Newbie to forum needs help w/ sleeves

I have made quite a few costumes with very exaggerated leg-o-mutton sleeves and also a couple of little girls' dresses that where ......gee, it's been awhile, but I think Holly Hobby, really cute with lots of ruffles on everything, including the pinafore. I made a separate 'undersleeve' it was shorter (to hit the arm wherever you decide best and fitted and sewn into the shoulder between the poofy sleeve and the bodice, then the bottom edge of the poofy sleeve is matched to the bottom edge of the fitted under sleeve and then the cuff is put on. This keeps the poof up and from slipping down the arm. The leg-o-muttons were done the same way but instead of a cuff it was just sewn to the forearm. One other way to do this is to use a nylon netting, I cut it into a circle, fold it in half, gather the folded edge and sew it into about the top third of the sleeve. The netting is soft enough that unless you are using all but the softest fabric it really shouldn't show. I'm sure there's others here that have poofed a sleeve and may have a better or easier way to do this.

Val

My spell check went nutz-o with "poofy" says it's 'sposed to be puffy or poufed.....HA! whaddatheyknow!

I think what you are probably looking for is "sleeve heads". Ask Kate for a comprehensive lecture on the subject. (Kate, are you still up? It is after midnight where you are, but I often see by your posts that you are on the computer even at 1 a.m or 2 a.m. your time)

Olwyn Mary in New Orleans.

Mount the sleeves on silk organza! Just cut out the sleeve in silk, put it on the wrong side of the fabric. baste it in place, then treat the two fabrics as one.

Yeah, I'm still here! ;) Been cutting out Little Sis's posh new frock!

I already suggested some silk organza underlining, or you could support the sleeve heads with a few extra layers gathered in to 'stuff' them... Someone also suggested an inner sleeve to hold them up, and this works, but doesn't make the floppy fabric stay puffed out - but you COULD stuff between the layers with some lightly scrunched dress net! Tends to be a bit severe...

But bridal tulle might be softer, and still achieve the desired result.

Karen Maslowski in Cincinnati

One thing you couldpossibly do if you havent completed the sleeves yet is to use a thin batting to line them with. this is soft yet firm enough to hold your poof. I am assuming you wont be machine washing them so you wont have a problem with the batting ripping or "balling up" with repeated washings. Best of luck. Liz

I'd starch them with some lightweight spray starch,not the shirtweight, and just hold my hand behind to make the shape. I'd even use hairspray (Aquanet lacquer) in a pinch, but I don't know how that would affect the fabric in the long term.

Jr.

I wouldn't use hairspray, personally. But you can starch poufy sleeves, and then "iron" them on a low-watt lightbulb. That's the way it was done in the "olden" days. If you use hairspray, though, it will catch fire, so use spray starch instead.

Karen Maslowski in Cincinnati

There are many grades and stiffnesses of netting, so you may want to "interview" with your fingers and another piece of fabric of the same weight, everything from the coarse, stiff nylon netting to tulle. Organza is another possibility.

Place a single layer of netting over your hand. Drape the sleeve fabric over it, and look at how supported the fabric is.

I suspect if you do the fabric-netting-fabric you propose, the weight of the extra layer of fabric will actually increase the tendency of the sleeve to collapse.

You may also want additional layers of gathered netting or organza at the sleeve cap.

Still another approach would be to use a drawstring at the sleeve hem, instead of the more common elastic. This would allow you to iron the sleeve in the flat, so you could use starch or sizing to add body to the sleeves.

Kay Lancaster snipped-for-privacy@fern.com

That is a very clever comment, Kay, and makes me suddenly realise why my

:) Trish

If you use hairspray, though, it will catch fire, so use spray

Good point. Hairspray is one of those things that you use when a disaster is happening, like static on pantyhose or using nail polish to fix lace three minutes before the wedding. It's not meant as a sewing aid, plan ahead and use the spray or liquid starch.

Then why did I buy that expensive puff iron? A puff iron looks like a silver egg on a stick which you clamp to an ironing board, and heat it and run puffy sleeves over it.

another way possibly to keep your sleeves up is to put a couple/three strips of fabric that would equal a flat sleeve that run from the top to the bottom of sleeve. I saw this in a pattern for a historical like 1830 dress. This keeps the inside of the sleeve where it needs to be and allows the top and bottom to stick out. On some fabrics though it still won't hold out the top part.

Bridal dresses use a sleeve header. They take netting in a football shape, longer than the cap of the sleeve. Fold the football down the long middle, then gather the rounded edges. this goes into the armsye at the cap of the sleeve. I've seen it in there several ways. If the edge touches the skin anywhere it needs to be covered or you will itch all day. I've seen it tucked between the sleeve seam and the seam, I've seen it sewn in facing the neck and flipped into the sleeve to put the seam of the header up against the sleeve and not the body. There are other configurations, you are just trying to keep the net from scratching you.

Sandy Erickson

Sandy, they work in exactly the same way. I have a puff iron that someone gave me (it was in a Christmas exchange one year, and that's what I drew), and it works just like a lightbulb. Except, of course, that it doesn't break as easily.

Happy holidays, by the way!

Karen Maslowski in Cincinnati