Sleeves On Saturdays

Before we get started with this week's sleeve, I want to go back to our last sleeve,

The Cowl Sleeve.

I neglected to tell you that the notch on the top part of the pattern marks where you will sew to for the shoulder seam. In the picture below, the curved seam is your side seam. Along the top is your shoulder seam and the opening for your arm.

 You can see that the shoulder seam is not very long.

 The opening for the arm is quite long as this gives the drape.

 I hope this helps. If anyone has any other questions, please email me at sewbussted@yahoo.com and I will do my best to help. This is a great sleeve that will translate well to many patterns so I do hope you will give it a try.

The Extended Shoulder Draped Sleeve

 This sleeve has a some what similar feel to the last sleeve that we drafted, but it does not drape from the shoulder. The draping is under the arm. This makes a very comfortable top, or dress to wear.

 Begin with the front pattern piece of your garment. Be sure to mark the waistline.

 Extend the shoulder seam 4" as you see below.

 Measure up from the waistline 4" and mark. Measure out on that mark 3/4".

 Now curve that line back into the side seam of your pattern.

 Connect the extended shoulder line and the side seam extension.

Draw in the slash lines. The slash lines are approximately 1" apart and radiate back to the shoulder. Be sure to number your pieces!!

Spread the slashed sections. I spread my sections 2" each. The more you spread, the greater the drape will be.

Connect the slashed lines back to the side seam. As you see, you will eliminate the bottom portion of the inside slashed lines.

The final pattern. You see that the shoulder line has quite a dramatic curve. Once sewn, this will need to be clipped.

 This is the first top that I drafted. As you see the armholes are much closer to the body. I did not come down far enough on the side seam.

 The top is fine but it is not as pretty as the second version.

What I'm showing you in the above photo is that I only drafted the front pattern piece for the draped sleeve.

 Rather than do the drafting for the back, I laid the front over the back as the shoulder seams and the side seams should be exactly alike.

 The second version of the sleeve. As you see it drapes far more than the first version.

As I said, this is a very comfortable style to wear. If you decide to give it a try and have any questions, please ask and I'll do my best to answer.
Hope you're having a lovely weekend!
Rhonda