Fitting maille to the upper arms/elbows - Otto von Orlamunde

[Sigismund von Helfenstein]

I've been playing around with the fit of my hauberk, using straps to tighten and fit it properly across the torso. Unfortunately, being an completely untailored GDFB hauberk, the arms are merely a pair of long, wide tubes extending from the shoulders.

I'd very much like to achieve the sort of fit that our friend in this effigy has on his upper arms and elbow, how it seems well fit along the arm and flares out at the elbow.

http://effigiesandbrasses.com/monuments ... 194/large/

So far, my plans are to cut the sleeve to the appropriate length and then fit it to my arm by cutting out small portions and using lace to tighten it until it fits to my arm, but how to achieve the elbow flare?

Any assistance, suggestions or comments are welcome. I have never worked with maille prior to this so no tip is too basic.

[wcallen]

Mail should be fit the same way you would tailor knitting - by adding or subtracting rings appropriately.

I just marked my shirt so you can see how it is tailored over the back:

http://www.allenantiques.com/M-14.html

A mail sleeve would start by being tailored the way these sleeves are:

http://www.allenantiques.com/M-15.html
http://www.allenantiques.com/M-16.html

If you want a cool flair at the elbow, then you just need to do what people do in an aventail - add rings so that the mail grows row by row.


Wade

[Ernst]

Do the rows on your GDFB sleeve run in the same direction as the effigy, or do they run the typical length of the sleeve? Two entirely different tailoring techniques are required.

[Sigismund von Helfenstein]

Do the rows on your GDFB sleeve run in the same direction as the effigy, or do they run the typical length of the sleeve? Two entirely different tailoring techniques are required.

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh26 ... G_0679.jpg

Pictured here.

The weave doesn't change at all between the main body and the arm, it just tubes off at the shoulder.

[Ernst]

As I suspected. See the sections on row contraction and row expansion:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/trevor.bar ... tm#sect3-1

[mattmaus]

Not sure about the mail...

But I got a sweet pair of knees I made a guy based on this effigy, and then he changed his mind. I could turn 'em loose pretty cheap if you wanted.