Sleeve length Gathering. You can choose to place gathering at the cap, the hem or both. Additionally, you need to decide how far around the circumference of the cap and the hem you want your gathering to span. Fullness. A fullness of 1 is a flat sleeve and a fullness of 3 is an extremely voluminous puffy sleeve.
Take your hem and shoulder seam measurements and multiply them by your chosen fullness. Record these measurements for pattern making. Use a straight edge to draw a horizontal line the length of your hem measurement (multiplied by the fullness) along the lower edge of the pattern paper. Measure up from each end of the lower hem line the distance of the lesser sleeve length measurement (armpit to hem) and make marks. Draw a line parallel to the lower hem connecting the 2 marks above the lower hem line. This is the armpit seam line. Use a drafter’s triangle to make sure the center point of the lower hem lines up perfectly with the center point of the armpit seam line. Draw an upward vertical line the length of the greater sleeve measurement (hem to shoulder), starting at the lower hem line and extending through the armpit seam line. Make a mark at the upper point of your line. That is the center point of your sleeve’s puff. Take the measurement for the circumference of your sleeve at the shoulder seam and multiply it by your fullness. Cut a thread to that length. Fold the shoulder seam length thread in half to find its center point. Line that point up with the uppermost center point (puff sleeve center point) of your pattern. Use tape or a fabric pin to connect the thread to the pattern paper at their center points. Form the thread into a bell shape, matching the left end to the corresponding left end of the armpit seam line and vice versa for the right end. Determine where you want your gathering to be on the sleeve and mark the beginning and ending points on the bell shape. Be sure to start at least 0. 5 inch (2. 54 cm) in from each armpit seam line end to account for the seam allowance. Draw vertical lines from the left and right armpit seam line ends to the corresponding hem line ends. You now have your pattern.
Turn the shirt inside out and fit the sleeves into the sleeve openings from the inside of the shirt. Line up the raw edges along the shirt’s sleeve openings and the sleeves’ shoulder seams, matching the center points of the sleeves to the center points of the shirt shoulders. Pin the center points together first, then pin the gathers on the bell into place along the shirt sleeve opening, working from the center out, until you’ve pinned the entire circumference of the sleeve to the entire armhole opening of the shirt.
Gather the puffy sleeve hems before folding and stitching if you incorporated hem gathers into your design. Fold the hem twice into the inside of the sleeve 0. 5 inch (1. 27 cm) to enclose the raw fabric edge. Stitch the hem into place along the upper edge of the folded part of the hem.
