Making maille mittens

[Sir Ulrich]

Anyone got any suggestions on how to do this? I kinda want the type that could open up easily so I dun gotta take them off all the time. I WAS going to get the GDFB ones but it appears they're probably lower quality. So I figure I'll just buy some rings and a riveting tool and make my own, shouldn't take TOO long as it isn't a full hauberk and I doubt I need to tailor them TOO much... Part I am most concerned about is attaching them to the leather.

[Sir Wolf]

ok. get a nice fitting mitten.
make a rectangle mail piece and lay it over the mitten
sew it on and take off the excess.
attach only the mail to the back of the hand to the hauberk. this way you can take off the mittens and let them hang still

[Sir Rodney]

I would purchase the GDFB riveted mail mittens, keep the mail and toss the mittens.  Buy a good pair of (unlined) deer skin choppers and sew on the mail yourself.  Use a good quality thick thread or the synthetic thread sold at Tandy and the like.

[Sir Wolf]

ya i have a pair. you can go back in the armoury and find my thread on revamping these. there not bad for teh mail, but way big and the thumb is on the side, so you will need to cut the mail off there for sure. I used black rebar wire (18 guage) for attaching the mail to my hauberk. you can't tell that they are butted rings

[Sir James A]

I've seen period artwork that showed the mittens as having a leather palm and a "slit" down them so that the hand could be slid out. I think all of those were attached to a mail sleeve, so I'm not sure how relevant that would be to what you're putting together. If you aren't doing mail cuffs, it should be quick and easy.

I got my mail riviting pliers from Jeffrey Hedgecock at Historic Enterprises, and my rings and rivits from Duke Icefalcon; though the rings have been on backorder about 3 months now.

[Sir Ulrich]

I think once my hauberk arrives I'm gonna make some detachable mittens for it out of the GDFB maille rings and whatnot as they seem to be really cheap and whatnot. I got some experience making butted maille a long while back so I think mittens would be relatively simple to make.

[Sir Brian]

I preferred using a couple of 1’ X 1’ sheets of maille from the Ring Lord. It took me 3 days to trim and stitch the maille to the gloves (not to mention skewering myself about 100 times) but I liked how they turned out. Mittens should be a lot easier to cut out and actually involving less stitching. 

http://theringlord.com/cart/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=95&cat=Sheets+of+Chainmail&websess=60704574078122

[Sir Ulrich]

Nice gloves they don't look too complicated to make apart from repetitive sewing. I still don't know where I can find leather mittens to fit me. I don't wanna use something like an oven mitt cause that won't fit too well. Maybe I would be better off using cloth instead because it's probably easier to hand sew.

[Sir Brian]

I don't think making a mitten out of leather would be all that hard. There is lots of wiggle room in comparison to gloves! 

[Sir Matthew]

I got some rivited mail swatches from Therion Arms a few weeks ago and now I just need to get some mittens to sew them onto. I'm not really having an easy time finding anything unlined and leather that fits the bill, so I may actually wind up getting some heavy leather and making my own mittens to sew the swatches onto. Currently I'm busy making my heavy padded armor and a new gambeson and arming cap. I'll try to remember to update my progress once I get this underway.

[Sir Rodney]

In my part of the country, the local fleet & farm store carries deerskin chopper shells intended for you to slip in whatever liner you want depending on the temperature outside.  I buy the shells one size smaller than my glove size and it seems to work perfectly.  Do you have a Fleet Farm or Tractor Supply near you?

[Sir Ulrich]

http://www.gemplers.com/product/125718/Kinco-Leather-Mittens-Cowhide-Insulated
Think work gloves or whatever are the way to go with mittens or whatever. The GDFB ones have this side thumb thing that I cant stand, the thumb should be at the bottom not the side, otherwise it stretches and hurts my hand.

[Sir Matthew]

Yeah, I didn't like the look of the GDFB mittens. I checked Tractor Supply and the choppers they had were insulated, which I didn't really want. Maybe I'll have to check again.

[Sir Ulrich]

I think I'm going to make it with the 6 in one pattern for maille. Want it to be a bit more ridged and thicker cause it would protect better. Now to find a suitable pair of leather mittens as the first step.

[Sir Wolf]

when i was at the tractor supply i bought a pair of leather  type mittens that were lined. i pulled the lining out and resewed them to be smaller to fit. i just never got around to putting the mail on them