Finally, the bodice and sleeves are done. I don’t know why I had such a hard time with the sleeves. I think I am out of practice as I haven’t sewn a full dress since before the pandemic. So, without further ado…
I still need the neck piping, hooks and eyes, buttons, and collar. The bodice is the basic darted bodice and lined with white Kona cotton. The sleeves are basic bishop sleeves but because of the jockeys I added an upper sleeve that is not gathered to fit into the armscye. Then pleated the sleeve onto the upper sleeve to eliminate bulk. The sleeves are not lined but the jockeys are.
The cuffs are made of a dotted Swiss batiste and lined with a plain batiste. I used these lighter fabrics mainly because I wanted the cuffs to be lightweight and these are the fabrics I had available. The cuff is a barrel cuff making it wider at the top up the sleeve. I used a pattern designed and created by Carolann Schmitt and Maggie Koenig.
The sleeve is gathered into a small cuff of self-fabric. The outer cuff is attached to twill tape and then basted onto the inner cuff.
Now to make more piping for the neck and then onward to the skirt.
Categories: Civil War