. Each card links out to a tutorial.
5 · Pattern Planner (Inlay / Chart)
Design a color pattern ring by ring. Pick a color and tap or drag across the grid to paint it; resize the grid and switch between the E4-1 and Japanese inlays. The tally shows exactly how many rings of each color you'll need, and your canvas saves automatically.
6 · Jewelry Designer
Weave Builder: build one repeat of your own weave from single rings (Tilt and Tuck make them stand and link), then tap Lock in weave. It joins the Jewelry Designer's weave strip, so you can add it, grow it with Length, adjust the Spacing, and get an automatic ring count. Select it and tap Edit in Weave Builder to change it later.
Build a piece on an open canvas. Tap a weave to add a segment, drag it into place (ends snap together), then set its length, rotation and curve. Add fine chains, charms, wire-wrapped cabs and maille bezel cabs, then choose the charm color, the stone and the wire color. Paint colors single rings, Fill colors a whole segment, and Pick grabs a color from the canvas. Set each segment's ring size (from My Rings or a custom gauge and ID) to see it drawn to scale and check the AR, then send the parts count to Pricing or export an image to share.
7 · My Rings
Your saved stash lives here, and you can record how many of each size you own. Low and Out tags flag what's running down, and the app can suggest weaves from just the rings you have, so you can see what's makeable before buying more.
8 · My Patterns / Tutorials
A catalog for the patterns and tutorials you've bought. Add each one with a photo of the finished piece, the designer or shop, and your own tags (bracelet, beginner, gifts…), then attach the PDF. Scroll the photos or tap a tag to find the one you want, and open its PDF in one tap. Link a pattern to a weave and a ring from My Rings, and it shows whether you have enough rings to make it. Everything stays on this device.
9 · Pricing
Cost out a finished piece from your ring count and material price, then apply wholesale and retail markups to land on a sale price.
10 · Estimator
Get a rough ring count before you start. Use Chain mode for a strand (by finished length) or Sheet mode for a flat panel (by width × height), then send the count straight to Pricing. If you coil your own rings, it also shows how much wire to coil: each ring takes one turn of the coil, about 3.14 × (ID + wire diameter), plus a little for the saw cut.
11 · Suppliers
Find rings, scales, supplies, tools, and tutorials. Each ring supplier shows its gauge system and the real wire thickness per gauge, because "18 gauge" can mean 1.0mm at one shop and 1.2mm at another. Use Same Gauge, Different Wire to compare before you buy.
12 · Backup
Your data is stored in this browser. Use Backup to export your rings, projects, patterns, designs and My Patterns / Tutorials to one file (tick Include My Patterns / Tutorials PDFs to bring the PDFs along too), then import it on another device or browser so nothing is lost.
Sources
Every aspect ratio in The Maillery traces back to a published source. Thank you to the maillers who share this work.
- Zlosk’s Aspect Ratio Table: the primary source for single-size weave AR ranges, using true (post-springback) ARs.
- Odins Eye Art (J.J. Sawicki): weave and AR reference used to add and cross-check weaves in the library.
- M.A.I.L. (Maille Artisans International League): the community weave library, used for AR values on added weaves (such as Roundmaille) and as a cross-check.
- Chainmaillers.com, including the CGMaille tutorials: AR ranges and community data for two-size weaves (Dragonscale, Helm, Celtic Visions and others).
- JD’s Tome of Weaves (Joshua Diliberto): used to confirm weaves that have video tutorials before adding them.
- Aussie Maille: AR and ring-size data, alongside M.A.I.L., for weaves added from the Tome of Weaves.
- Chainmailbasket.com: secondary reference for checking weave names and ARs.
Wire diameters come from the standard AWG table and the SWG sizes ring makers sell (14, 16, 18 and 20 SWG use the 2.0, 1.59, 1.2 and 0.9 mm vendors list), or the mm diameter you pick. Tutorial links in the Weave Library open a web search for that weave.
Weave AR ranges are weavers' rules of thumb, your tension and materials may shift them slightly.
The Maillery is built to work with screen readers (VoiceOver and TalkBack). Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest a feature or report a bug” link in the footer.
