Polyester chiffon, rayon challis, cotton voile and lightweight novelty knits are some other options you can try. If the dress is from a lightweight material you can use the same for the sleeves but in my case the dress material was too heavy for the sleeves. And of course the same color as the dress, or a color that works well with it. You want something drapey and lightweight like this natural silk chiffon I used here. Properly chosen fabric is the key to a good flutter sleeve. What You’ll Need To Make Your Flutter Sleeves For a more complete picture, I recommend exploring both versions. If you’re looking to add a feminine touch to your simple dress, then flutter sleeves are just what you need!Īttention! If you like the video format, at the bottom of this post, look for a YouTube video version where there is a step-by-step tutorial on how to make a flutter sleeve. They’re easy to make and flattering on many body types! A pear body shape is best suited for this type of sleeves because they give volume to the upper part of the body and their width balances the figure. These flowy loose sleeves are perfect for summer tops and dresses. ✅ Related tutorial: How to dress well: flattering clothes that hide figure flaws ✅ Related tutorial: How to choose clothes and patterns to hide a big tummy No, this is not a sleeve that will protect you from the elements! But this is another trick in our arsenal to use for enhancing the body appearance and de-emphasizing the less desirable features. If any of the steps seem confusing, you can visit the original flutter sleeve dress sewing tutorial for a few more photos.As the name suggests, a flutter sleeve is quite literally a fluttering piece of fabric that hangs off your arm. If your daughter is on the short side, you might want to use 21 inches of elastic instead of 22. Use a safety pin to thread the elastic through. When you topstitch (in photo #2 above), do it from the underside so you can sew as close to the edge of the bias tape as possible. Make a casing for your elastic along the neckline: If you’ve never used bias tape before you may want to read this tutorial. These steps were a little hard to photograph, so I hope this makes sense. It looks like this:Īttach the sleeves to the dress (I’ve used photos from both the dress and top to try to best show the steps): It’s called single fold, but there are actually two folds in it. The under arms and neckline are finished with 1/2 inch single fold bias tape. You’ll want to cut 2 sleeve pieces, both on the fold, and two dress pieces, again both on the fold.Īdd the trim and finish the bottom edge of the sleeve: The pattern has 3/8 inch seam allowance built in. However, she’s fairly petite for her age, so if the girl you are sewing for is tall you will want to add some length (once it’s finished you can use a shoulder to knee measurement to decide exactly where to hem). Please note that I made this pattern to my daughter’s measurements and she is 3.5 years old and wears a 4T in clothes from the store. Don’t trim anything from the paper just butt the edges up against each other and tape. Print out the pattern and tape it together as you can see below. I’ve included a box on the third page that should measure exactly 1 inch when printed. You’ll want to be sure the printer settings say actual size or 100%. You can get the free flutter sleeve top and dress pattern in size 4T by clicking here. (I made this top from a shirt I thrifted for no particular reason other than that I loved the print.) The first version I made was cut a little low under the arm, so I fixed that in this version. I found it at Joann Fabrics for $2.99 for a roll of 2 yards. I used mini (3/8 inch) pom pom trim again to finish the sleeves and hem because it was so darn cute on the first version – and my daughter loves it. Those of you with girls other sizes could use the pattern as reference along with the instructions from the original flutter sleeve dress post to draft your own pattern – there’s only 2 pieces so it’s pretty simple.Īnd I thought this same pattern would probably look cute as a top, too, so I included a cut line on the pattern so you can use it to make either a dress or a shirt! Today’s post will give a few more details on how to sew either a dress or top from this pattern. I was excited that so many of you asked for a copy of the pattern! I’ve drawn up the pattern (in size 4T only) and you can download it for free later on in this post. Last week I shared a sewing tutorial for a girl’s flutter sleeve sundress and said I’d work on getting a pattern uploaded if people were interested.
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