Sewing Retro: A Quickie - McCall's 2100 - Sleeve Alterations

McCall's 2100 OOP
HINT: Maxi can only be done on 60" fabric!!
Don't buy 44/45" to do the maxi unless you want
to be doing a lot of math!

Over the weekend I decided to throw together this dress. In a really cute "juvenile" print. The stripes ran lengthwise down the fabric, so I thought it would be awesome to do this on the bias with this pattern from 1999.

I made a rookie mistake here. Always check the suggested fabric widths! I got caught up in the romance of my husband picking the fabric and really liking it. The long version needed 60". I ended up doing it at about a 35 degree angle instead of the 45. I think I liked it more! However, it was a bit more work that made me use my trigonometry knowledge. The 11 inch grain lines that were suppose to represent a 45 degree turn had to be set to a 35 degree turn to fit the long dress on the 45" fabric. What a stupid mistake! I used the size 18 back with size 16 shoulders and the size 22 front with size 16 shoulders. This was a little tricky to think through, but if you all know me by now I will succeed in what I set out to do!

The fabric was a "juvenile" print. I liked
it anyway.

I got the whole dress together and discovered the sleeves were size 16. Again, caught up in the moment of sewing this new dress, I ended up forgetting the alterations to the sleeve size for my "fat" arms. You can see the sleeves don't look proportionate in this picture:

Look at the disproportionately small sleeves.
They're size 16. How did I manage that nonsense?

I tried the dress on and the sleeves were so tight it was like a blood pressure cuff. I thought about different ways I could get around having to take them off. I had pretty much decided in some squared off cap sleeves when I remembered the simple process of making sleeves larger without going up a size! Here is a crash course:

Step 1
Can you see where I cut a center line up the sleeve?

For step one, cut a center line up the sleeve from the bottom. Leave just a small amount of paper together at the ease mark. With this cut, you will be able to make the sleeve bigger around without change the sleeve hole. Remember: The size of the sleeve hole is not the problem, the size of the sleeve around is the problem.

Now for Step two, measure your arm, or better yet, while you're at it, measure how roomy you'd like the sleeve to be. I wanted 17". The bottom of the sleeve is curved, so use half of the sleeve to see get a straighter line then multiply by two. I had 14", so I needed to add 3". Most alterations don't recommend adding more than 2". I wanted it a little roomier, so I went with the 3".

Step 3
Spread the sleeve the amount you want to add. Don't forget
the 1 1/4" for seam allowances.

Now spread the sleeve open the amount you want to add to the circumference of the sleeve. Don't forget the 1 1/4" for both seam allowances! I had a total length of 18 1/4" or 9 1/8" for half.

My picture shows the alteration to a size 16 for the shoulders. We're not going to address that here. It's pretty complicated to explain, but very easy to do.

Hopefully now you can see that we've made the sleeve bigger without making the armhole bigger. Do you realize if I made the whole sleeve bigger what I mess that would be?

Step 4 adding the paper and taping it in place.

For step 4, I'm putting a scrap of the paper under the pattern and taping it in place.

We need to also take into consideration that the sleeve for the size I want--too big to figure. Is going to be longer. No way would a size 28 or bigger sleeve only be an inch long. To me, it would just look stupid.

Some math reveals I need to add about an inch and a half to 2 inches to the length of the sleeve. You can do what you want here. I just think it would be silly to leave the sleeve so short with such a wide circumference. Here's my picture of the added inches and the finished product:

Added inches to sleeve and circumference.

I did remove the sleeves and added the new ones. It looks much better and what I think is much more proportionate:

See the much more proportionate sleeves?

I am happy with the angle. I think it is much more flattering than the 45 degree and different too! I'm happy with this dress and the ease of the pattern.

This is the original dress so you can compare.
To me, the sleeves were just too small and
besides that, they didn't fit me and that's the
whole point!

Sewing Retro!: B4790 #9 A Done Deal

I realized I hadn't posted my finished dress. Here are some pictures:

Bigger buttons than the pattern asked for
because I like buttons.

I am still not thrilled with how deep the armpits are,
but there is no gap in the front or back, so I can
deal with that. Maybe a little blue camisole?

This is an uninteresting view of the back.

This shows the full circle skirt and
the under-skirt inside.

And the buttons. See how nice this fits?
It just took a little time and thought.

Be sure to read the other posts about this dress. I really enjoyed this challenge and was happy to see that even an 80s girl with a really thick waist and disproportionately large chest can wear this super cute dress. I did end up wearing it to the graduation. I can tell you without a doubt it was the only dress there like it. I got some disdainful looks from the some of the "Kardashian-look-alikes", but hey, I'm never been know to be a follower.

By the way, these are the shoes I chose to wear with it:

They are Andres Assous and the most comfortable shoe
over 3" I own.

Sewing Retro!: Time Management

Well, last week I had some pretty great plans of sewing the next six weeks away. Although I did choose some really cute patterns to work on and picked some fabric from fabric.com, that's as far as I got because I also wanted to do some major cleaning and organizing. So, the best I have to report is that I picked a different or possibly additional shirt pattern. This one here is the new one. I've got some fabric that was actually my grandmother's of all things. I can't find my camera at the moment, so I can't post the fabric I chose for it. The reviews were great on this one. I think it will be a nice one to do.

M5050
McCalls Website

So between organizing my life a little better, sewing and my usual obligations, these next six--five weeks now--are going to be busy, busy, busy. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Sewing Retro: Sewing Marathon

I am planning a sewing marathon over the next six weeks. I am done with school. My house is relatively clean and I am in the mood to sew. I'm going definitely going to make two more of Butterick B4790 (now that I know it works) and this little cutie.

V8392 $12.00 plus shipping at Vogue
I paid $4.30 with shipping on ebay

This one is not an OOP pattern, so I saved a lot of money buying it from my favorite seller. At $12.00 plus shipping from the website and $4.30 including shipping from ebay. I think I did pretty good.

I'd like to do B and C in a lawn or batiste for warm weather. I think the fabric would create a casual outdoor look. Besides, I don't think I've ever sewn anything in lawn or batiste, so I'm curious to see how it sews and how easy it is to work with.

View B for size 20 and 45" fabric is only 2 3/8 yards. View C for size 20 is only 2 1/8. I would have thought B would have used more fabric.

One thing I learned about batiste and lawn fabric that I didn't know before is that organdy, lawn and batiste all begin as the same "gray goods". Lawn and batiste do not receive the acid finish that organdy does, so lawn and batiste remain opaque. Looks like I will be fabric shopping today. I love to order swatches.