Introduction: Hacky Sack / Juggle Ball Chain Maille, Mail, Maile, Male
This is my attempt to show an easy way to make a hacky sack / juggle ball. I thought this was an easier way untill I started taking pictures and trying to expain how I did each step.
SSooooo here it goes..... any questions plaese ask.
Materials:
177 rings , I am using Aluminum rings that are 16 ga. 5/16 diam.
two pair of pliers
flat space to work, The rings will try to run away! !!!
Step 1: Getting Started.....
First thing is to close 5 rings and put them onto on ring.
The center ring is your first row. It is made up of one ring...
The five rings you added are the second row. made up of five rings....
Make two sets of these.....
It is critical at this step to have the second row of rings to lay in opposite directions, one clockwise, one counter -clockwise.
If you dont start these of in oposite directions you will end up with two "top" sections.
To start your third row you will need ten rings,
Take and open all ten rings,
take your first ring and place it through to rings of the second row.
Close the ring.
Take another ring and place it through two rings of the second row, one of them is one from the first ring you put in. I hope the picture will help explain this... Make sure you are keeping to your clock-wise, or counter clock-wise direction!!.
Close the ring.
Take third ring of third row and place it through two rings of the second row.. again one of them from the prievious set. see picture.
Close ring.
Add fourth ring in the same manner.....
For the 5th ring it may be easier to place something through the center ring and let the rings "lay" around it. Like a pair of needle nose pliers or forseps like I use.
NOW... for the expansion rings, (the other five rings in this row), You will place them in-between the five rings you just put in, BUT they will only connect to one ring...... See picture....add all five remaining rings( one expansion ring between each of the first five rings) in this manner... you should end up with ten rings in the third row.....
Step 2: Fourth Row.....here We Go Again.....
For the fourth row you will use 15 rings, go ahead and open all of them,
Like before... take an open ring and place it through two rings from the third row.
Work your way around the piece, you will use your first ten rings doing this....
If you lay the piece flat on your work area, you should notice that the rings lay out with two rings together and then a small gap, then two rings together, then a small gap, all the way around....Check out the first picture,...
Take the remaining five rings, ( expansion rings) and place them at the gaps, See second picture....making a total of 15 rings for your fourth row.
You can notice a Pentagon shape starting to come out....
Step 3: 5th Row....and 6th Row .....
5th row will be 20 rings, go ahead and open them all.....
Like before, place one open ring through two rings from prievious row.
Go all the way around, it should take you 15 rings,
Lay the piece flat again, and you should see that there are gaps between every third ring.....see picture.....
Add your five expansion rings at the gaps, like before. 5th row should end with 20 rings.....
6th row will have a total of 25 rings, place first 20 rings onto row five, same method as before,
This time you should end with a gap between each 4th ring....See picture.....
Add the five expansion rings, to make a total of 25 rings in the 6th row.
Now you should be able to clearly see a pentagon shape......
take and complete your second half if you didnt do them at the same time.....REMEMBER !!! they have to lay in oposite directions!!
Step 4: Putting the Two Halves Together....
Take the two Halves and lay them on your work surface...
the first two pictures are close-up of the centers, each should "lay" in oposite direction.
If your halves are correct.... you should be able to line-up one edge of each pentagon....see picture......
To "sew" the two halves together, you will need 25 rings.
Start at the bottom of the two edges you have lined-up, place one ring through two rings of each side, this will create the standard 4-in-1 pattern. Close ring.
Take next ring and place it through two rings from each side, Making sure the bottom two are the top two from prievios set... see picture....I hope these pictures are clearing up any confusion.......
You will notice, when you get to a "corner" of the pentagon, the halves will "bunch-up"... I find that if I hold the piece in my hands while inserting the next ring, it will help keep the rings aligned.
If you make a mistake and only catch 3 rings at a time, or if you catch 5 rings at a time, you will notice it at the end, and often you will need to un-do your work back to the point where you made the mistake. After doing this several times you will see how impotant it is to keep to the pattern.......
You will work your way around the two halves till you get with-in 4 or 5 rings of being closed..........
Step 5: Stuff It and Close It.....
If you wish this is the time to add stuffing to your hacky sack / juggle ball.
I use a piece of felt approx. 8" X 8".
insert stuffing through hole, I use forseps to assist,
Hold opening closed and finish "sewing" up the ball.
If you hold the ball and look at the center,,, you should be able to still see the pentagon shape around the edges.
