Thread: Taming the chainmail coin bra & belt

So, I just bought a coin bra and belt set from Dahlal, which I like very much. Here's a link to the photo: https://www.dahlal.com/default.aspx?n=1&c=1&s1=1272&s2=0

However, it tangles quite easily and came with no instructions as to where to hook the bra in back so that it doesn't slide down/move about, etc. And the placement of the hooks just leaves me scratching my head, period.

Since the student shows or haflas where I get invited to dance often have very small cramped (& crowded) changing rooms (i.e. a tiny bathroom or just a small curtained, poorly lighted area) and the time to change is very limited, I'm wondering if I should just permanently anchor this set to a bra and maybe a grossgrain ribbon for the belt to keep it from getting impossibly tangled?

Would you just tack this onto a bra and or ribbon? The coins are fairly light, but since there are so many of them, there is a bit of weight to the whole thing. Also, it came with a few of the jump rings having worked loose, and chains disconnected. Since I recently took some jewelry making classes, I had jewelry pliers and just reconnected them....but I'm wondering, do you think I should go over the whole thing and tighten all the jump rings? There are quite a lot of coins on there, it would be very time consuming.
How do you all deal with these things?
Advice?

yup - I'd sew it onto some thing else.
You'll be much happier in the end and costume changes will be sooo much quicker without having to re-adjust every time.

you're talking about the Antique Gypsy set right?
I have one of these.... i think my top is exactly the same actually... didn't get if from dahlal, but hey, that's funny :D
a lot of girls in my class have a coin set. they're really good, honestly. but none of us ever had any issues with jump rings coming loose or anything... hmmm..

ok, so firt things first. YES wear a bra under it!!! 1) because metal is coooooooooooooold when you first put it on, and second because, cold = perky nipples trying to get out through one of those little holes lol. NOT the kind of thing you'd want to realise by looking at a photo of yourself.

belt: you should have no trouble wearing this, if it's the same kind as i've always seen. hook the big hooks into the main chain (the big one that runs on the top of the belt). Be careful!!! that there aren't any sharp bits on any of the coin. i've had one belt that kept catching on my silky skirt, not happy! :(
to put away without tangling:
lay it flat, on a towel or something. fold the ends back over the belt a couple inches and hook the hooks into the belt's main chain (so the hooks don't catch in anything else). fold/roll the towel up, and voila! next time you wanna use your belt, unfold/unroll, no tangledness guaranteed :)

bra:
you can either safety pin the coin bra to your fabric bra, or sew it (stitch in and out of the chain, all along the main chains: shoulder straps, back strap, on all 3 sides of the boob triangle...)
The hooks, there are several systems of closure, so i can't explain exactly how to do it.
the easiest is probably to get someone to help you:
hold the cups at the right place. ask friend to see how the back chain needs to be hooked in order for there to be no movement either at the shoulder area, or in the backstrap area. both need to be secure. (use big safety pins if you need to. in the same color as the coin set, they won't be visible). Though honestly, if you're not sure how to work this, your best bet is to sew it to a bra. saves a lot of hassle :)

were it mine, I would mount it on a bra and properly replace the straps with gros grain ribbon straps. The belt would be mounted on a piece of fabric.

Hmmm. . .

Now that I have a digital camera, I may just have to do an on line tutorial on how to do this!

{{{HUGS}}}

Hi Enzina. I don't have the model you're referring to, but I do have some experience with chainmail. Anything that is held by metal rings will come loose at the anchor points, or stress points. Going over them every now and then with pliers is a good idea. ALso, the rings will tend to catch on stuff and scratch more if the ring is cut 90 deg. Since going over each ring with a Dremmel to re-cut at 45 degrees is probably (just probably *wink*) not an option, here are some suggestions. 1- get some galvanized thread at your local hardware store in a similar gauge or heavier than what your rings are made off. Roll around a dowel from one end to the other (don't use a pencil, the wood is too soft and after a while your rings will get smaller). Slip off the "spring" thus formed and cut each ring at 45 degrees with cutters or a Dremmel. Use these rings to reinforce the stress points (near hooks, near connecting pieces, etc...) If you do it from the back, it shouldn't show too much.

2- use felt to back your belt. The thicker material will help with the scratchiness and "pokiness". I'd recommend using felt in the same color as your skirt or pants, or covering the felt with the same material as your skirt. For the bra, use skin colored felt or use same color as your bra/top. The thing is, the rings will keep poking and catching on the fabric of your bra, so if you just cover a bra, you might have issues down the line if you wear this often. One option, to keep the set versatile, would be to line both pieces in black felt, or whatever color costume you wear most.

I like felt and velvet the most to do this, bc they work the best to keep all those pointy rings from poking your tender bits. (If using velvet, the stretchy kind is usually not thick enough, the non stretchy kind works better but YMMV, of course.)

HTHS,

Kem

I've had an antique gypsy set for years. I'm selling mine now becuase the bra I attached it too is just too small now =( BUT

Attaching it to a bra that ties at the back and neck, or a cross strap with D rings worked well for me. ANd that also kept it fron getting tangled.

The belt, I essentially wrap it in tissue paper now and then fold it and place it in a zip lock bag.

And always carry jewelry pliers with me.

One side note, when you lose a coin, put it back on with a split ring as opposed to a regular jump ring.

{{{HUGS}}}