> I am working on a wedding gown with > raglan sleeves; the neckline looks like > some of the examples cited within the > past week. So, I'm wondering what to > do when you love the look, but are worried > about the sleeves sliding too far off the > shoulders. Would you narrow the top of > the sleeve (that makes up the over-the- > shoulder part of the neckline)? This is a > modern-style dress with simple princess > lines, done in silk matelasse underlined with > silk organza. Thanks a million.
Make sure the body side seams go far up and as close to the armpit as is possible. The neckline can come right out the edges of the shoulder this way. What keeps the sleeves up in my 16thC garments is this combined with the neckline being all cut on the straight, so there is no stretch to allow the sleeves to be pulled down. Even the extremely wide neckline of my Anna Meyer dress doesn't fall down despite being too wide. And with my better cut dresses I have full range of motion in my arms. Narrowing the top of the sleeve section will only pull the body up and make a higher neckline, you can play around with the angle of the join between body and sleeve to get a snugger fit. How far have you got into the making of this dress? If you have already cut the fashion fabric to size you may need to resort to stay tapes at the neckline and maybe elsewhere. I have used elastic stays with success. You make a case for them or herringbone sitch around them (but not into the elastic) then tack one end, pull the other to fit tack that down, trim of the excess. The area will gather a little when not worn but fit smoothly when worn. http://hungryzombiecouture.blogspot.com/2007/08/butterick-4745-simplicity-3837.html Described a little more succinctly here;) Michaela de bruce http://glittersweet.com _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
