Sleeve Progress...Finally!
OOF. These sleeve tops make me want to fall face first into a chocolate cake.
One would think it would be a breeze-what’s the big whoop, right? Just pinch up the panes and badda bing, perfect Florentine style sleeves, right? Um, NO. I didn’t know what the problem was-I tried to do it mathematically, it looked wrong. I tried to drape organically, it looked wrong. I fussed and re-fussed and pinned and re-pinned and tacked and re-tacked and tried even loops and then graduated loops and then angled loops and it still looked wrong. I removed bulk from the armpit-a good move, but I took too much, so not a good move. I toyed with it sporadically all weekend, really getting nowhere. Was it my skill level? Was I just overthinking it? Going about it all wrong? Someone smarter than me needs to come up with a pattern for these bad boys so I don’t have to strain my brain anymore. (I’m looking at you, Margo Anderson! I’ll even bake you cookies!)
Well, I eventually figured it out, but it’s too late to use all the proper methodology for this particular pair of sleeves. It really stunk trying to get it right with what I had left. I have to really Frankenstein them together, even hacking up that first odd sleeve I messed up back in August and adding it in as a second loop tier, just to get that look I want. Once again, sewing by the seat of my pants and leaping before I look! These sleeves will be completed tomorrow, now that I "get it." I will certainly do this style again in the future, properly, and with much less complaining and beer drinking.
Note to self: Florentine folded sleeves are not as easy as they seem. WTH, you tricksy 16th century tailors!
So, there's the mess I made. Maybe you can see why what seems logical doesn't work at all. You absolutely can't just pinch a loop, tack it, and think it will look like the paintings. It just doesn't. There is also the matter of structural integrity, which I am always keenly aware of. What's going on in the photos above is just ridiculous, and cannot be magically changed into the correct way to make what I want. So, I will Frankenstein. Ah well. Won't be the first time. The end result will look the same, I just took the difficult long way instead of the quick easy way.
They will be completed tomorrow. I have to get this show on the road already!