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Dress doctor - a sleeve fix

8/19/2013

13 Comments

 
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A fixed dress!
A few weeks ago I was having a Skype conversation with my son and daughter-in-law.  They were coming soon to visit on their way to a wedding near by.  She was a bit stressed, because she needed a blue or green dress to wear as one of the attendants.  Everyone else had chosen their dress and she didn't have much time left to find one that would look good with the others. I suggested a blue dress she already owned, but she said the sleeves were too tight and she couldn't lift her arms to toast the bride and groom or dance ... and she loves to dance.

I said "I can fix that! Bring the dress and we will figure something out."

So, one afternoon during their visit, the guys went out to play racquet ball and we got to work on the dress.
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It's a lovely, really well made dress that fit her great, but ...
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I wanted to try just opening up the armpit area to put in a gusset, first.
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Releasing the sleeve under the arm helped, but not enough. You can see how it pulls.
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this really is the highest she could lift her arms. These were the skimpiest sleeve caps I'd ever seen and on top of that, she has broad shoulders!
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As I said, this dress is really well made. Everything is lined and the stitches are really small AND the fabric is dark. I had to be very careful picking open that seam.
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You can also see how it has extra fabric at the shoulder. The sleeve cap is so tight that it makes the whole bodice rise up. The only solution is turn it in to a sleeveless dress, which she thought would look good.
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I dove into my bias box to see what I had for an armhole facing. This bias was the right width, but too light in color.
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This bias was a better color, but was too wide AND there wasn't enough for both armholes.
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So, I pull out all my blue cottons to cut my own bias, but nothing matched better than the second navy bias tape.
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So ... "make it work!" I carefully cut the wide bias down the center ...
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Mobility problems solved!
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and sewed it with the smallest seam allowance I felt comfortable using (1/8"), I was able to make a nice finish for the armholes on her dress. I then pressed it to the inside and slipped stitched it to the lining.
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And here is the pretty gold belt she will wear with it.
You know, I think the way modern sleeves are cut is really silly.  You can't lift your arms without lifting the entire garment. Back when dresses fit really tightly and ladies were corseted sleeves had lots of extra fabric in the underarm area to allow for movement.  When I was working in professional costume shops they developed a special sleeve for dance costumes that had a gusset built into it to allow for full arm movement. 
 
Tomorrow I'm going to show you how sleeves use to be. 

13 Comments
Ann Wass
8/18/2013 08:15:40 pm

It is extremely difficult to find a dress today with any kind of sleeve at all! So how frustrating when you do find one that the sleeve doesn't fit correctly and has to be cut out.

Reply
Jehanni
8/18/2013 09:52:34 pm

Yay! A fix for sleevil--evil sleeves! I can't wait to see "the way sleeves used to be" because I'm imagining I can alter so many of my patterns to build in better range of motion *before* I cut them out. Thank you Andrea, for such clear pics and discussion.

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Nancy Farris-Thee'
8/18/2013 11:43:18 pm

I love all you put on your page, but especially enjoy your practical approach to things. I and my siblings were a well dress bunch -thanks to my talented mother. She was a self-taught re- purposer long before that word was invented and tossed around or fashionable to do. I look forward to posts.

Reply
Jessica link
8/19/2013 01:04:24 pm

I like it even more without the sleeves! I have a dress like this - I can't even drive in it, the sleeves are so restricting. Unfortunately the sleeves are the prettiest part. I love how you fixed this dress - you always have tricks up your sleeve! Or lack thereof! lol

Reply
Andrea Schewe
8/19/2013 01:18:10 pm

Thanks!

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Andrea Schewe
8/19/2013 01:21:06 pm

Thank you. I hate to waste things or throw things out.

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9/27/2013 05:14:30 pm

Slave less dresses are very comfortable for mothers,your articles also very meaningful and very easy to understand about this dressing process,i always agree with her what she was saying.

Reply
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10/7/2013 04:39:03 pm

An fantastic quota! I’ve rightful forwarded this onto a coworker who has been conducting a trifling examination on this. Furthermore he in deed ordered me breakfast fitting to the deed that I stumbled above it for him… lol. So tolerate me to paraphrase this…. Blesss for the buffet!! Yet yeah, blesss for spending the day to utter about this topic here on your trap servant.

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fast cash loans link
10/14/2013 02:37:58 am

It is good to have an end to journey towards, but it is the journey that matters, in the end.

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MaryD
4/12/2014 08:15:42 am

I love your practical solutions to problems. Splitting the bias--who would have thought of it! I've been sewing for over 55 years and haven't run into some of your creative solutions.
I do have one question regarding your sewing and then trying on rather than adjusting the flat patterns. In the Cynthia Rowley dress how did you deal with the tuck you pinned out at the center of the V neck? Did I miss that?

Reply
Sarah Turnbull
12/18/2017 07:59:16 pm

Great fix! I think the dress looks very nice sleeveless – perhaps a little more formal too? Perfect for a wedding.

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Prefer not to say
5/9/2019 03:54:42 pm

It seems really hard. I'm sewing a dress for myself as a costume for mailda the musical but I don't understand this article! What should I do

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Andrea
5/9/2019 04:40:41 pm

So, I tried to fix my daughter-in-law's sleeves on her dress, but in the end the best solution was just to take the sleeves completely off and finish the raw armhole with some bias tape.
What are you trying to do???

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    I am a commercial pattern maker who is now "sewing over 50"!
    I love to sew and hope to encourage others to come back to sewing.
    The water is fine!!

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