Okay…tonight’s the night I find out who wins Addy’s dress! I’m excited to see who wins it! I LOVE this one… in person it’s really wonderful. You can see it by clicking on the picture of Addy at the right side bar or you can click HERE to get to the Ebay listing.
Oh… and my brother received his microphone case… he said it was a perfect fit! YAY!
If you click on any picture it will enlarge.
Now for today’s post…
We’ll continue with Isabelle’s Valentine’s Day dress. I had decided last night that the sleeves probably needed sleeve headers in them because they didn’t look the same… and they were sort of droopy instead of puffy like I wanted. After trying to get them in without taking the side seams and all my finish work out, I had to get out the seam ripper and you know what! (Whatsoever you SEW…that shall you RIP!)…and I did!
Here it is flat…again! ugh!
Here’s a little mini tutorial on putting in sleeve headers. I thought I showed this before, but I checked and didn’t explain it as much as I will this time. If you want to see other examples of when I used them, just go to the search engine just below my Ebay pictures at the right side bar, and you’ll see a white box with a green box and the word Search in it. You can type in sleeve headers and find several times where I showed them.
I started out with about a 2″ strip of tulle that I use for my doll slips. I folded it in half and stitched 2 rows of basting stitches along the cut edge.
Then I gathered it up as much as I could.
I stitched it on a piece of white paper to keep my presser foot from pushing my gathers out. It just stabilized it and I used the reverse a few times as I stitched it.
Then you can flip it over and tear the paper away along the perforated stitching. I trimmed them close to the stitching but don’t cut your stitching.
I figured I’d need my headers to be about 2″ long so I cut them both the same length and pinned them at the top of the center shoulder area… and then on both sides, just to hold it in place.
Just look at my pictures and see where I put them… it’s kind of hard to explain. You want them to puff up the sleeve…
On a larger size dress you can stitch them on with the machine but I did them by hand, just using a whip stitch and pulling it snugly. I started in the middle and when down to one end and them back across to the other end.
So here was a trial fitting… much better!
After stitching up the sides, I trimmed the blunt edges of my tulle and rounded the ends just a bit. You don’t want your tulle peeking out from your sleeve.
Now, Isabelle is slightly like Noel, in that she’s not “exactly” the same on both sides of her underarms. I took a picture of her laying on a piece of black fabric so you can see. Looking at her from the front, her right armpit is much closer to her body than the arm on the left. This makes her cuff slightly different on each side. You can play with them and get them exactly even if you like, but they’re the same sleeve with the same gathers, the same cuff and now the same sleeve headers, so they should be fine. I just wanted to show you the difference.
Here’s a pretty good view of the new sleeves…
…and a close up of it…
So, here’s the before…
…and the after…
I did get her skirt sewn on but I’ll save that for tomorrow! :o)
See you then,
Blessings, Jeanne
How interesting! Thank you for the idea and tutorial!
Thank you Oksana,
I’m glad you enjoyed the tutorial and hope you learned something new!
Blessings, Jeanne
Thanks for the tutorial, Jeanne! Although there isn’t a Huge difference in such a small scale, you can definitely see the sleeves with the headers do look better, puffier and fuller, than without!
I’m so glad the microphone case worked out well, too! Looks like you got the size just right!
Hi Charlotte,
The nice thing about sleeve headers is that you don’t have to pinch and pull your puffed sleeves to make them look the same. They automatically stay and look the same.
I’m glad too, that Bob liked his case… thanks Charlotte,
Blessings, Jeanne
Interesting. As I read your post this morning, there were no photos of the project. Reading the directions was a bit confusing, but I thought maybe the pictures were below or something. Read all the way through and all that was there were the photos of the finished outfit. The microphone photo was visible and that is when I learned that the microphone was unlike anything I had seen before. I was thinking the case was for a handheld portable microphone like they used to use before the headphone kind. I wonder how this one works? Is it attached to something? Just curious.
Anyway, I went back and tried the post again and this time, the photos slowly appeared. Much easier to follow along with photos. 🙂
I’m sure Isabelle will appreciate the difference in the puffs. Really had no idea there was a difference in LD arms. Interesting and thank you for sharing. I always have more trouble getting arm bands to fit over differently spread fingers. 🙂
Hi Joy,
Sorry about the pictures not showing up for you…I’m going to blame all these weird things happening on the weather!!! :o)
As far as Bob’s microphone case goes, I think it must be a microphone that folds up…that’s my guess…
The side of Isabelle’s neck and onto her shoulders is different on each side too. I should have move her hair out of the way and shown that too…along with her hips which are kind of Noel’s…asymmetrical.
Their left hand has the widest spread so I take my cuff and wrap it around her hand at the widest part and add 1/4″ to each side…that allows for a pretty good cuff.
Thanks Joy,
Blessings, Jeanne
Speak my mind. OK. You really need better indexing, though “tutorial” as a heading is good. If you could pull up, for example, all the slideshows, that would really help with the book project that we all keep talking about. One of these days…. It sounds like just the sort of project I need. (Only half kidding)
I’m so glad the microphone cover worked. It looks great. The sleeves are so pretty and cute and the headers will keep the sleeves from ever crushing, because ironing those sleeves would be impossible. That is such a good idea and such a nice gift to your future buyer.
Hi Marilyn,
I try to put “tutorial” in my titles so if someone wants to see one, they can at least type in “tutorial ” and all those posts will come up, but it probably would be nice to have them all in one place…
The sleeves look really nice in person…I need a 3D camera I think… it’s hard to make what’s in front of me look like it does in my pictures.
Thanks Marilyn,
Blessings, Jeanne
Dear Jeanne, it all makes sense, even to a non-sewer like me (laugh). Your text and photos are very instructive. Isabelle is an adorable model.
The mic case is perfect. I have seen some doll tote cases that are similarly made.
Thanks for your kind comments, Dorothy,
I’m glad you were able to understand my tutorial….I’m gonna make a sewer out of you yet!!
Blessings, Jeanne
Never really thought of using sleeve headers, but I like the idea. They do make a difference. The mic case really did turn out perfect! I had one of those sewing moments today one can live without. I was making an outfit for my new 10″ Sofie. She was tired of wearing the clothes she arrived in. I picked some cute fabric for a jumper and some knit for a matching turtleneck and leggings. I got the dress finished and it was almost too small. The turtleneck did not fit under the dress because of the narrow tolerance between the dress and the turtleneck. Didn’t do the leggings yet but they should be fine. But perplexed I went to the internet and looked up the measurements for Ann Estelle/Patsy dolls. I found that the dolls with the jointed legs were actually slimmer than the ones without by 1/4″ in some places. I’m going to make a jacket for the dress, or Sofie can wear it for a summer dress and the turtleneck will end up with another outfit I’ve yet to make. I have lists of measurements for all my dolls to avoid this, but didn’t question the pattern I had. Live, learn and re-imagine.
Glad your satellite is up and running again and that you’ve had a more productive day today.
Hi Barbara,
I feel your pain with your sewing mishaps! There’s nothing quite so frustrating as making something and it not fitting…
…unless maybe it’s wanting to use your computer and it won’t work!!
I hope your next sewing project goes together with less problems!
Blessings, Jeanne
Hi Jeanne,
I read your post everyday and learn a lot about sewing and thank-you very much. I mostly attempt to sew for my Bleuette’s however I don’t seem to have much skill in that department. Sure wish I had your talents as everything you make is beautiful!
I wanted to mention that I just bought one of Rebecca’s necklaces (blue beads) and love it so much. I have four Gotz Happy Kids dolls and hope to buy each one their own special piece of jewelry from Rebecca. I especially love the more simple ones she makes. She does wonderful work so tell her I said many thanks.
Take Care,
Jane