Constructing my sleeve block

I started the construction process by folding the sleeve in half and pinning it in place.

I then cut a lot of little snips in the seam allowance at the top of the sleeve block where it will meet the bodice block, this allows you to create a nice curved seam over the shoulder that lays flat with little or no puckering.

I then placed it into the armhole in my bodice before pinning all the little snips to the bodice arm hole trying to spread them out to create the curve. Then I sewed along the seam allowance attaching my sleeve block to the bodice. Once I had finished sewing and removed it from the machine, I realised that I had somehow not only sewn the sleeve but I had sewn a bit of my bodice to it as well. So then I got some assistance to help me unpick the sleeve so I could re-sew it as I had used quite a small stitch length. After this mistake I have learnt that I need to use a slightly bigger stitch length, as mistakes are inevitable and this makes it easier to unpick.

So I re-sewed it and this time the sleeved turned out better than last time but I had a bit of puckering so I unpicked sections that were puckered instead of unnecessarily completely unpicking it. I then re-pinned it and sewed it again, I has happy with this finished sleeve after a couple of attempts.

I found the sleeve block the hardest block to sew, as it is very fiddly to attach to the bodice block. On the first sleeve it took several attempts to get it right and a lot of unpicking. I sewed the second sleeve a different way which I found easier but still took a couple of attempts to get right. For this I had to unpick the side seam on my bodice and the other sleeves seam that I had sewed earlier.

I then drew on my bodice where the armhole is 1.5cm seam allowance. So I can make some cuts in the seam allowance.

I sewed it once and decided that I had a couple of odd pucks, so I unpicked a couple of sections and then re-sewed those sections. After I re-sewed it I was a lot happier with the curved shoulder seam.

This is my finished sleeves attached to my bodice block, that I had made previously.

Constructing and attaching a sleeve is very tricky and takes a lot of practice to get perfect with no puckering and for it to be very neat and even.

For my first time sewing sleeves I am happy with the final result as I now appreciate how difficult it is to attach a sleeve to a bodice, if I constructed a sleeve block in the future I would use the second method.