Untangling Knots

The Great Sleeve Debate

OAL_dress_bodice_WIP

I’m really happy to have finally gotten the sewing side of things started for my OAL outfit. The pieces have been cut out for ages, but I kept putting off the actual sewing because of the heat. This morning I got my bodice started, and I’m pretty excited about it.

OAL_dress_bodice_WIP2

The one thing I’m stuck on is the sleeves, though. I need to make a decision about them before I can finish the bodice. I think this dress would look super cute with sleeves and I even managed to squeeze them in and cut them out, but the problem is that I usually find sleeves on shirts and dresses annoying. I wear cardigans most of the time, dress sleeves tend to be a nuisance. Despite that, I can’t get the idea of this dress with sleeves out of my head. I just don’t know what I want to do here.

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Andi

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Comments

6 responses to “The Great Sleeve Debate”

  1. monica

    What about flutter sleeves? All the goodness of having the sleeve silhouette, but none of the annoying sleeve parts.

    Reply
    1. Andi

      Oh, no! Flutter sleeves are the worst for wearing under a cardigan. They’re ten times the trouble of a regular sleeve

      Reply
  2. Fiona

    Do it! you managed to squeeze the sleeves out of the fabric allowance and you’ve got the dress with sleeves in your head so make the dress up with the sleeves. But don’t cut away the seam allowance too drastically when you’ve finished putting them in. That way you can wear the dress once or twice with the sleeves (and a cardigan) and if you eventually decide you don’t like them, you can take them out and finish the armholes with binding and you’ve lost nothing but a bit of extra time.

    Reply
  3. Em

    The sleeves don’t look like they have a big puffy sleeve head, nor do they look like they have enough volume to bunch up underneath a cardigan. Have you thought about little cap sleeves instead? They’ll still be super cute but take away all of the woes of wearing a cardigan with the dress?

    Reply
  4. Heather (Thing I Make, Plus Rocks)

    These sleeves look pretty low profile, and are probably firm enough that they would likely stay in place under the cardigan. If you’re itching to add the sleeves, I say go for it! It might mean a tiny bit of extra time when you first put the cardi on to make sure everything is laying flat, but worth it to get the dress you’re picturing in your head.

    And like Fiona said, if you find they’re bothering you, you can always take them out and bind the armholes later on. 🙂

    Reply
  5. Sarah O.

    I’d prefer to see the dress without sleeves. I just can’t imagine a dress in that fabric with sleeves.

    Reply

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