2
Finally got the sleeve drape right on a jacket I've been messing with for months
Okay, so about three years back, I saw this old motorcycle jacket in a thrift store in Cleveland. The shape was cool but the sleeves were like stiff tubes. I bought it for ten bucks thinking I could fix it. I tried a bunch of stuff, but it always looked wrong, like a bad costume. Last month, I found this really light wool blend fabric on sale and decided to try one more time. I cut the old sleeves off completely and spent a whole week just pinning and re-pinning the new ones, letting them hang on a dress form. The trick was cutting the armhole way bigger than I thought and using a single seam down the back of the arm instead of the usual two. It finally moves right and doesn't bunch up at the shoulder. Has anyone else tried reworking a jacket sleeve from scratch and found a better way to set it in?
3 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In3 Comments
barbaraschmidt1mo ago
Ugh, I wish I had your patience. My first try looked like the jacket had a broken arm in a sling.
8
taylor1741mo ago
That single seam down the back of the arm is a great idea. I've spent whole weekends fighting with sleeve heads that just wouldn't sit flat. Getting the armhole bigger is the key move that most patterns don't tell you.
-1