Thursday, January 23, 2014

Sleeve Discovery While Unsewing!

As an avid reader of Fashion Incubator, I really wasn't all that surprised to see that the shape of the sleeve cap in my deconstructed RTW blouse was VASTLY different from those in home sewing patterns.

In the first photo below I have laid out the sleeve with the point of the scissors pointing to the mark where the sleeve joins the bodice at the shoulder seam. The front of the sleeve is to the right.

Notice the difference in the shaping of the sleeve cap--it is not symmetrical like we find in the commercial patterns.

 
In the second photo, I have folded the sleeve in half at the shoulder on grain. The portion in the background is the back part of the sleeve, and the portion in the front fits into the front of the armhole. Enlarge this to see just how huge the difference in shaping here really is.
 
When worn, this sleeve was just a standard short sleeve with only slight shaping at the lower edge, identical to normal short sleeves. This was not a fancy sleeve design, so I am surmising that this is probably a standard sleeve shape found in ready to wear. I find this very interesting.

No sewing has happened yet today, but a large amount of housework has been accomplished. I am clearing the decks for Vogue 1312 and am determined to cut out and construct the bodice ASAP. I spent the morning taking a cat to the vet and kissed Romeo goodbye as I left him overnight. His Romeo roaming days are now over....

Thanks for stopping by and if you have any comments on the sleeve I'd love for you to share!

1 comment:

Juliet said...

I have seen sleeve patterns like this, but never really thought too much about it. From what I understand though it's to give your arms freer forward motion - we move our arms in front of us more than we do behind us, and we all know how frustrating a restricting sleeve is!
But on a personal level, is your kitty ok??