This post will be one more visit with the square shoulder sleeve, not so much for drafting, but for design inspiration. The first sleeve I did was the one below which you've seen many times now. The top is sweet and fine for what it is, a pajama top. Other than being an interesting sleeve to draft, it's just a top.
But what if we cut the sleeve pattern apart and use a stripe fabric?
We'll get something that is quite interesting!
By cutting the pattern apart, we can play with the stripes. The center section has horizontal stripes and the side section has vertical stripes that meet on top of the shoulder. It may hurt your eyes a bit, but I love mixing patterns and manipulating stripes, so this is right up my alley!
I did my best to have the horizontal stripes on the sleeves match the horizontal stripes on the top. I did an okay job :)
I used the free pattern, from Deer and Doe for the base pattern. You can find a link
here and see the post I did on the original top that I made for Thrifty Thursday.
You can find the drafting instructions for the square shoulder sleeve here,
http://rhondabuss.blogspot.com/2012/05/sleeves-on-saturdays.html
Begin by drafting the sleeve. I made a small change in the drafting of the sleeve above from the original. The extended tabs on the original are 2 5/8" wide. For the stripe top, I made the extended tabs only 1 1/2" wide.
Once you have drafted the sleeve, simply draw a line down from the extended tab to the hem of the sleeve. This will become a seam line.
Be sure to add notches so that you will be able to match the correct seam lines when sewing.
The final pattern. Add seam allowances. For sewing instructions of the square shoulder sleeve, see this post,
http://www.rhondabuss.blogspot.com/2014/03/sleeves-on-saturdays_8.html
One last note on this sleeve. If you make this sleeve out of a knit fabric as I did, you will need to add a small shoulder pad for structure. If you don't, the sleeve head will lay limp on top of the arm. Notice I said small, we aren't looking for Greta Garbo!!!!, just a nice structured sleeve.
Hope your weekend is off to a great start!
Rhonda
