I love it when something just works.
I don't suffer much in life but sometimes I need a project to just roll with me and not put up a fight. 4718's band sleeves played along like a well-trained Labrador.
So, 4718 came with options for sleeveless-with-ruffle or a set-in sleeve:
I've made it with long sleeves and have fabric to make one with short set-in sleeves as more of a day dress, but I wasn't feeling either option for the yellow print. I decided to borrow the band-sleeve idea from DuBarry 2627b (1941). Band sleeves seem not to have been super common in 1940s dresses, but they do show up occasionally and are period-correct.
So basically:
I also own the DuBarry, which is good because the pattern diagram told me what approximate shape I should look for in the finished sleeve piece (in pink):
Winifred Aldrich tells you how to do this.
I started by tracing the original sleeve cap from 4718, then measuring the front and back armscyes from the bodice pieces along the seam line and excluding the seam allowances from each. In this instance, the front armscye was 10 1/2 inches minus 2*1/2 inch (9 1/2 inches); the back was 10 inches minus 2*1/2 inch (9 inches).
I didn't do a before picture, but the original sleeve cap was closer to the pink dotted line.
I marked the midpoint of the width of the traced armscye (straight width, not along the sleeve cap), then moved it (1/2" divided by 2 =) 1/4" toward the back (the shorter side). Then I redrew the sleeve cap curve using the measurements from the armscyes, so that the curve was 9 inches along the back sleeve cap and 9 1/2 along the front. Then I slashed the traced sleeve up to, but not through, the seam line, and stretched it until it looked like the DuBarry piece. This ended up being 19". I traced it, cleaned up the curves, and added seam allowances at the bottom edge only--it won't be seamed at the shoulder.
The test sleeve turned out to be narrower than I wanted but fit perfectly.
I've retraced it with about 3/4" more width at the peak . . .
. . . and will be basting the new sleeves in on my lunch break.
I don't suffer much in life but sometimes I need a project to just roll with me and not put up a fight. 4718's band sleeves played along like a well-trained Labrador.
So, 4718 came with options for sleeveless-with-ruffle or a set-in sleeve:
I've made it with long sleeves and have fabric to make one with short set-in sleeves as more of a day dress, but I wasn't feeling either option for the yellow print. I decided to borrow the band-sleeve idea from DuBarry 2627b (1941). Band sleeves seem not to have been super common in 1940s dresses, but they do show up occasionally and are period-correct.
So basically:
I also own the DuBarry, which is good because the pattern diagram told me what approximate shape I should look for in the finished sleeve piece (in pink):
Winifred Aldrich tells you how to do this.
I started by tracing the original sleeve cap from 4718, then measuring the front and back armscyes from the bodice pieces along the seam line and excluding the seam allowances from each. In this instance, the front armscye was 10 1/2 inches minus 2*1/2 inch (9 1/2 inches); the back was 10 inches minus 2*1/2 inch (9 inches).
I didn't do a before picture, but the original sleeve cap was closer to the pink dotted line.
I marked the midpoint of the width of the traced armscye (straight width, not along the sleeve cap), then moved it (1/2" divided by 2 =) 1/4" toward the back (the shorter side). Then I redrew the sleeve cap curve using the measurements from the armscyes, so that the curve was 9 inches along the back sleeve cap and 9 1/2 along the front. Then I slashed the traced sleeve up to, but not through, the seam line, and stretched it until it looked like the DuBarry piece. This ended up being 19". I traced it, cleaned up the curves, and added seam allowances at the bottom edge only--it won't be seamed at the shoulder.
The test sleeve turned out to be narrower than I wanted but fit perfectly.
I've retraced it with about 3/4" more width at the peak . . .
. . . and will be basting the new sleeves in on my lunch break.
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