Making Sleeves For Mail Armor

Tailoring chainmail sleeves can massively improve the armour’s overall weight, mobility, and speed. Ideally, the mail should fit tightly around the arms and have no room to swing. At the same time, the joints need to be larger to allow full bending. Therefore a triangle-shaped pocket can be inserted at the elbow.

Mail sleeve as shown in the Wallace Collection A13, 16th century
Mail sleeve with triangle shaped pocket attached to the left side

For tapering the arm a stripe of mail can be inserted to create two smooth-looking seams instead of one. Either way it’s best to place the seam at the bottom or lower backside of the armpit. Alternatively, expansion rings can be distributed evenly around the sleeve.

Upper arm parts before connecting
Tapered upper arm with two seams

Now there is also a more detailed article about the six different types of elbow tailoring. You can get the article here:

Chainmail Elbow Tailoring
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