Sleeves On Saturdays

An amazing thing has happened, it's Saturday and I'm back with a sleeve post!!! Hopefully it's a sign that I'm finally getting back on track.

The sleeve I'm sharing today is a 

Square Shoulder Raglan Sleeve

Rather than the soft, roundness of a typical raglan sleeve, this shoulder gives a squared appreance and yet gives the ease of sewing a typical raglan sleeve.

This sleeve would work well as an accent piece, especially with stripes as the stripes would miter nicely on top of the shoulder.  

To draft the sleeve, begin by referring to the instructions I gave for drafting a raglan sleeve. You can find those here, http://rhondabuss.blogspot.com/2012/10/sleeves-on-saturdays.html.
Once you have drafted the raglan sleeve, this project will go very quickly.
Begin with the raglan sleeve draft.

The dotted lines in the picture below represent the original sleeve. The top of the original sleeve is a guide line for where the slash lines will begin on either side of the sleeve. Notice that the lines are not straight across. They should be at an angle. If they are straight across, once the lines are cut and spread, and the tuck is sewn in, the lines will meet at an angle which we do not want. We want a nice square across the top of the arm.  

To determine the angle of the lines, draw a straight line across the sleeve. Measure down on either side 1 1/2". Connect the angled line back to the straight line.

 Cut on the slash lines and spread 2".

 Fold in the slashed area.

 The final pattern.

Notice that the seam line does not go to the side seam of the sleeve.

The red lines represent the shortened darts. On the front of the sleeve, the dart will end approximately 2 1/2" from the raglan seam, and on the back, the dart will end approximately 1" from the raglan seam. I say approximately because the slope of the top of the arm is different from one person to another. So try the garment on and adjust the fit of the dart. 

That's it!
Hope your weekend is off to a great start!
Rhonda