Setting the sleeves

One of the things I did earlier in the week when I had a blitz on cutting the fabric, was to quickly make a start the sleeves. I only sewed them together to get a head start, and now I am setting them in the coat body which has been assembled ready, I’ll recap all I did with the sleeves.

Sleeves are always one of those easy things to assemble, but if I haven’t done them in advance, can slow down assembling the coat.

I first cut the sleeves (see above left) in Alcantara. Notice the marks for sleeve apex and three parallel lines for the sleeve head formation. I also cut the lining using pinking sheers, which proved to be a sucessful exercise on the test coat (see above right).

Firstly I stitch the longer back seam and press it flat, but with all of the seam allowance folded towards the front of the sleeve. I then topstitch the seam, within 1 to 1.5mm away from the edge. The sleeve is then closed off by sewing the front seam, which is just conventionally pressed flat.

I am using the slightly adjusted pattern I did for the calico coat, which is designed to give a more roomy fit at the back, while still being quite tailored at the front.

These two photographs show what I mean: (left) you can see the sleeve is set in cleanly and is well fitted (right) you can see a series of puckers at the seam, which is giving it a fuller fit. To mimic this I need to adjust the level of gathering in the sleeve head so it is smooth at the front and across the apex of the sleeve, but allowing it to pucker slightly as it falls down the back of the sleeve.

Pieces in a jigsaw

Now that I had refined and tested my pattern to a stage where I was happy with it, I can now cut the entire coat almost in one go, rather than be designing and cutting in tandem.

Because of this, I realised how few pieces I actually needed to cut to make the coat!

The complete list is as follows:

ALCANTARA

Back - 2

Fronts - 2

Lapels - 2

Collar - 2

Sleeves - 4

Outer pockets (welts & flaps) - 8

TOTAL - 20

(above - the freshly cut lapels)

LINING

Back - 2

Fronts - 2

Sleeves - 4

TOTAL - 8

ORANGE DUPION

Inside pocket welts - 2

TOTAL - 2

(above - the outer pockets, Alcantara parts)

BROWN MOLESKIN

Inside pocket backs - 2

TOTAL - 2

POCKET LININGS

Inside pockets - 2

Outer pockets - 2

TOTAL - 4

(above - cutting the upper sleeve)

GRAND TOTAL - 36

Where do Time Lords keep their armies?

Previously I had not really paid much attention to the pattern for the sleeves, as I had lifted it directly from the Honest Dragon coat with little or no adaption. However, I had recently studied my pictures from Earl’s Court and had noticed that the backs of the sleeves are a lot fuller and less tailored than I had realized, although from the front they have the appearance of a snugger fit. I also noted that there was a slight amount of gathering in the lower back seam to create this extra fullness. (note in this picture how creased the back of the sleeves are)

I therefore adjusted the pattern by opening up the width of the upper sleeve on the rear descent of the sleeve head.

The photo below, if you look closely, shows the over-stitched sleeve hem; the over-stitched shoulder hem; the over-stitched back darts; and the two front tailoring darts.

For me, setting sleeves are one thing that I have never totally mastered - let me do a welted pocket anytime! I find it either sets in perfectly first time, or I have to reset it three or four times before I get it acceptable.

I did read up for the Mk III and found some tricks that did help me, with some success.