I have encountered several similar problems and found out a good solution which I very frequently use when I want a tight-fitting sleeve but a good range of motion without too much bulk under the arm, which would be produced by a very shallow sleeve head used in medieval and some later periods.
It is kind of trick I first saw in a pattern drafting manual. You might not be able to use it for this sleeve as you won't have enough space to change the pattern shape, but you might use it some other time. The point is lowering the sleeve head but hiding the excess bulk (necessary for free movement) under the arm. You take a regular, tight fitting sleeve and do alternations as shown here (all in cm): http://www.intelligenzbestien.wz.cz/images/sleeve.gif You make a circle with a 5cm radius around the two top ends of the sleeve and draw a new line from the top, joining these circles. You should measure the arm circumefernces on the bodice pattern and use these with some ease on the sleeve or just measure the original circumference of the sleeve and transfer it to the new line. It is a bit difficult to sew the sleeve into the armscye, you'll need a lot of darts on the bodice armhole. The resulting shape can look odd, but works pretty well without a too small armscye and bulk. This is the resulting look of the sleeve: http://www.sartor.cz/images/01-01-02-08_b.jpg She could raise her arms without any difficulty: http://www.sartor.cz/images/01-01-02-08_c.jpg Under the arm, it looks a bit like the "grandes assiettes", if you look closely on the second picture, you'll be able to see it. Unfortunately I don't have the dress here to make some more closer pictures of it. Enjoy, Zuzana ___________________________ Sartor...custom-made costumes www.sartor.cz --- On Fri, 8/22/08, Dawn <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > From: Dawn <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: [h-cost] general fitting questions > To: "Historical Costume" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: Friday, August 22, 2008, 8:36 PM > I made up Vogue 7733 to wear at an event last week and had > some fitting > issues with it. > > http://img.sewingtoday.com/cat/20000/itm_img/V7733.jpg > > Here's a bad pic of me wearing it: > > http://www.reddawn.net/temp/DSCN3883.jpg > > I know how to solve the falling-off-the-shoulders problem. > What was > killing me is that I can't raise my arms in this thing. > The model in the > first image demonstrates the limit of range-of-motion > available. I had > trouble just getting my shoulder bag on my shoulder because > I couldn't > lift my arms enough. How do I fix this? What do I need to > adjust on the > pattern so I can do more than just stand around and look > pretty wearing > this top? I don't need to do jumping jacks, but I > couldn't even push my > hair out of my face without difficulty. > > > Dawn > > > > _______________________________________________ > h-costume mailing list > h-costume@mail.indra.com > http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
