Sleeves from Delineator, January 1898
Have you done it? We’ve all been there – it’s pushing 1am and you just want to get the dang sleeves sewn in then you can go to bed.
You pick up one sleeve, look at the seams and the gathered cap, and then start pinning it into the armhole. Good. Now run it through the machine. Smooth sailing. You pull it out and the arm is totally bent towards the back. Argh!!!!
Think it’s time for bed. Just as soon as I run this thing through the garbage disposal….
I think sleeves were created just to aggravate sewers. The arm bends forward, the darts are in the front. It shouldn’t be THAT hard to sew them into a bodice.
Besides the fact that sleeves can look really cool (and are mandatory on 19th Century garments), the only good thing about them is that there are only 2: one for cursing, hemming & hawing and the other for near perfection to show off our mad sewing skills.
I’ve not had too many issues with setting in sleeves. But after one too many ground-stomping fits, I knew I had to come up with some sort of method to keep me on track with what side of my body is the right and which one is the left. (You’d think that would’ve stuck in my brain since I was about two.)
Identifying the Correct (Left or Right) Side of the Sleeve
Set In Sleeve on Bustle Bodice
Patterns are usually drafted for the right side of the body. Meaning, when you are looking at the printing on the pattern, if you lay it on your fabric with the correct fabric side up, this will be your right side piece. (Be aware though that just because this is industry standard doesn’t mean independent pattern companies follow it.)
So how you cut your pattern from the fabric will indicate the left or right side. If there is a bend or darts in the arm, that’s a good indication it’s for the elbow or the back of the wrist. By looking at the correct side of the fabric and the bend, you’ll know if it’s right or left.
As soon as you’ve cut, mark the correct side of the fabric on EACH sleeve (see marking tips below).
Marks to Tell You Which End Is Up
Sleeve Cap with Notches
- Notches – in general, one indicates the front and two the back. They’re usually placed a few inches up from the lowest underarm area and match to notches on the bodice. Depending on your pattern, the double notches may simply line up with the back princess seam on the bodice.
- Seam Towards the Front – in my research & sewing experience of 19th C. bodices, sleeve seams are nearly always skewed toward the front of the armpit. This is true for both one-piece and two-piece sleeves.
Two Piece Sleeve Pattern
When working with under and upper sleeve sections, a good guideline is that the shorter seam is the one that will be in front. The longer seam is placed toward the back of the arm.
Some sleeves are cut with a mirror sleeve cap (as in the Notches photo above) where the sleeve seam is matched to the underarm seam of the bodice. If your sleeve is cut this way, use the other tips to show you which is left and right.
- Armhole Shaping – The front has a tad more concave (inside) curve shaping to it. This is for matching to the curvy bodice armhole edge. The back armhole, from the lowest underarm point up, is a bit more flat as the bodice back armhole is not as curved. This is true even in dropped sleeve styles (e.g. 1860s).
It also helps to know the sleeve cap generally has more fabric towards the top and back.
- Underarm Scoop – The very bottom center of the armhole is the first place to match to the bodice when sewing in a sleeve. Use the Armhole Shaping and Seam Towards the Front tips to help you determine which sleeve goes on which side.
Ways to Mark So You Don’t Get Turned Around (Literally)
First, hold up the cut sleeve to your arm with the fabric right side out so you can figure out which is the right and left.
A. Safety Pins Are Your Best Friend Here
Place pins on the correct sides of your sleeve. I like to place either one pin on the right hand sleeve (both pieces if it’s a 2-piece sleeve) or one on the right hand side and two on the left. I ALWAYS put the safety pins on the correct side of the fabric.
B. Use a Marking Tool
I like a plain ol’ pencil. But don’t use a disappearing one as it’ll probably come out before you get around to setting in the sleeves. Make a mark on the WRONG side of the fabric in the seam allowance at the top of the sleeve cap. I like to use an “R” for right and “L” for left to keep it simple.
Sleeves can be tricky. Even for the most experienced seamstress. Take your time. You get better with each pair you set in.
Above all, apply a little patience. It’ll go a long way to getting them in the right way – the first time. Most of us rush to sew them in, but slowing down will do wonders for those mad skills.
How are your sleeve-setting skills? What other ways have you f0und helpful so you don’t get your sleeves in backwards?
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Thank you for this post. My sleeve skills? Well, after five years of costuming I still manage to set my sleeves in backwards. I made a shirt recently and I didn’t understand why it didn’t feel quite right…and why where the cuff buttons on the inside of my wrist instead of the outside? *sigh* I fretted about the sleeve placement for hours before I sewed it in, and I still managed to put them in backwards. Well, at least it’s much better than my first experience with sleeves all those years ago. Back then I managed to make a sleeve for a four armed mythical creature…my first experience with sleeve lining.
I love that you use a regular pencil too! Unless it’s a really fine silk or sheer fabric I usually mark all my markings with a pencil on the wrong side of the fabric. They’re generally on hand and a lot cheaper then the disappearing ones.
For setting sleeves I like to lay the garment out in front of me right side out and lay the sleeves on either side to see how it will look when sewed, then I’ll flip the garment over the sleeve putting them right sides together… and once you have one sleeve on it definitely makes it easier! Hope that makes sense.
One little story of sleeve setting problems… my father is the first person that taught me anything about sewing. I remember sitting on his lap guiding the fabric through the machine as he pressed the petal. He didn’t know a lot of sewing, but we were part of a Colonial Minute Man group and having a bunch of siblings, sewing was necessary to afford the clothes. We didn’t have patterns… just sketches with measurements for the men’s shirts (all the pieces were square or rectangular making it easier). My father always had trouble gathering the sleeves into the armhole and usually had to put a sleeve in a few times as the fabric would catch underneath or bunch… etc. One day he was so excited as he showed us all how he just sewed a sleeve in perfectly… until he pulled it out and realized he had sewn the sleeve inside out! We all learned the very valuable lesson that you mentioned above: Take your time! We now also double check to make sure it’s all pinned right before sewing. It’s so much easier to be more thorough even if it means going a little slower then putting it in quick only to have to take it out again.
Thanks for sharing the other tips… I love the safety pin idea!
I had this problem just this weekend! I though my dress was near completion then I tried it on and just looked awful! I’m happy to know I’m not the only one!
Never fails…everytime that a sleeve goes in nice and slick, the ole heart stops as soon as you turn the sleeve right side out and find that it is in the wrong way! Always feel so stubid when it’s such a dumb mistake!…grrrr.. this also happens with cuffs for me, also. So now I take some soft chalk and make a nice big x on the top edge of the sleeve head and another big x in the center of the bottom edge. This way I can’t miss the big white x as I sew up the seam or gather. The x easily wipes or brushes right off when I’m done, before I turn it rightside out.
On of my first set of sleeves nearly went to the trash with my blood on it…because I was ready to slit my wrists. It was an 1890s with the poofy outer sleeve and the fitted inner sleeve. I attached the right outer to the left inner. I attached the correct outer and inner together but I had the wrong side of the outer facing the right side of the inner then did the same thing to the other sleeve! It went on and on like this. I think I did the sleeves three or 4 times each! My problem was there was not a great difference between the right and wrong sides of the two fabrics. The pin idea would have saved me TONS of work!
Oh no! I feel for the struggles you went through! Hopefully it turned out looking good in the end. If not, I hope the next one was loads better.
If Ican avoid doing “Set-in” sleeves I will. I learned from my Aunt ,who worked on a line sewing lingerie ,to sew in the sleeves in on the flat bodice (Piece only sewn at the shoulder seams) then sew up the srm and down the bodice. I have done the old”magic sleeve routine” where you keep turning the sleeves inside- out/outside -in .trying to get the fabric to match before you realise you sewed it in ,inside out.
I try my sleeve on before i pin it. For some reason physically putting it on works for me.
I totally do that too on some sleeves!