Yes, we’re going to jump ahead a hundred pages of the text. The particularly observant may have noticed that at no point did Mr. Regal tell us how we were going to shape or cut sleeves for the sack coat that we’ve spent all this time learning how to draft and adjust. That’s because he had a few dozen variations on body patterns to get through first. If we want to have something like a finished jacket, though, we’ll want to at least see what the sleeves should look like! These three diagrams give a basic sleeve to attach to our basic sack coat.
Diagrams 75 and 76 : Sleeve Measurements
Our first goal is simply to measure the existing armscye so that we know how to size the final sleeve. This will also tell us how to place our armhole notches, which will make placing the sleeve easier when it comes time to attach it.
First we’ll want the armscye circumference, shown in Diagram 75. Measure along starting at 1 around the armscye and back up to 3. We’ll also note the locating of the front notch here, at point 2, which is 1″ above the breastline. So simply locate the point on the armscye curve that is 1″ from the breastline.
For the sample diagrams so far, we should get 19″ for the armscye circumference.
Next we’ll need to locate the back notch, 5, which is 1/4 the armscye circumference up from the breastline. Again, locate the point that is the appropriate distance (in this case 4.75″) above the breastline and mark that as point 5. Also note point 4 which is where the tangent at 5 crosses the breastline, or just where your ruler should be when you found point 5.
Now set the two pieces so the shoulder seam is aligned as in Diagram 76. Measure the distance from the front notch to the back notch, which is from point 2 to point 5, in this case 9.25″.
Once again, Regal assumes we have some additional measurements already on hand. Notably the sleeve length and width. We already figured out a good length, way back when we looked at Diagram 1, based on the standard table of measurements for the sample breast measure. The width of the sleeve at the hemline is a bit arbitrary. I just pulled a jacket out of my closet and measured. It’s about 5″.
| Measurement (inches) | |
| Armscye | 19 |
| Front Notch Height | 1 |
| Back Notch Height | 4.75 |
| Front to Back Notch | 9.25 |
| Sleeve Length | 18 |
| Sleeve Width | 5 |
Diagram 77: Drafting the Sleeve
Step 1
As always, our first step will be to select a starting point, A, and to square down and out from that. From point A to point B is 1/3 the armscye circumference we got earlier, in this case 6-1/3″ down. From B we go back up to C by the back notch height and to D by the front notch height; meaning that B to C is 4.75″ and B to D is 1″ given the measurements found above. B to E is the desired sleeve length, 18″ in this case.
Now square out from A, B, C, and E.
Step 2
From D to K is the back notch height (9-1/4″) and point K is on the horizontal line coming out from C. So we need to find the only point that meets these criteria.
Square down from K to locate L, which is the point where this line crosses the horizontal line coming out from B.
Step 3
Point M is halfway between B and L. Based on our measurements, distance B-L should be 8-4/9″ so that means that point M should be 4-2/9″ from either one.
Square up from M to locate points O and N. O appears where the vertical line from M crosses line D-K and N appears where it meets the horizontal line from A.
Step 4
Point P is halfway between A and N, about 2-1/9″ here.
Draw a line connecting P to D.
Step 5
From K to V is 1/2″ if we’re attaching this sleeve to a garment with an underarm fish, and 1/4″ otherwise. The 1/2″ is also for frock coats and the 1/4″ for overcoats, for if we start looking at those styles later.
Go back from V by another 1/4″ and then draw a line from this new (unlabeled) point to M.
Step 6
Draw a line connecting point O to point E.
Now draw another line starting at E which is perpendicular to line O-E. Point U is the sleeve width plus 1″ away from point E along this line, or 6″ given the assumed width above.
Step 7
Draw a horizontal line back from B 1-1/4″ to locate point G. Go back the same distance horizontally from E to locate point H.
Go forward from B horizontally by the same distance as B to G to find point I.
Now go along line E-U by the same distance as E to H to find point J.
Draw lines connecting G to H and I to J.
We’ll add in the sleevehead here. It’s a curve which starts at K and comes out so that it will be tangent to line A-N at N; then it curves back down, running along line D-P through point D. From D we then smoothly curve the other way, until it ends at point G, tangent to the line B-G. That seems like a lot, but all we’re looking for is a nice, smooth curve linking up points G, D, N, and K as shown below.
Step 8
We’re finally ready to actually shape something that looks like a sleeve.
Here we encounter another place where Regal decided to simply not give full instructions. We need to place points Q, R, and S to shape the elbow of the sleeve but, instead of simply saying so, the text just proceeds as if we’d already found these three points earlier. These instructions don’t appear anywhere else in the book, either, so figuring out what to do here is a matter of guessing based on other sources and Regal’s own images.
The missing instruction is as follows, Q-R-S is the elbow line. Place Q about 1″ above the midpoint of G and H and square out. Where this line crosses line I-J place point R and where it crosses the vertical line coming down from L mark point S.
Now we’re going to hollow the sleeve by 3/4″ at Q and R. Come in along the elbow line by 3/4″ from Q and R and draw smooth curves connecting G to H and I to J which pass through those points.
Finally, come out the same amount (3/4″) from S and mark point T. Draw a similar curve connecting K to T to U.
Step 9
The last step is to go up from I by 1/4″ to mark point F and shape the undersleeve. This will involve drawing a curve that stars off along line V-M, then tangent to line I-M and ends at point F.
Draw another curve from V through L to T, it should smoothly link up with the curve that started from K.
At last we have both the upper and under sleeve completely shaped. Now we need to trace and cut the two pieces out.
I actually had these printed out at Kinko’s at the same time as the sack coat body pattern pieces from before to save on paper. The whole thing fits on a single sheet of A0 paper.
Conclusion
Finally we have two actual sleeve pattern pieces that we can use to cut out some fabric. So we trace the pattern onto our chosen fabric, add the necessary seam allowance, cut it out, sew it together, and attach to the coat. Easy.
