Sleeve gusset just. Not. Cooperating.

[VintageJen1984]

Adding the upper part of the sleeves of <a href="http://www.mccallpattern.com/item/M4491.htm">Mccalls M4491 view D</a> (with the upper and lower sleeves), and it took me three tries but I got the gusset to cooperate on the right sleeve. But the left sleeve, I have undone and redone more times than that and it just. wont. work. It is pulling the side of the dress weirdly and the gusset appears to be too small. Except it isn't, because it's the same size as the other one! (I know, that may not be a good example, haha!) I'll admit, my left arm is maybe just a tad fatter than my right arm (okay, more than just a tad, but I'm left handed so the muscle is built up more.) However, I am not seeing an easy fix within reach. I know its my first garb, and actually it's my first sleeve too! So I should be proud  I even pulled it off without more serious problems! But the entire thing is off somehow and I'm worried it will affect the rest of the dress. It's tons better now than it was the first four or five times I ripped and resewed, but the seams are just as close to the edge as I can get them, at this point. Not to mention the fabric is starting to look worse for the wear around there for ripping so much.

I cut the sleeves to the biggest size in the pattern, a 20, because my very large arms are always being strangled by the sleeves on shirts with form fitting sleeves, and the armscye in a 14, as that is my bodice size. I AM aware that I should have cut the bodice area a 14, the sleeve area of the bodice a 20, and the lower part of the dress an 18, but it is too late now to fix the armholes in the bodice part. The right sleeve worked great and even though it only occurred to me that fitting a size 20 sleeve to a size 14 armhole would be a problem after I tried doing it, again, it worked great on the right sleeve after a couple of tries. Should I cut out a larger gusset? (it was OSFA, but I could make a bigger one, no problem). I really hate to rip AGAIN, and with TRF on FRIDAY, and two more (night) shifts, one of which I should be using to add grommets to the back so it can lace up and sewing the lower sleeves (which you will remember I am making reversible) and the lining...I have so much work left to do, most of which will end up getting done on THANKSGIVING, of all days, and WAY TOO CLOSE to the deadline for my comfort. Not to mention my pouch and headdress, OH and did I mention the lining has this pesky sleeve gusset too? So I have to do it two more times. And I don't care if the lining looks bad...but if it affects the fit of the dress that will bother me too.

Are there ANY tips? I know a couple of you mentioned in my other thread on the dress that you had made this dress and some of them with sleeves, and I posted at the end of that thread that I was having trouble early yesterday morning and no one ever got back to me about it. I thought maybe starting a new thread about the specific problem might be a better idea, so more people would see it. I was hoping to use this dress for several seasons, and make one other garb, but if it stresses the sleeve too much it wont hold up.

Thanks in advance for any advice you have for me. I'll be back on tonight at work, and hopefully the sewing I have left to do is less time consuming than I expect, what with two more sleeves to do on the lining!

[Betty Munro]

I hope someone can help ... my suggestion is to baste it first to cut down on fabric slipping and pulling, and then cross your toes and sew.  Then just live with it the way it is.  Garb doesn't have to be perfect, it just needs to be fun.  If it is uncomfortable, that is different.  It might have to be cut larger than the pattern size.  (I'm a 10 standard clothing but anywhere between a 12 and 18 in pattern sizes!)  I hope you get it worked out, faire in garb is so fun!  Plus you can always wear it for the day, and then fix it after faire.

[Lady L]

Maybe it's pulling because it wasn't cut on the straight of the grain? Do you have enough fabric to cut another gusset?

[Kate XXXXXX]

Try making the right gusset kite shaped rather than square and opening up the sleeve seam a little more to accommodate the extra inches needed in that sleeve.

When arms are fatter (like mine!), I tend to work with the sleeve pattern that fits the armscye and do a sleeve fattening exercise.  You slit the sleeve pattern from the point of the sleeve head to the elbow or wrist seam line, and across at under arm level.  Spread by the extra needed so you have an elongated pointy cross shaped hole.  Stick down to more paper, true up the sleeve head and side seams, and use.  This puts the extra needed at the bicep where it is usually needed, but keeps the sleeve head unchanged in size, so you don't end up trying to fit a larger sleeve head into an armscye that is too small for it.