Selective Focus: Emma Warmanen’s Chain-mail Accessories

Duluthians who attended the Dollhaus event this past June, or wandered to a punk or clown-themed show in the area, may have spotted one of Emma Warmanen’s chain mail pieces. What started as a project to create budget-friendly chain-mail pieces for herself turned into a practice of crafting additional pieces for fashion shows, local artists and selling to customers in large cities from her Etsy page. Read more about Warmanen’s designs and process in the interview below.

How would you describe your medium and the materials you work with? What appeals to you about working with or creating chain mail pieces?

My medium when making chain mail is primarily aluminum. While it’s possible to make my own jump rings (the individual rings used in chain mail), I prefer the convenience of buying in bulk from a small business located in the Twin Cities. As far as my tools, I have been using the same old $2 jewelry pliers since the beginning. They’ve opened and closed at least 20,000 jump rings at this point. The springs are loose, and they’re a little worse for wear — but they’re my tried and true. I’d say the biggest medium of making chain mail is the time. On my latest piece, for example, it takes about 15 minutes to add one row of rings and I’ve got about 50 rows to go. I think that when it comes to making chain mail, the amount of time it takes can be daunting for some people. For me, it is the appeal. The steady open-close rhythm of making my pieces allows my mind to go quiet. No racing thoughts about the day to day — just open close open close open close.

Is there anything that’s challenging about working with this medium?

There are many! Maintaining focus for long periods of time being one of them. It can sometimes be difficult to put an hour or more into a piece and see barely any progress or movement. Additionally, there are still a couple different weave patterns I am really struggling to figure out how to make! It’s essentially crocheting with metal; one wrong ring slightly off will throw off the entire piece. In that scenario, trying to figure out which little ring is off in the sea of identical rings can be very tricky. Sometimes you’ll have to re-do a bunch of other rings after finding the faulty one. Another struggle is sizing, as chain mail doesn’t exactly stretch. Sometimes while making neck pieces or necklaces, the top row of rings will droop over. To fix that, you have to connect a bunch of smaller rings to the bigger top row — and let me tell you that is very tedious work. I think that part in particular is the most frustrating part of making chain mail for me.

Do you work with any other artistic mediums?

I do! While I certainly spend the most time making chain mail, I also love to draw and paint. I do not do either of which nearly as much as I should, or as much as I’d like to. I also occasionally enjoy cutting up different clothing articles and adding as many safety pins and charms as possible.

How long have you been crafting these designs?

I started making chain mail in the fall of 2024. The whole reason I started making it in the first place was because I went over to Etsy to buy myself some jewelry and saw the cost. I think chain mail is outrageously expensive. I mean, being someone who makes chain mail myself, I can absolutely see why. You’re definitely paying for someone’s time when you purchase chain mail. That said, I like to charge my pieces on the low end because I want my pieces to be accessible, and because I work primarily with aluminum which is a cheaper material than stainless steel.

What appeals to you about creating these types of pieces?

The appeal of making chain-mail pieces to me is the satisfaction of watching nothing turn into something. I start every piece by staring at a pile of metal rings, and end it by staring at a shiny new pretty necklace/bracelet/accessory/ etc. I take a lot of pride in what I make, because I know it’s well made. Additionally, the repetitiveness of my craft while also requiring focus is relaxing.

Are there any places that you draw inspiration from while creating designs and putting these together?

I take a lot of inspiration from Pinterest and other social-media platforms. I also like to look at different aspects of fashion and think to myself, “what if this was made of chain mail” and go from there. The different ways you can style a pattern of chains is remarkable.

Where are some of the places that your pieces have ended up? Have they been used in performances, or by other artists in interesting locations or settings?

Most of my pieces are floating around Duluth and the Twin Cities. Once I opened up my Etsy, (which I need to get better at posting on) I’ve since had pieces go to New York City, Hollywood and Los Angeles. I’ve been in touch with a couple of local bands about making them all matching chain-mail sets — but that’s yet to be set in stone! Several of my pieces also walked the runway at the latest Dollhaus wearable art show!

Approximately how long does it take you to assemble a chain-mail necklace or headpiece? What piece was the largest, or took you the longest amount of time to create?

The longest I’ve spent on a piece was 16 hours for when I made my first bikini top. The first ever headpiece I made took me 11 hours, and had 30 feet of chain attached to it. Necklaces vary depending on the weave, but on average take three hours.

What has been one of your favorite interactions with someone who has bought one of your creations?

I love seeing my pieces out and about. The first headpiece I made I gave to the customer while we were both at a house show. They put the piece on, and didn’t take it off. I watched about 10 people approach them and compliment them on it. Another time, I made a jester-style collar for someone, and they told me they were never going to take it off. Since then, I’ve seen many a post of them wearing it. I love delivering pieces to folks and seeing their excitement and smiles.

Are there designs that are your favorite to continue to recreate?

My tried and true is the European 4-in-1 weave. When you think of chain mail, that is probably what you picture. I also frequent the Byzantine chain pattern. Those are my two go-to weaves.

Is there anything else that you’d like to share?

When looking for chain mail online, I would avoid purchasing from fashion websites. A lot of the time it is machine made and not real chain mail. When I make my pieces, I take great caution to close every single ring as closely as I can so that it will not catch on hair or clothing. I have found some chain-mail pieces while thrifting from sites like Dollskill and Killstar that had loosely closed rings and were likely machine made. You will also never see me using supplies purchased from Hobby Lobby.

To view more of Warmanen’s work, visit her Etsy or @Wenchmail on Instagram.