Adjusting my sleeve ease...

So I'm working on this tonight:

The sleeves looked too poofy to me... I think I'm having flashbacks to my childhood when those Anne of Green Gables sleeves were in.

As beautifully detailed as those dresses were, I'm pretty sure that if I wore something like that I'd look like a small child had fallen into a bowl of cotton candy and couldn't find her way out - and I didn't want that look for the kiddo, so...

Armed with this tutorial on drafting a gathered cap sleeve, and this tutorial on adjusting sleeve ease, I ventured in.

So this is what I did:

1) The original sleeve pattern line.  The ease was over 6"!
2) Using an invisible fabric marker I did an experimental first attempt.  The ease was still huge, around 5.5" or so.
3) The final line, that I did first with invisible marker and then with a regular marker so I wouldn't lose it!   I transferred all the markings & notches, and hoped for the best.  With this last line I had the ease where I wanted it, at about 4".
4) Reason #53 why you should not ever, ever go to the bathroom if you have a toddler loose between naps, and are in the middle of a pattern redraft.

So I have one sleeve cut, and I'll see how it goes.  If I have to redraft it's no big deal and I have enough fabric to do a few more sleeves if need be.

The current paralyzing questions are, do I put those ruffles on? and do I hem the edges or leave them raw?

I'm thinking raw on the edges, but those extra ruffles have me in a tizz!

Foot Folly

 

Where was I?  Kind of... held up.  And wouldn't you know, it's my sewing foot!  I am doing well, although feeling pretty pathetic at times and missing my mobility.  I did however try to get a pattern cut out and worked on adjusting sleeve ease, so as soon as I'm allowed off the sofa... well, let's just hope it's sooner rather than later that I can get back to my machine!

So yeah, forgot Australia Day this year...

But Sufjan didn't.

1968 Loved Hats

1968 must have been a spectacularly fun year!  My fav is the first version, what about you?

Simplicity 8090

I have this pattern:

I love the dandy Version 1 on the left hand side, with just one bow.  I even have a length of dark turquoise linen in the cupboard just waiting for a project with simple lines such as this.  Maybe lined in silk?