Patternmaking + Design: Creative Sleeves

Class Preview

Expand your patternmaking prowess. Arm your wardrobe with custom style as you draft a collection of perfect-fitting sleeves for blouses, dresses, jackets and coats.

Introduction & Getting Started

Meet your instructor, Apparel Arts founder Suzy Furrer, and consider the changes you’ll need to make to a bodice sloper before you start drafting your sleeves. Suzy reviews the pattern modifications needed for a blouse, dress, jacket or coat, then goes over the key measurements you’ll want to take for accurate sleeves.

Basic Sleeve Sloper & Tailor Sleeve

With your measurements in hand, you’re ready to draft a sleeve sloper that will serve as the base template for your sleeve designs. Suzy walks you through the drafting process line by line, and shows you how to true up the sloper to your bodice pattern’s armhole. Then try your hand at drafting a tailor sleeve, which includes a dart at the elbow for ease of movement. Finally, double-check your final measurements and preserve your sloper by transferring it to sturdier paper.

Two-Piece Sleeve & Sleeve With Vent

A two-piece sleeve, with or without a vent, is common on jackets and coats. Learn how to draft a two-piece sleeve with the seams just where you want them and make an adjustment to compensate for the arm’s natural bend. The add extensions to create a vent with buttonholes. Suzy shows you how.

Sleeve Variations Part 1

Short sleeves and 3/4-length sleeves are simple to draft if you follow Suzy’s tips. Learn how to true up the base of the sleeve for a perfect underarm seam and how to draft the sleeve hem so it isn’t skewed. Next, learn how to draft a cute, gathered puff sleeve that you can customize in a number of ways, or a pleated leg o’ mutton sleeve with a narrowed elbow. Sleeve heads keep your sleeve puffs lofty, not limp.

Sleeve Variations Part 2

Add some flare to your sleeves by slashing and spreading your pattern to create a full bell from the shoulder or starting lower on the arm. Suzy shows you how to draft both variations, along with a facing that makes hemming easier. Then try a cute cap sleeve with doubled fabric for structure, or a petal sleeve with overlapping curves.

Lining, Placket, Pleat & Cuff

If you’re drafting a coat or jacket, you’ll want your lining to fit well within the sleeve. Suzy demonstrates how to create a lining with added ease for a smooth fit. Suzy also explains the correct positioning of a placket and pleats on a cuffed shirt and walks you through drafting the components. You’ll be delighted to see her demonstration of placket folding as she demystifies what can be a confusing construction.

Drop-Shoulder Sleeve & Bodice

Wrap up your class with a quick draft of a casual dropped-shoulder knit top. Suzy walks you through drafting the bodice, then shows the modifications you’ll need to make on your sleeve sloper to accommodate the lowered shoulder. Some basic rules of thumb make it a speedy process