Blackmaille57

BLACKMAILLE
Part 57 - FSMG Project: Tailoring a Maille Hauberk, Part 2
by Lord Thomas the Black

BLACKMAILLE

FSMG Project: Tailoring a Maille Hauberk, Pt. 2

Welcome back to another edition of Blackmaille!

Last month, we began our saga of tailoring a hauberk for a respected Knight of Calontir. This month, our tale continues...

So, Louis' birthday rolled around, and we knew our client was going to be there, so I dragged over the shirt for a fitting.

He tried on the hauberk, pulled it closed, and it was too tight. He'd bulked up a little since last fitting. The armpits were too close, and the hauberk pulled tight across his back when the arms were brought forward. Also, he's a left-handed fighter, so the "Ave Maria" ring was in the wrong place (we'll ignore the fact that it's wrong for his persona in the first place, it's a trademark of mine!).

Not only that, but the deadline had been moved from Pennsic (August) to Lillies' War (June)! Whee! I love deadlines. I like the "Whooosh" sound they make when they go by.

Anyway, it was back to the workshop for the Forgotten Sea Maille Guild...

Because the back was too tight, a row of rings down the middle of the back were removed, and the remaining tasks were divided between the left half and the right half.

Fig. 1 Fig. 2

The first step to be done on the right side was to expand the back. This involved building a strip of maille 4 BU wide, and the length of the hauberk. Sine the back was "opened" starting at the horseman's slit, a "keeper ring" was placed there to mark where the slit started, as it would need to be moved over by two rows.

Fig. 3 Fig. 4

The next work for the right side was to expand the armpit a little. This proved somewhat easier than originally feared. Since the rings lined up perfectly the first time, there was no need to undo that seam to put in a gusset. All that was necessary was to remove @ 4" worth of rings in a straight line above and below the seam (Fig. 5), then expand each axis, joining the individual expansions in the middle (Fig. 6). This was to be repeated on the left side as well.

Fig. 5 Fig. 6

To ensure that the arms fit right (as the back expansion would move them forward slightly), an additional row of maille was added to the front of both sides, and a case of "maille moths" was fixed on the left side.

Fig. 7 Fig. 8

Finally, the "Ave Maria" ring was added to the left armpit, and the two sides were joined back together.

Fig. 9 Fig. 10

The very last thing I did was to begin attaching the 6-in-1 collar. Starting on the left side and working my way around, I used a slightly different attachment method than that described in Blackmaille #27 (Fig. 11). This allowed the 6-in-1 to join with the 4-in-1 without either binding up the 6-in-1 or requiring expansion of the 4-in-1. The 6-in-1 strip was then lengthened to fit the new expansions (Fig. 12).

Fig. 11 Fig. 12

Now the shirt was finished, and ready for a final fitting before the plates are attached.

So ends part 2. Join us next month for the conclusion, wherein we fit our client again, and attach the plates down the front. Until then, thanks for joining us for another month of Blackmaille! As usual, and questions, comments, hate mail, or fan mail can be sent to us at:

            Blackmaille
                        c/o Tom Beckett
                        13628 Belmead Ave
                        Grandview, MO 64030

Or you can email them to me at: tbeckett1@kc.rr.com

See you next month!

Back to the Blackmaille Webpage

Back to the Cúm an Iolair Information Webpage