don't worry i'll put it below the cut, no one should be confronted with the horrors of drafting them on their dashboard without giving prior consent.
those first few photos are of the final mockup and the final sleeves. the first mockup was more to gauge length and the final width I wanted the cuff to have, so it looked like this.
I wanted this to have a specific lantern shape with limited gathers because this fabric is thicc so I sewed a 1/2" dart at each of the marked points, taking the bottom edge in by 11" in the process.
I ended up shortening it a lot just above where the darts ended, which left me with this.
I knew it would be easier to have a single seam going horizontally than sewing a dozen darts into each one, so I was prepared for this development. I probably could have drafted something much closer to this from the start but I wouldn't want to seem too competant.
I took out a lot of volume on my next mockup and settled on something very similar to what you see above.
then they were cut out from faille, the seam was covered with 1/2" horsehair braid to give them a bit more body.
now, for the velvet layer, I didn't want a visible seam. It sort of ruins the flow of the fabric's pattern AND the fabric's pattern runs in vertical stripes which don't lend themselves well to the curves of the sleeves.
so instead I fussy cut out pieces and overlapped them until they formed the correct shape without any obvious breaks.
It was only after I got these pinned and partially sewn that I realized I forgot to add the gold overlay beneath them and had to re-do it all.
I kept trying to machine-baste together the edges and the sleeves were like "no."
the faille folded over the seam point after I finished since the overlay was like 1/4" too short in some spots, because I didn't baste all the layers together before cutting them out and sewing them together (like I usually do).
I ended up doing it by hand, all but two of the "short spots" will be hidden in seams and the others were patched with additional appliques.
I sewed the appliques to the fabric below the horizontal seam, but this created issues with the drape when I attempted to carry it further up, so the layers are independent above that seam point, save for the top edge where they are basted/eventually seamed onto the bodice..
these will be finished with matching cuffs and cotton lining.
the bottom edges were gathered from 22" down to 19" prior to the underarm seam being done up, so most of the shaping comes from the piecing, not the gathers.
(the top edge is gathered a similar amount at the armscye.)
When going to baste together the top edges I decided to shorten the lining by about an inch at the center and tapering down to nothing at the underarm. This forces the fashion layer to puff out a little bit more.
Then they were sewn on and probably some other stuff happened that I forgot. Anyway, voila!
