Do you think that dresses with puff sleeves are adorable and feminine? Most period dresses have puffy sleeves that are either long or short. Some of these dresses may come as austere yet having puff/balloon sleeves on them can elevate the appearance of the dress.
In the cosplaying community, some participants happen to like what these period dresses represent. Clothing of a certain period has been a reflection of what society believes in. Cosplayers have adapted the idea of wearing these unique frocks that represent bygone eras.
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Puff Sleeves And Modern Fantasy Fashion
Modern fantasy fashion is reminiscent of youth and all the fairytales associated with ribbons and balloon sleeves. Ball gowns are worn on Halloween and are one of the Disney princesses wearing a magnificent and fancy gown with puffed sleeves, tiara, and jelly sandals to highlight the annual event.
Puff Sleeve And The Contemporary Mainstream
Ready to wear contemporary mainstream has revived outfit with balloon sleeves. The usual normal sleeve we see on t-shirts and blouses are tweaked to create interesting kinds of sleeve styles. The trend is fueled by the fashion industry who makes it a point to make puff sleeves a part of their collection. This, in turn, influences people to wear the season’s must-haves.
Puffed Sleeves For Cosplay
Let us now delve into making puffy sleeves as part of our cosplay costume. Most of the time, problems occur because we were not able to sew it well that the sleeve falls. Most cosplayers do their costume and encounter these sewing issues. Costume patterns do differ from regular patterns, as they should be easy to hack and easy to sew.
Costumes in cosplay and period dresses, with classic puff sleeves, are making a resurgence. Regardless of the character you represent, if you cosplay and period dress costume is your preference, you will likely encounter frocks or gowns with these sleeve styles. If you make your costume, tutorial on puff sleeves are available online that can assist you to pull off making your attire.
Pattern And Design For Making Puffy Sleeves
Materials Needed
- Sleeve pattern pieces
- Pencil and Ruler
- Tape
- Fabric Scissors
- Fabric and thread
- Pins
Slash And Spread Pattern Technique
Get a pattern to guide you in the making and cutting of garments before sewing. It is essential when you want to pull off making fancy necklines, zippers, or just any shape you want with the dress. It can help you add fullness to your creation by adding space between the pieces (spread) of your garments before cutting (slash) them.
Changing Sleeve Style
Have your pattern ready by printing and cutting it. Decide where your cut lines should be. The rule is: where you cut, that would be the area where you add fullness.
If you want to have puffiness all over the sleeves of the shoulder area, you have to use the slash and spread technique on the vertical and horizontal lines. Check the level of the back and top notches and draw a line across the sleeve’s top. From the center notch, draw vertical cut lines using a ruler.
Locate your side notches and make two more vertical lines. Make sure that the last two lines between your side and center slashes are evenly spaced.
To avoid excessive bulk that can make you uncomfortable when wearing your costume, check to see that there are no cut lines below the back and front notches as these can result in gathers around the arm area.
Cutting Your Pattern Pieces
After printing the puff sleeve pattern, it’s time to cut it. Before doing so, it is crucial to label them clearly. Patterns depending on their position can be labeled as A to E for the bottom row and B1, B2, etc. for the top pieces.
Spread Your Pattern
Depending on your preference, you can keep a finished copy of your pattern. Do this by tracing the puff sleeve pattern on a piece of paper or contrasting fabric. This will be the original sleeve pattern that you can use and measure the fabric in the making of different styles of puffed sleeves.
Puff Sleeve Tutorial
Puffed Sleeve With No Gathers At Cuff
To create this kind of puff sleeve style, change your stitch length to a longer stitch when sewing the sleeve. Start sewing from the front notch to back, along the top of your sleeve. Gather this part of your sleeve by pulling the thread gently to create the puff.
Finish the hem by sewing the sleeve seam using a normal stitch. Do this by switching your sewing machine to normal mode.
Puffed Sleeves With Pleated Cuffs
A pleated cuff puff sleeve can be made by keeping the same volume of the top sleeves. Add a gap at the bottom of the center cut to make a less curvy sleeve edge.
Start by gathering the sleeve and sewing the side seam. To avoid turning the fabric under, sew the hem or edges with bias tape. This will result in a smaller hem and a smoother edge. If you pleat the bottom, it will close the extra space that was made at the pattern of the center split. It will create a much cleaner sleeve finish.
Puffed Sleeves With Elastic Cuff
This is a traditional way of making puffed sleeves. Add the gathers at the shoulder and the cuff by equally spreading the pieces at the top and bottom of your pattern. As you did with the other sleeve styles, gather the top and bottom and turn the hem under 1/4″ and 3/4″. Elastic will be inserted so make sure to stitch close to the inside fold while leaving a small gap for inserting.
Final Part
What issues did you encounter while making puffy sleeves? Did you encounter disjointed info while looking for a tutorial on the topic? Dresses with this sleeve style no longer fit special events. Instead it has now become a part of our daily wear, and even added an interesting angle to cosplaying.
