Oy vey. The sleeve! Previously, I noticed that the sleeve cap had an insane amount of ease. Set-in sleeve caps have extra length that is eased into the armhole, right?. HP1099's sleeve is designed to be set in flat! The shape of the sleeve cap is actually quite nice. The length of the sleeve cap from back to shoulder is longer and angled differently than that of front to shoulder length I like the design of this sleeve cap because most of us are not the same length or shape in these areas and the differences appear to make for a better fit.
The picture above isn't that of the HP 1099 sleeve pattern. I found this online just to illustrate the idea. I would take a picture of my pattern, but it's currently in hibernation - never to see the light of day for a long, long time.
To take out some of the ease, I slashed the sleeve cap from the shoulder point to within 5/8" of the bottom of the sleeve. I attempted to slash to the hem, but the folds were just too deep to reconcile. I overlapped the cap 1 inch, removing 2" of ease. Would you believe that this still wasn't enough? I cut out a test sleeve to sew in a previously constructed muslin. There was still about a half an inch of extra length on both the front and back of the sleeve cap. So, again I slashed the front and back and overlapped the cap by about 1/2" - thus removing over an inch of length. Finally, this worked and I was able to sew the sleeve in flat without any puckers.
Having attempted the collar several times, I was able to sew this one without incident. It's still not perfect. Unless I point out the errors, I don't think anyone will ever know.
Overall the bust fit is quite good, but I am not totally satisfied with the pattern. The top is boxy and wears more like a jacket than a blouse. If I decide to sew it again, I will likely use a much heavier fabric.
I haven't done the hems or buttons yet because...well...I got tired of working on it and I am disappointed with the final result. When I do finish, I will wear it. In the meantime, here are some parting photos:
front with gaping hem
boxy back
top with buttons
Currently in queue are two projects: the new Simplicity jacket (2284) and a black knit tank top that needs embellishment. I'll be blogging on both soon.
Until next time,
L
