Sleeves On Saturdays

So sorry about being so late today. I bought a beautiful piece of fabric while I was in Seattle to make pillow covers for my sofa. What I thought was going to be a make it in a minute project turned into, I must confess, hours. First of all, I missed calculated on the fabric, so I didn't have enough to cut the front and the back from the same fabric. Okay, make it work, I tried a number of possibilities and then I remember two pieces of beautiful vintage ribbon that a friend had given me. I have searched and searched and searched and I have yet to find the ribbon. It's here, just where??? So, no ribbon and no new pillows. I did find a few things that I had forgotten about and can use, so all is not lost. After my meltdown over my computer issues this week, I am trying to find the positive in all things ;) I said trying!
Today's  post was a request. First of all, my apologies. Too often I assume far more than I should and I rarely explain how to put together the sleeves that I draft for you. It was requested that I explain how to put together the square shoulder sleeve

that I posted here, http://rhondabuss.blogspot.com/2012/05/sleeves-on-saturdays.html.

I decided to begin with this pattern. I could really use a spring summer robe. Look below at the back of the pattern. The long version is called a housecoat, the shorter version is called a brunch coat. I thought that was rather amusing!

I'm using this cotton seersucker fabric. The cotton will be cool in the summer and the seersucker means no ironing. Score!!!

I started with the sleeve from the pattern.

 The sleeve pattern was traced onto a piece of paper.

I removed the seam allowance from the sleeve head and drafted the extensions as directed here, http://rhondabuss.blogspot.com/2012/05/sleeves-on-saturdays.html

Now that the extensions have been drafted, it's time to start adding back the seam allowances. My pattern has 5/8" seam allowances for the armholes, so I added this back to the armhole area.

I added 1/4" seam allowances to the top of the extension. There is no need for a larger seam allowance.

 The top portion of the sleeve will also have a 1/4" seam allowance.

 The seam allowances have all been added and the pattern has been cut out.

 The sleeve has been cut out of the fabric.

 Fold the sleeve in half and match the 2 extensions. Sew together with a 1/4" seam allowance.

Below you can see the sewn 1/4" seam allowance and the notch I made at the center of my sleeve cap.

 Match the center of the seam to the notch.

 Remember that you are sewing a straight edge to a curved edge, so some clipping is in order. Just be careful that you make very small clips since you only have  1/4" seam allowance.

 The extension has been sewn to the cap of the sleeve.

 Looking down on the top of the sleeve.

The extension has been sewn and now we have a nice squared extension to the sleeve. 

Now I need to cut the rest of the "housecoat" and sew it up!
Hope this helps. If there is another sleeve that you would like to see more in depth, please let me know and I will be happy to take it step by step. 

Thrifty Thursday

Yes, I know that it isn't Thursday. It has not been a very happy few days. When I opened my computer on Tuesday, it locked up, just froze. So it's off to the repair shop because of course, I have no earthly idea what is wrong with it. My laptop didn't have Word for writing documents. Everyone had said that it wasn't an issue to download and install. Great. So my husband purchased it and I tried to install it Wednesday night. No luck. The laptop took a ride to the computer store and rather than going into a lengthy explanation, I lost everything on the computer and that resulted in me having a meltdown, truly. At least I have saved some things to Dropbox. Now it's just a matter of figuring out how to get back into my account. In conclusion, I now have a brand new laptop. Computers, such a love hate relationship. I saw a piece on the news a few days ago about aggression in the work place. A hidden camera caught one man taking a bat to a computer, I can relate!
Time to just move on and I do have something very sweet and nice to share with you although I am a day late.

It's the Polly Top from By Hand London. I was initially attracted to the pattern, well, first of all because it is free, but I really liked the idea that it had been drafted for woven fabrics. Being able to wear a cool and comfortable little cotton top in the summer is always a plus in my book. If you have followed my blog for some time, you know that I don't make a lot of muslins, unless I'm using a very expensive piece of fabric. I measure the pattern and decide the size that will be best and then it is cut and go. I typically don't have a lot of fitting issues and if I do, it's usually because it's a poorly drafted pattern. I was very pleased with this pattern.

At first I thought that the center style lines were only style lines, but once I saw the pattern pieces I realized that the fit for the bust had been incorporated into this area. I laid the top flat so you could see that it doesn't just lay flat against the table. This little design feature gives a very nice fit over the bust.

The back is just a flat piece cut on the fold. It felt and looked a little too boxy on my, so I added darts. I'm rather small across my lower back so this made a very nice difference in how the top hangs on my body. Doesn't the top have a lovely neckline? So pretty for the summer.

 

Here you can see the darts on the inside of the top. If you feel a little apprehensive about adding darts, I would suggest adding a center back seam to the pattern. A center back seam is almost always a good thing and gives you one more seam for fitting changes.  

I plan to make a number of these tops for summer. The fit is good and the top is a snap to sew up. This pattern could easily be lengthened and turned into an easy to wear summer dress. Based on my experience with this pattern, I would not hesitate to purchase a pattern from By Hand London. You can find the Polly Top pattern here,  http://byhandlondon.com/products/polly-top. You will need to create an account, but I think that is only fair. Once you create an account, the pattern will be sent to your email address where you can then download it.

I will post a picture of me in the top later today. I'll look a lot better once I see my hairdresser this afternoon!!!

Wishing you a lovely and computer problem free day!!

Rhonda