1830's Fan Pleated Sleeve

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 In 2017 on Costume Peoples Facebook page I posted about this sleeve and in the comments section I mentioned I would try to do a tutorial, but life happened, and I never got to it. And this blog seemed like a good excuse to revisit this sleeve.

I made a version of this sleeve for McCarter’s Christmas Carol, designed by Linda Cho in 2017. Mrs.

Fezziwig wore it. It wasn’t in the original design. I was using the photocopy of the bodice as a reference to show Linda. I was not paying attention to the sleeves. Linda loved the sleeves and in they went.

From that experience I learned two things: be careful what you show a designer and how to pattern this sleeve.

FIGURING OUT THE PATTERN:

Looking at pictures of clothing from the past in efforts to recreate them can be intimidating. And I don’t want to undervalue how difficult it can be to reverse engineer a garment from a picture but if it helps - remember - the dressmakers of yore had the same resources we have (or less in some cases) - pencil, ruler, measurements and math. Often the solution is the most basic – easiest solution. 

The way I figured this out – from just the picture – was to look at it and think:

What do I know from the picture

What do I know from experience

What do I need for this particular dress in this particular show.

First, I need an undersleeve that fits well to help the outer sleeve hold its shape. That was a given – and I could then alter that sleeve to make the outer sleeve. The under arm of the sleeve is not pleated – so that left the 2nd and 3rd quarters (or the center portion of the sleeve) to deal with…. that is the complicated part but still I am chipping away. 

Now looking at the picture - what seemed curious was that the pleats on the top of the sleeve pleated toward the front of the body, and the pleats at the bottom pleated in the opposite direction – toward the back.  When I noticed this, I grabbed a clean paper towel that was laying on my desk (I don’t know why – left over from lunch?) and I pleated one end in one direction and the other end in the opposite direction. And pushed the pleated ends closer together so the middle of the paper towel rose up. I pinned the pleated ends to the table and that middle portion that stuck up formed those little zig zag folds with a little finessing. Follow the clues and you will find the answer. So now I just needed to make the pattern.

Looking back at the photo the top of the zig zags aligns with the pleats at the cap and the bottom of the zig zags align with the pleats at the bottom of the sleeve.

I figured out the pleats were drafted like this:

Original Pattern

If you notice it has less depth in the bottom half, something I ended up changing in this newer version of pattern. It is not a trued and perfect pattern, but it did lead to two finished sleeves. I never trued the top/bottom of my pleats. I used this as a starting point and draped them over an undersleeve adjusting the angle of the pleats as necessary. Sometimes you just need to make it.

I did not mockup two complete sleeves– I mocked up one. On one arm I had just the under sleeve so I could fit that if necessary and on the other arm I had the full sleeve so we could talk about proportion. I don’t think much changed from fitting to fabrication – so that was nice. In constructing the sleeve, I edge stitched the zig zag and pleat edges to make maintaining the shape easier on wardrobe and future drapers year after year. Eventually dangling beads were added to the tops of the zig zags.

I had one other consideration – if the sleeve needed a little help the next year I would build a sleeve support.

In the end – in no particular order - I moved into academia, the world shut down for Covid, McCarter welcomed a new artistic leadership, and I am not even sure the dress is used in the current version of McCarter’s Christmas Carol.

Photo by: T. Charles Erickson

I have been wanting to go back to this sleeve and re-pattern it a little more exacting and document the steps. I particularly wanted to figure out how to better true the pleating.

Normally, I would fold my pleats closed and manipulate the top and bottom of a sleeve sloper to follow the new slope of the top and bottom of the new sleeves. But the slope was so severe, this didn’t seem to work. Finally, I realized it was probably a straight, sloped line that was equal to the ½ the sleeve cap measurement. This would of course mirror to the other side and then below to also form the lower half of the sleeve. When you think about it – it’s the easiest solution – a straight line.

PATTERNING THE SLEEVE.

Final Pattern

Pattern marked on muslin

PUTTING THE SLEEVE TOGETHER

The under sleeve was constructed and the cap was eased onto a thin tape taking it in 1½”. On the pleated top sleeve temporarily transfer the pleating marks to the right side. The under arm seam of the pleated top sleeve was sewn together.

Either loosely baste or pin the pleating in. Remember you will most likely tweak the pleats a little as you arrange them on the under sleeve. Begin to connect the under and pleated top sleeve matching up the under-arm seam and the portions of the under arm that are not pleated. Secure these points.  

Then start to pin the over sleeve to the under sleeve at the cap. Arranging the pleats along the curve. I ended up “shaving off” about 1/8 of the top peak. I also found finger pressing the fold lines of the pleats helpful.  

Arrange the bottom pleats – I ended up following the curved line option and shaved off about ¼” of the peak. Curving the pleats up on the bottom caused the pleats to fan out a little more and, in my opinion, added an elegant angle. Finger press the fold lines of the bottom pleats. If the bottom pleated section is a little larger than the under sleeve take a small tuck at the underarm seam or at the first or last pleat.

Once the top and bottom are set, the zig zags should start forming - this might take a little finessing – which is why there is a guideline. The zig zags do not need to fall exactly along this line – it is just a guide. In fact, I ended up pulling the zig zags outward increasing the length of the top pleats and therefore shortening the length of the bottom pleats. In doing this the silhouette of the sleeve is also altered. Take a minute to arrange the pleats and where the zig zag falls. When you are happy baste the undersleeve and the top pleated sleeve together at top and bottom.

Add tiny stitches below the cap line and above the bottom stitch lines to help control the pleats where needed. Add a ½” sleeve band at the bottom.

Finished Sleeve

 The same patterning technique can be used for this fan pleated sleeve.