Sleeves or no sleeves

 The sleeves can be deceiving. I will elaborate.

On many occasions, I installed sleeves into my clients sleeveless outfits for warmth/modesty. Sleeves can give a wearer a jolt of confidence by covering sunspots or other skin imperfections, making limbs appear longer and thinner or plumper, depending on what’s needed, shoulders—wider or narrower, again, whichever is desired. 

However, there are circumference when the sleeves should be “surgically removed” or at least enhanced. Here are the cases leading to drastic measures:

1. The sleeves are too tight around the arms due to the original cut, wearer’s muscle/weight gain, or a shrinking accident after the garment is washed or dry cleaned.

2. The garment’s back is too tight around the shoulder blade area. This can be caused by the wearer’s anatomy, or faulty cut of the garment. Shrinking can also be a culprit, but not as much.

3. Combination of 1 and 2.

4. Sleeve damage beyond repair.

If the cases 2 and 3 are most definite for the removal, which I will cover later in this article, cases 1 and 4 call for some thinking outside the box. A tight sleeve can be widened as long as the armscye is comfortable. If you intended to keep the length of the sleeve, you will need to acquire suitable fabric for the insert. It can mimic the original cut of the sleeve or flare out at the bottom, creating a bell or balloon —if cinched— effect. If you don’t mind shortening the sleeve by halve if measured from the shoulder seam and sleeve intersection, use the bottom part for the insert. In this case, cut the length first then cut the insert of desired width. I recommend cutting it wider a bit or dramatically. The short sleeve could be made into lantern style. Now, cut the opening for the insert: a straight line from the shoulder seam to the bottom of the sleeve. Pin first and cut precisely! Then, gather or pleat (if you want to make the insert look like a knife pleat) the top part of the insert and attach the vertical sides to the cut-open sleeve. The gathered or pleated part will disappear under the sleeve parts, still attached to the armscye. Stitch or hand sew the top to the shoulder seam, distributing the gather/pleat attractively. Finish the bottom of your sleeve and you are good to go. Inserting the add-on at the underarm and down the sleeve is also possible, but this will affect the armscye. I would recommend cut such insert (see post about underarm gussets) from a stretchy fabric and either run it to the bottom of the garment (the finished product will have a tuxedo look) or taper it to the bust/waist area.

When the back is too tight, sleeve removal is best. The sleeves could be replaced, however, with the cape-style or butterfly sleeves possibly made of lighter weight fabric (lace?). These sleeves can be attached at the shoulder area only and not affect the back.

If the sleeve is damaged, the garment doesn’t have to be the lost cause. If the damage falls below the upper part of upper arm area, you can add an extension made from a fabric with distinctive texture: embroidered, lace,  metallic, shear, pleated etc. that either mimics the original cut of the sleeve or takes on a life of its own, creating an exciting item to wear.

If you chose to permanently removed the sleeves, clean-finish the edge in any way that looks attractive. Sleeveless garments are double-performers: you can wear them under a sleeved item or over one! More flexibility in each item is the sure way to the ultimate optimal wardrobe!