Comments on: Sleeve cap ease is bogus

By: Marcie G

Marcie G — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 16:33:00 +0000

I have really enjoyed reading this web site, after having stumbled on it while searching for information on the standard ease for a sleeve (biceps not cap, but hey…) I’ve thought a lot about this sleeve cap discussion since yesterday and just wanted to add my nickle’s worth from 50 some odd years of home sewing.

I knew I recognized the sleeve shape… it’s a classic two-part tailored sleeve usually used in jackets (probably dinosaur sleeve patterns…) It has the added advantage of allowing darts at the elbow and other tricks.

Sleeve cap ease as I always understood it was only at the cap and had two purposes: to round the sleeve over the transition from shoulder (pad) to arm and to provide a receptacle for the sleeve header. You can see that in the photo… there is a little too much uncontrolled ease for my taste… it should have been steam-shaped so it doesn’t bunch up so much. It’s good to remember that sleeve seams used to sit higher up and not fall off the shoulder like they do now. Today’s styles use the weight of the sleeve and drap of the fabric to make the transition off the shoulder, then start the sleeve after.

I dragged out my venerable copy of Vogue Sewing and the whole idea of setting in a two-part sleeve was considered difficult and time-consuming. Another thing occurred to me, and that is the history of the shirt sleeve in David Coffin’s book, which is quite different from the jacket sleeve. In this context, the shirt sleeve pattern profile makes more sense and it’s my guess that it has simply been adapted to the jacket over time. Given air conditioning and the more casual attitudes, the soft unlined jacket has made inroads allowing easier-to-produce shirt construction techniques to be used.

Making a short leap here, I would assume that is why designers like Loes Hinse insist that their patterns are only for use with “drapey” fabric. Their jackets are just medium weight shirts instead of coats (and they say so!) so the fudge factor allows for a less constructed and difficult sleeve. Unfortunately sewists tend to push the envelope of what constitutes “drapey” and end up using fabrics that do not have the correct properties to allow the imprecision of the pattern. Include “quilt” cottons here. They have so little drape that even a camp shirt invariably sits wrong on the body and could use a different sleeve profile. I would guess that’s why cotton camp shirts try to crawl down your back in an effort to relocate the underarm seam where it oughta be and why the same basic shirt in rayon or silk doesn’t.

By: To pin or not to pin

To pin or not to pin — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:22:30 +0000

[...] to shortening the shorter piece even more! Now imagine you were trying to pin sleeves with the sleeve cap ease typically found in home sewing patterns. That reminds me of another related concept. I’ll put [...]

By: Kathleen

Kathleen — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:36:58 +0000

Zuzana, have you also fiddled with the armhole shaping? That is the foundation of the sleeve.

Yes, all of the tops I’ve sewn have no sleeve ease. I don’t have many photos of them on this site but there are two of them.
http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/gussets_and_collars/
http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/gussets_and_collars_pt_2/
http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/shirt_making_tips/

I’m not saying it’s easy, because it’s not. There is little I dislike more than fixing a sleeve and armhole. It’s nearly all by eye and then you have to sew up test garments. I have literally spent 8 hours reworking a sleeve and armhole on a pattern.

By: Zuzana Kraemerova

Zuzana Kraemerova — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:58:36 +0000

Kathleen, my sleeves look just as the ones pictured on the right (the “right ones”) and still making them without any ease and sewing them into the armhole will result in an ugly sleeve. There doesn’t need to be much ease though…much less than I usually read in books. What works for me is something like 1cm for the front part, 1.5cm for the back part of the sleeve.

Have you ever sewn a sleeve with no ease into a bodice? Can I see a picture of it?

By: Ade Philpott

Ade Philpott — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 04:59:24 +0000

From my own research on historical patterns, the Regency tailors were using two piece sleeves that had the shape shown on the right of those two drawings. From reading the explanation (about where your arm sits) I now understand why.

Another aspect of regency tailoring was the lack of seams. A jacket consisted of the back panel and two front panels and that was it. None of this extra side seem, chest seem etc etc.

Modern tailoring is like everything else modern, devoloped for us lazy human beings.

By: Nicole Siskind

Nicole Siskind — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 16:49:27 +0000

I just found a pattern making book that breaks down how to make this sleeve shape.
“How to make sewing patterns” by Donald H McCunn.
It is very clear and simplistic. I made it last night and the sleeve is so much better…
I can actually move in it!!! I don’t know how long I have been trying to fix this problem. ( I am a home sewer)
You have to measure your biceps up higher than I was doing, add three inches biceps ease, and then it shows you how to draft the shape Kathleen describes. I am so glad I found this site – Thank you all.

By: Alexis

Alexis — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 17:16:44 +0000

Thanks for this article…as I have an avid hatred of sleeve ease myself. I was the one person in my class who didn’t set and reset sleeves because at the first attempt I thought, “There’s just too much fabric here!” and cut the ease off! The teacher marveled at how I got the sleeve to fit so nicely, but I was too embarrassed to tell the truth because I didn’t want to get a bad grade! From then on I strayed away from smooth, fitted sleeve caps, opting for relaxed styles or gathers, but when I had to, like for my tailoring project, I removed as much ease as possible. I considered myself horrible at patterning and eventually quite sewing as much. Learning to make my own patterns was the major factor for going to design school. Now that I’m a little more mature and more interested in reviving the skills I’m still paying monthly for (school loans), I’m glad to see my observations weren’t so off base.

By: nutty one

nutty one — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 14:40:35 +0000

well, i am saving for your book. you make a lot of sense but I must admit I think I need to spend time re reading to understand it all

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 05:45:09 +0000

Would you mind writing some additional instruction on how to make sleeves that look good while allowing more freedom of movement. So far all the dresses I’ve made, I just turned into sleevless versions so I could have enough movement, but I want to learn how to put on sleeves that let me move, if such a thing exists.

Thanks for the great site.

By: vidya

vidya — Thu, 28 May 2009 16:51:50 +0000

Dear Kathleen,

I attended a tailoring class for 2 months.The teacher there ws insisting that the front and back armsyce is differently shaped.so the sleeve cannot be the shape on the left I feel.She would say it will never fit properly if the armsyce were made similiar at teh front and back.Only now I understand her statement.

Thanks for your time and knowledge