A trombone, a smile and a chainmaille tie

One of the greatest things about this little job of mine is that I constantly get in touch with some great, interesting people from around the world.
This is the story about one custom order.

Some time ago, I was approached via Facebook by a nice, smiley guy who was interested in a chainmaille tie I had. Only, it was too wide for him, he wanted a skinny tie, so we agreed that I make one for him. He knew exactly what he wants, he had all the dimensions ready, everything. I was a bit doubtfull because he wanted a 3cm (appx 1.2") tie, I mean, it's not a skinny tie, it's a starved-to-death tie :) But Paul simply had a perfect picture of it in his head and I, honestly, didn't.

So, that order started in a kinda weird way - like there was his mind and my hands. And I relied to that.

Making a tie is a lot of work, comparing with jewelry pieces. Especially because I like to use thinner wire and small rings so the sheet turns out soft and sleeky like fabric. And I like to make a 'real' knot, using separate piece of sheet. Paul's tie took almost 25m of wire, hand coiled, hand cut and hand woven. And here is how it turned out.

During our communication, he told me that he is a musician, a trombonist. And I like trombone, brass instruments in general. They are very popular in my country, it's a whole different genre based on brass orchestras, but that's something I can easily relate. So, I was working and listening Paul's Youtube channel and that helped me to see more clearly what is on his mind about the tie. And I heard trombone in some other genres except jazz and that local style I mentioned. I loved how this very talented and creative musician experiments in different directions and explores the wide application of his instrument. It is so good when you learn something new, so unexpectedly!
Here, check it out yourselves!

Paul was so nice to send me a picture with his tie and I'm proud to publish it here. A trombone, a smile and a chainmaille tie :)
And how on Earth I can not to love this little job of mine when the world is full of such smile-bringers!

I warmly recommend his Youtube Channel if you want to see some more of his work. And here is Paul's Facebook Fan Page, too.
Paul, thanks for everything ;)

P.S. For all interested, I hope I will have a tie available for the Handmade Monday sale. If not, count on a Black Friday ;)