Cowl sleeves

So, the latest Vogue Patterns catalog has this Guy Laroche, which, as far as I can tell from the flats, may have cowl sleeves. (I won't be absolutely certain until I have it, which probably won't be for a month or so — if anyone's got it already, correct me if I'm wrong.)

I don't see these often. Have a look at the Vintage Patterns wikia (if you block or don't mind all the ads) for a few; they seem restricted to the 30s and the 80s.

Like a neckline cowl, they can be made with or without pleats. Rhonda Buss drafts an example of the latter type here. Pattern pieces tend to look either squared off or forked at the top of the cap.

Far left: short pleated cowl sleeve on the blue dress; far right: both long sleeves are cowls, the green one having an opening, and the pinky-beige one pleats. (The brown sleeve on the upper left is not really a cowl; it just has a slightly droopy pleated cap.)

They're not the most classic, restrained look, which may explain why they don't show up often. I probably won't make the Laroche in its original form; I mostly want to experiment with it. It looks different from all of the above styles in that the pleats are nearly all in the underarm seam, not the cap, placing the fullness much further down the arm. So maybe it's a true cowl, or maybe it's just got some extra length being pleated up. The pattern piece will tell.

A very short roundup on sleeves

One of these days I'd like to do a whole post on the problem of big biceps and small armholes. But until then, a couple of somewhat-related links:

New Vintage Lady on sleeve cap shapes and fit — this is partly about what type of sleeve cap (of the ones most popular in the 30s and 40s, but still relevant to modern sleeves) looks flattering, relating that to armhole diameter/torso shape/shoulder width

Ikatbag's kleenex box demo on (among other things) cap height vs. sleeve width given a fixed armhole size

As far as books, this is definitely not a comprehensive list, but off the top of my head Liechty et al.'s Fitting & Pattern Alteration: A Multi-Method Approach covers torso shape and how it affects armhole diameter in the flat pattern. So do the Müller & Sohn books (the relevant ones seem OOP at time of writing, except the English-translation Metric Patternmaking for Jackets & Coats).

Sleeve bands on Simplicity 1540

I put the sleeve bands on Simplicity 1540. Some construction changes I made:

• I believe the instructions would have you interface the entire band. That would be unnecessarily stiff, IMO. I interfaced a little more than half the width, so that the outer layer, the fold, and a small amount of the inner layer is interfaced.
• The outside of the band is seamed to the sleeve. The inside is held on by the topstitching. I pressed the sleeve/band seam open, folded the band in half to match its raw edge with that of the pressed-up sleeve seam allowance, and temporarily whipstitched the edges together to prevent them from shifting during the topstitching.

I'm glad I narrowed the bands to the smallest size; they would have fit even had they been a couple inches narrower, although I think they're an acceptable coat width at this size. The length is fine, which suggests to me that others might find it short. Given the fabric I used, this is not a warm enough coat that I'd be likely to wear it with gloves. If that were the case, I'd want the sleeves longer. They do bunch up more than I'd really like, though not more than I'd expect of one-piece unlined sleeves.

Now that that's done, I'm considering the fit again. The side seams could probably stand to be taken in in the waist and hip area, possibly all the way down to the hem. I'm also considering adding shoulder pads, though that's iffy since the coat is unlined (I'd have to make them of self-fabric).

I'm no longer so sure that the princess darts need to be extended downward, but I am very sure that the pockets need to be placed lower. My marks were raised by the significant waist-length shortening I did, but as my arms evidently aren't at all short as far as the pattern's concerned, it's unsurprising that those marks are now much too high.