Tempus' Sewing & Garb Accessories Weeb Site:
		Design of Sleeves

Most important thing about making your sleeve is that you can move around in it, so to that end it is very important that the back be a little longer than the front. Though we may be tubular our we use our arms more in front of ourselves than in the back so the do or have moved to the front of us. So when making your pattern you can either straiten the curve of the back of the arm sye (hole) or adjust the sleeve head (top) I like, with shirt sleeves, to use a symmetrical strait arm seam pattern and so I have adjusted the back of the shirt pattern to give me more room back there. However in doublets and jackets and things I use a pattern with a curved back seam and that gives me a great deal of movement and it hangs nicely too :o)

The design of sleeves is a frightening thing for some people but it is fairly easy, it's just simple geometry :o) A sleeve can be thought of as a tube that joins a bigger tube (the body) and so the only real problem is what angle the sleeve tube joins the body tube?

This site covers the construction and history of sleeves. in the western world. Construction aspects like geometry, and pattern drafting, the why's and how's of there history and how to make and sew your own. the time and place we will cover is the Mediaeval and renaissance period of Western Europe, which conveniently fills the period of the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) (600-1600 C.E.)

To the left here is a basic pattern of an asymmetrical sleeve, and to the right is a basic pattern of a symmetrical sleeve.

By having this curved seam down the back of the arm it allows for the natural curvature of the arm

To the left here is a basic pattern of an asymmetrical sleeve, and to the right is a basic pattern of a symmetrical sleeve.

By having this curved seam down the back of the arm it allows for the natural curvature of the arm

The curve at the top of the sleeve is variable and changing it will chang the way the sleeve will hang. The curve is sinusoidal in nature, the length is determined by the width of the sleeve, and the amplitude (height) of that curve will determine how the sleeve will hang. If the top of the sleeve is a strait line the sleeve will want to stick strait out of the shoulder. If the amplitude is too high the sleeve will bunch up at the top of the shoulder. Suits today have high amplitudes so the sleeves will hang nicely from the over sized padded shoulders, which causes an unattractive wrinkle when the arm is lifted.and the extra fabric must bunch up under and at the edge of the padding. If the padding were removed and suit cut to fit the shoulder,

The hight of the sin curve can be measured by height of the hole it goes into.

I find it easiest to sew the whole of the sleeve together so it is completely finished then sew it into the rest of the garment, which is also completely finished but for the sleeves. This way everything can be sewn by machine but the linings around the arm sye, which is the last thing sewn.

When sewing in the sleeve it is best to sew in the bottom and ease in the top. it is best to have some extra fabric at the top so you will ned to either ease or gather the sleeve fabric into the garment. This will form a sort of cup giving the sleeve a curve across the seam. resulting in a better feel, look, and fit.

Sleeves

		© Ragnar Torfason 2006 March 28