Great work ... I also need to make a chainmail for my little friend.
How many rings did you need in total?
Tried to check on my eBay orders and it’s dropped off my history as it was a while ago, off the top of my head it I think it was about 4000 with 1/2 pack left over, I used 6mm rings in packs 500 for about £2 each, I needed to make three separate orders as it took much more rings than than I thought it would starting out. It was a fun cheap project but time consuming, I’d definitely recommend doing it in front of the tv.
I posted links to the tutorials I used at the bottom of page 5, it’s basically the same as full size chainmail just using smaller rings.
All you really need are 2 pairs of curved pliers for opening and closing the rings. And it helps to have a metal rod and some clips and thread to hold things in place when it gets a bit larger. The most fiddly and annoying part was joining the seems and the armpits.
Do keep a close eye that you don’t miss a ring or add an extra one, or have it in the wrong direction as i did multiple times a it can be hard to spot and a pain to go back and take it out and put a new ring in.
Doing row by row is easier than trying to join rows of 3 imo, once you’ve done a few rows you’ll get the hang of it really quickly.
Just make 2 big rectangles extend up for the shoulder and the join the side like a tank top, then fill in the neck and build the sleeves out.
