Sleeve pattern RTW

To learn more about pattern drafting I bought a book “Metric Pattern Cutting for Women’s Wear” by Winifred Aldrich, Blackwell publishing, 5^th edition, 2008. It’s a textbook used in the UK design schools. I bought the British textbook for one simple reason – I live in metrics. I grew up in Russia, where only metric system is used and I have hard time with American measure units. I constantly translate everything into metrics, inches into centimeters and Fahrenheit into Celsius. It is easier for me to draft in centimeters and then translate the final results than re-calculate everything back and forth. And I believe that the basic principles of pattern drafting are the same for the American and British designers. If there are the differences, they can’t be too big. 

Since this is the book for drafting patterns for the Ready-To-Wear (RTW) garments, the size of the bust dart is given in the table along with the standard measurements. 

So, I set out to draft a pattern according to the standard measurements used by the industry for the size 8 American, or 12 British. The directions for the front and back are very similar to that given in my Russian book and in the “Finally it Fits” book.  But the sleeve is built in a different way.  

First, I have drafted what is called ‘The close fitting bodice block’. It is a very basic pattern block that has only vertical bust dart and back shoulder dart. It doesn’t have side or waist darts. This block is the base for all other tailored patterns. Here is how it looks like:

The next instruction is to measure the armscye with a flexible ruler.  Then the sleeve cap is built based on this measurement and the width of the sleeve is determined by it. Here is what I have as a result:

Then I decided to draft the sleeve for this bodice based on the armhole height, as in my Russian pattern book and in "finally it Fits" book. I measured the average height of the armhole and made a sleeve as directed in the “Finally it Fits” book. Here is a comparison table:

	“Metric Pattern Cutting for Women’s Wear”	“Finally it Fits”
Bust measurement	88 cm (34 ⅝ in)	88 cm (34 ⅝ in)
Bicep 28.5 cm (11 ¼ in)	28.5 cm (11 ¼ in)	28.5 cm (11 ¼ in)
Armhole depth	21cm + 0.5 cm (8 ¼ in + 3/16) for ease	21cm + 0.5 cm (8 ¼ in + 3/16) for ease
Sleeve width	33.8 cm (13 ¼ in)	32 cm (12 ⅝ in)
Sleeve cap height	5.3 cm (2 ⅛ in)	15 cm (5 ⅞ in)
Ease	5.3 cm (2 ⅛ in)	3.5 cm (1 ⅜ in)
Sleeve cap to armhole ratio	0.65	0.69

 

I’m OK with both sleeves. My personal preference would be a little narrower sleeve with higher sleeve cap, but the sleeves are very close in size and both may fit well. Either sleeve will work as a base. The final sleeve pattern will depend on the style of the garment, fabric used, personal preferences, etc.

As we can see the sleeve cap to armhole height ratio is approximately 65 to 70%. We have to remember this range.