A nice sleeve vent finish

Posted by Kathleen Fasanella on Aug 13, 2008 at 2:38 pm / Patterns, Product Reviews, Quality, Rants, Sewing / Trackback

When I was visiting with Maria Luisa, I noticed her jacket. The sleeve had an interesting finish to the vent. Please do not ask me how it is that I could tell from the outside that the inside had to be interesting because I couldn’t tell you. I think many of us have a built in homing device for that sort of thing. It’s nice chatting with people in the trade so you can take advantage of it. They think nothing of taking off their clothes so you can turn the items inside out to take pictures of them. Yeah us!

Check this out, this is cool. This sleeve hem (below) is necessarily a separate piece from the sleeve rather than a turned up hem from the top side. Moreover, that seam is piped in contrast. Obviously, this is a better piece because few manufacturers would go to the bother of decorating an inside seam that hardly anyone would notice. I’ve seen piping between the inside front facing and the lining but never on a sleeve vent.

For a better idea of the construction, here’s a view of the vent spread. Is anyone game for sewing up a sample of this? It looks more complicated than it is. Or maybe I just think that because I haven’t tried it yet. The only thing I think would be hard is sewing the lining into the smooth curve (radius is tight) of the hem.

Don’t get the wrong idea about this last photo. Here I’ve pulled the extra sleeve lining length down. Please note there is no pleat there. When I told Maria Luisa -who attended the most prestigious fashion school in the world (the Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne)- that people in the U.S. think a lining pleat at the hem is required for a “couture” finish, she shrieked. Or maybe she squealed. Either way she was mortified.

Speaking of that bottom lining pleat and inside hem juncture where it meets the facing, I did a nine part series about it; the so-called “Nameless Tutorial Series” -so titled because I couldn’t figure out how to describe it (pt.1, pt.2, pt.3, pt.4, pt.5, pt.6, pt.7, pt.8, pt.9). This specific entry explains why you shouldn’t sew a pleat. This also applies to sleeve linings.