Tutorial: Reduce/Remove Sleeve Cap Ease

I have written an additional entry on sleeve cap ease. After reading this entry be sure to check out Reduce/Remove sleeve cap ease pt. 2.

Melissa wrote some comments on my blog entry A Problem with Cap Sleeves:

I was really excited when I found your blog on the children's sleeve draft from Armstrong's book. I have been working on a project for weeks now and I'm having a lot of trouble with the sleeve. Starting with the Basic Sleeve Draft, I found there was too much ease and took 2cm off the bicep measurement when I read that you take the ease out. But my worry is the shaping of the sleeve cap, it just doesn't look right to me. Even before I took out the ease, it looked like the under arm shaping was really short. When I compare it to bought patterns and the pictures in the book, it just looks like the notches are really low, and there is a very small amount left to go under the arms. I have tried a zillion things and it's been driving me crazy and I hope you might be able to shed some light on my sleeve shaping problem. Thanks so much!

I responded:

One thing that is probably causing you trouble is the placement of your notches. The notches should match up with the notches on your bodice. They don't necessarily imply that is where you should start easing. Home sewing patterns use those notches to indicate the start and end of easing and thus some of the confusion.

And just as an aside, There is more than one way to remove ease. You can lower the sleeve cap, fold out extra (like a tuck), or shorten the bicep at the underarm seam. I'm sure I did some combination of the above.

This is my promised tutorial. Even though I prefer the Armstrong shaping for cap sleeves, it still leaves too much ease. If you draft the sleeve exactly as outlined in her book, you will have to correct your draft by reducing or removing that ease. On page 68 (second edition) she explains that a sleeve should measure 2 inches bigger than the bicep and have an average of 1.5 inches of sleeve cap ease. On pages 69-70 she illustrates how to reduce/add ease to your sleeve. As I have stated before 1.5 inches of ease is simply too much. Some fabrics require 0.25 to 0.5 inches of ease, but not much more. Armstrong does use the notches to indicate easing. If your sleeve has no ease then the notches are just match points.

Just a few more words before you get to the drawings. This is just my method - Armstrong's is similar. My hope is to just illustrate the principle and not hard fast rules. You can have ease, if you choose, thus the tutorial is on how to reduce or remove the ease. You can use this same method to fix the patterns from the Big 4 - which notoriously have too much sleeve cap ease.

Before you can remove/reduce sleeve cap ease, you need to know how much ease the sleeve already has. To do this you need to "walk" the sleeve cap along the armscye - without seam allowances. This is one of the few times I actually remove seam allowances when pattern making because they actually might get in the way. Align the center sleeve notch with the shoulder seam and walk the pattern along until you get to the underarm seam. Armstrong does this procedure just the opposite by starting at the underarm seam and moving toward the shoulder. Either way will work and her method is probably better. I usually do this in a CAD environment and my brain says start at the shoulder. It doesn't really matter so do what you think is right.




More walking.












Still walking. You can see at this point that my underarm notches meet up. This won't be true in the real world - this is just how my drawing ended up. When I am done altering the sleeve, I move the notches where I need them to be. Right now my goal is to get the sleeve cap and armscye to be the same distance. This is where the Armstrong method might work better for you as the underarm notches don't move.








Finally done walking. Now measure any of the sleeve cap that is left over. This is how much ease you have on the front. Yes, sleeves have a front and a back and I only walked my sleeve along the front armscye. You will need to repeat the procedure since most of you will have assymetric sleeves. My sleeves tend to be symmetric for children so I only have to walk the pattern on one side. Make sense? Now that you know how much ease you have, you can decide how much to remove.

This is where things can get a little fiddly... There are a few different ways to remove sleeve cap ease. I usually use a combination of these methods because I want to maintain a nice sleeve cap shape. Not too flat and not too round. My eyes have been trained to recognize a good sleeve cap shaping and it is not something I can pass along to you. You will have to experiment a little bit to see what works best. Try to keep the convex and concave curves balanced (again, how to explain that?). In this drawing I show two places to reduce ease. The first is to shorten the bicep line by moving in the underarm seam. Armstrong's extra 2 inches is too much for children. It may be too much for adults too. It all depends on your desired fit. The next place to remove ease is to lower the sleeve cap height. With my cap sleeve, I lowered the sleeve cap height at least 1/2 inch and re-drew the cap. Again it depends on your fit and the shape of your sleeve to begin with.

Another way to reduce sleeve cap ease is to split the pattern and overlap it - similar to these drawings (remember I am only working on the front side so don't forget to do the back). Redraw the sleeve cap. This method reduces the bicep but may help preserve the cap shaping.

As I stated before, I probably did a combination of these three methods so that I didn't do anything too drastic. It will take subtle changes to distribute the ease reductions to retain a nice sleeve cap shaping. Finally, check your notch placement on the sleeve and move it to where it should be.

Any questions?

Etsy, Ebay Strike, and Lead Issues Again

I have heard no news about the Ebay strike and whether or not it made a difference. My gut feeling is more people left Ebay than previous "strikes" but I doubt it made much of a dent. The walkout will have to be far more drastic. Besides that, there were some Ebay boutique designers who signed on to the strike and still had listings run during the week. Yeah, I checked. Shame on those designers who played both sides. I don't really care if those designers continue with Ebay or not. It just speaks volumes about their integrity. You can't say one thing and do another.

In the mean time I have been browsing Etsy sellers - sellers of child related products. I have been looking at what these sellers are making and it leaves me a little concerned. I think it is great so many people are finding an outlet for their "handmade" products. About 90% of the sellers are just fine, but it is that other 10% that are a cause for concern.

I had thought about profiling Etsy designers who appear to have awesome products, but then my blog would quickly turn into an advertising medium. I am still mulling it over, so I may still do it. Etsy designers should be aware, though, that I will offer a no-holds barred critique of their product - that is if I do it. How can I offer a fair critique without the product in hand?

I could openly critique Etsy sellers that are selling products that concern me. I can imagine the backlash if I focus on any specific seller. Etsy users seem to be a loyal bunch. Besides, I don't want to create a negative aura with my blog or my participation with Etsy.

Anyway, those have been my thoughts over the last week. What are the products that cause me concern?

1. Taggies inspired products. There are many copy-cat products on Etsy and I don't think the sellers realize the "idea" has been patented. I don't agree with the patent, but its there and it can't be ignored.

2. Absence of care/content tags. These tags are required not only on clothing but other textile products. I have seen burp cloths, blankets, bibs, and wash cloths being sold without legally required tags. Those items must have tags if sold in the US and probably elsewhere.

3. Drawstrings, Ties, and Dangles. I have seen "boutique" clothing being sold with ties in the neck and waistline areas and long trims that hang loose. Ties and ribbon dangles don't technically qualify as drawstrings but there have been recalls on related products. Ties that are too long can be a trip hazard. Further, I have seen a lot of dresses and pants that are too long, at least on the models. Such clothing is also a trip hazard.

Anyway those are the top 3 areas of concern.

Finally, California's Lead in Jewelry policy goes into effect March 1st. Check the link at the top of the page. California issued a report of stores that have sold lead-laden jewelry. There are heavy fines involved and they are inspecting stores of every size.

Design a clothing line with a plan

If you watch Project Runway or believe any of the stereotypical Fashion Designer drivel, you may think a line is designed by pure inspiration. A designer goes to a museum and is inspired by a piece of artwork and can magically create 5-7 pieces that all work together. Or perhaps a designer flips through some swatches and tosses some to an assistant to make samples out of. This kind of thinking is silly nonsense and will lead to disaster.

It is true that a designer can be inspired by a piece of artwork, a fabric print, color, etc. But unless one designs with a plan, or end goal, it will only be an exercise in design for design's sake. A design plan should follow some basic steps and answer basic questions:

1. Review the past line.
1. What sold best/worst?
2. Customer comments
3. Returns
2. Review past goals and set new ones.
1. Did you meet sales expectations?
2. What are my sales goals for this season?
3. How is my budget?
4. Set design budget for the next season.
3. Shop the market between seasons.
1. What are my competitors selling?
2. What are their price points?
3. Do I hang with them?

You'll notice that none of these questions have anything to do with design. They are ordinary business questions and it is good practice to review them at the end/start of a new season. Finally, I sit down and actually "design" my line.

1. Shop for fabric/trims. (this is where I find my "inspiration".
1. Does the fabric express the brand?
2. Does it fit within the price point for raw materials?
2. Determine number of styles/pieces.
1. Can any styles be carried over in new color/print?

I then sketch, come up with words to describe the group and generally get lost in the design process for about 2 days. I sample my styles directly in the real fabric. I don't do muslins or toiles - those are only to work out pattern problems. The sample making process can take a few weeks and gets a little nitty gritty, but at the end of the process you will have designed you line.