Tailoring my maille.

[Sir Ulrich]

I decided it's time to tailor my new maille. I just used twist ties to start tailoring my maille by measuring it. Anyone got any suggestions on how to do it?


Thats how it measures out, should I just tie ONE arm and use the same measurements for the other one? I am starting to think I should do them separately but meh my folks have little patience for measuring it out for me despite me being unable to do it myself due to the fact I only have one arm.

[Sir Edward]

The main thing is to make sure you can still bend your arm OK. It looks about right to me though. I'd tie up the second one (you can base this on the measurements of the first one), and then double-check that you can still move. Sometimes when you bend an arm, it can pull the body over a little, so make sure you can bend both arms at the same time.

Once you're happy, you can work on it on a table in front of your TV. I'll help the time go by. You'll just cut the section out that you tied off. If you can, try to do the diagonal cut evenly. That is, you'll go straight for some number of rings (3 to 8 probably) between each row-change. Count how many rings vertically versus how many horizontally will need to come out, and try to divide it up evenly so you get as straight of a cut as you can.

Once you have the strip out from one arm, close that arm up with the new links, and try it on again before cutting/closing the second arm. If you've made a mistake, it's best to catch it now.

[Sir William]

I think you're onto something with the twist ties- I'd cut a row or two beneath the tie so that you have some room to work with, then you can start putting in your links and riveting them shut.  Just be sure that you have enough material left over so you can move your arms comfortably; get the full bend of your elbow so you can see how much you'll need- the ties at the inside of your elbow may pull apart but that'll be ok as you'll know it might have been too tight otherwise.  Do it a bit at a time and then try it on to make sure its a good fit.  Always err on the side of caution, so make it slightly bigger than you think you'll need.  You will want that extra room as you'll need to be able to get your arms and hands through it cleanly.

Ah, got ninja'd by Sir Edward. 

[Sir Edward]

I think you're onto something with the twist ties- I'd cut a row or two beneath the tie so that you have some room to work with, then you can start putting in your links and riveting them shut.  Just be sure that you have enough material left over so you can move your arms comfortably; get the full bend of your elbow so you can see how much you'll need- the ties at the inside of your elbow may pull apart but that'll be ok as you'll know it might have been too tight otherwise.  Do it a bit at a time and then try it on to make sure its a good fit.  Always err on the side of caution, so make it slightly bigger than you think you'll need.  You will want that extra room as you'll need to be able to get your arms and hands through it cleanly.

Ah, got ninja'd by Sir Edward. 

Good advice here, Sir William!

[Sir William]

Thank you, Sir- but I believe you said it more succinctly.

[Ian]

Looks good Sir Ulrich.  Twisty ties were a good idea.  Also, the armpit because of the diagonal cut and sewing is the hardest part, but remember, it's your armpit, so it will almost never be visible.  The armpit on my haubergeon got a little mangled, but unless you really look for it, you're never really going to see it, so don't worry if it's not perfect.  I didn't even bother riveting the rings to sew up the seam on my haubergeon.  I used the rings with rivet holes in them, but instead just took a needle-nose pliers and firmly compressed and gave a little twist to the rings where they would have been riveted.  It's not as strong as a rivet, but unless you get hit with a bodkin arrow in that link, it will hold! 

[Lord Dane]

Good method. I might try that on mine.

[Sir Ulrich]

Yeah, gonna do the next sleeve soon. Just got to get some help because I cant do it alone. Thankfully this maille is easier to put on than the other hauberk as it doesnt catch on my gambeson at all so it should be easy. Did cut my hand putting it on though cause I didnt have my hand in the mittens when I was putting it on. Just hope I can fix the armpit, that seems to be the hardest part to do.

[SirNathanQ]

You can take a look in the workshop section of this forum, I have a thread (though it's posted by Sir William) about this very subject. Since we even have the same product, I think it'll help you out.

[Sir Ulrich]

I honestly think I could do this if I had something to PUT inside on the arm with my gambeson over it. Like a mannequin arm or something. If my parents werent so anal about me asking ANY favors from them I would simply wear the maille and have them mark which rings to cut with a sharpie and I'd work from there, but thats not an option at the moment unless I end up pulling teeth from them as usual -_- and even then they'll prolly screw it up... Is there any way to construct something with my arm size and whatnot so I can stick it in my gambeson and simply put some pillows inside my gambeson slide the maille onto it and tailor it from there after of course putting something inside the arms to tailor them?

[Sir Ulrich]

Heres my custom tailored gambeson, over my maille hauberk. Thing I realized is the twisty tie measurements I made fit nearly the same as the gambeson over the maille hauberk. In theory if I cut using the gambeson as a guide it should work as a base to tailor my maille. I still think I should leave a little more room than the gambeson alone but it does give me a general idea on what to cut off and what to keep. Only issue I got is the armpits, I have no clue how to begin that at all. I am starting by using a red sharpie to mark what rings I am going to cut off then cut the rings one by one off the hauberk then seal it up with some rings I purchased from Hanwei. I need about 150 rings to do it and I got 500 useable ones and 500 solid ones that wont work at all.

So I built an "arm" out of foam old steel cans a paint roller and duct tape. I measured my arms with the gambeson on circumference of the largest points to the smallest and made the "arm" with the same circumferences.  Then I taped it together with using a pair of old steel beverage cans I had lying around my room and a paint roller my dad gave me, which acted as the "bones" with the foam as my flesh and gambeson. I plan to put it through the sleeves of the maille so I have a 3d way of tailoring the maille to know if it fits for sure. I am making it a little larger though so in case I dont remove too much.



Needless to say I hope this method works, I find it very hard if not impossible to tailor maille flat in a 2D fashion which stopped me from ever trying it in the past. I already marked all the rings I plan to cut out with a red sharpie. Tomorrow when my hands are less abrased and rubbed raw from fiddling with the maille I plan to cut and seal up the seam, I plan to do the same to the other arm as well. Still unsure if I should remove the twisty ties and just go with the measurements on the "arm" fully cause I dont have any on the other arm AT ALL, though it might be too late cause I already marked the rings.

[Sir William]

I honestly think I could do this if I had something to PUT inside on the arm with my gambeson over it. Like a mannequin arm or something. If my parents werent so anal about me asking ANY favors...

Ulrich, I notice that whenever you refer to your parents, it is usually in a derogatory fashion; I wonder if they get that 'vibe' from you when you speak to them.  As a parent, I can tell you this- if my kids approached me with that sort of attitude, my response would be pretty similar to your parents'.  Here's why- it probably isn't that they don't want to help you, it is probably the way you asked.  And if they tell you no, it helps not to have a bad attitude- I don't know you that well, but just from little I have observed, it sounds like you don't really appreciate your parents, despite being 20 years-plus old and still living at home.  They aren't there just to wait on you hand and foot- they're people too, man.  They have dreams and aspirations just like you do.  I'm willing to bet that if you were to show more courtesy, some appreciation of your parents, they in turn would probably be more willing to aid you in your endeavors.  I could be totally wrong, but I don't think I am.  A little food for thought, my friend.

[Sir Edward]

That's a really good point, Sir William. I think when I was growing up, I didn't realize how much my own approach was coloring how people treated me, including my own parents. It's easy to fall into the "angst-driven teenager" sort of thing.

Perception is everything.

[Sir James A]

I echo Sir William and Sir Edward's thoughts. Your dad was nice when I met him at DoK, let him know that he can't do anything that will break or mangle or make the mail unusable. It just might take more than one try - and if you get it on the first try, that's rare.

Cool idea on the arm.

[Sir William]

That's a really good point, Sir William. I think when I was growing up, I didn't realize how much my own approach was coloring how people treated me, including my own parents. It's easy to fall into the "angst-driven teenager" sort of thing.

Perception is everything.

Thanks; I had the same experiences as a kid.  I think all teens go through it, as a rite of passage if you will.  One thing that stuck with me, among all of the other things they've told me that have also stuck with me, is this:

"You may not like it now, but one day- you'll thank me."

Truer words were never spoken; can't tell you how many instances where my parents told me what the outcome would be but I just had to find out for myself.  Hard knocks indeed.

Having grown up and having had kids of my own, I truly appreciate the sacrifices, the advice- everything they did to give me all of the tools I'd need to succeed on my own.  Amazing how I'll run into a situation and something they'd told me as a youth turns out to be prophetic.

So much so, that even now, at 40, I'll still ask them about things I'm unsure of just because my experience has been that not only do they know, but will often have a bit of wisdom to impart that will ultimately make whatever it is go easier.