I thought you might want to see how I start a chained earring or pendant like the Mary Anne. First I gather all of my tools: thread, shuttle, and a small hook. I already have one earring finished, so I added it to the photo too. Now you know what I’m making. 🙂

First, I pull out a good loop of thread, and make one stitch off of the ball. This is counter-intuitive to what most tatters are taught. I know I never considered starting a chain without first making a ring, but this method works well. I am probably not the first person to have thought of this either, but I wanted to share how I build a coiled chain.



Then I work a few stitches (in this case 2 stitches, a picot, 2 stitches). Now I’m ready to close that open ring and start coiling my chain.

I slide my shuttle through the ring.

And start to pull it tight. I hold my first and last stitch together and pull until the coil is nice and tight. Then I keep stitching.

Here you can see my little coil and how I’ve placed a picot every 2-3 stitches in my chain. Now I’m to the point where I need to join my chain to a previous picot. I use my hook to grab the thread and pull it through.

Then I keep building my coil.

I continue to place picots every 2-3 stitches and join as the chain nears a new picot.

Once it starts to coil more it is easier to hold.

Finally, when the coil is large enough, I start to join without creating any more picots. This creates the smooth edge on the earring.

There you are. Now you can see a pair of Mary Anne earrings AND you know how I make them.

This pair will be finished and posted to Etsy soon.