Jun 18 2019
What have you all been sewing lately? Here's a little update on my sewing adventures!
I hadn’t made anything with a raglan sleeve for a while and with some better weather around the corner (I hope), I wanted to try out a new spring fabric, Cotton Millefleur in Burnt sienna, from Dashwood Studio.
A raglan sleeve is a type of sleeve whose distinguishing characteristic is to join to the front and back bodice with a diagonal seam running from the neckline to the underarm.
It is named after Lord Raglan, the 1st Baron Raglan, who is said to have worn a coat with this style of sleeve after the loss of his arm in the Battle of Waterloo. The Raglan sleeve was invented by coat producer Aquascutum for Lord Raglan to allow him room to use his sword in battle. It gave greater movement to the wearer, instead of the usual set-in sleeve head, which was prefixed.
Raglan sleeves are sewn to the front and back bodice as flat pieces, before sewing the underarm, making them easier to construct than set-in sleeves, the kind that are sewn into a tube before being inserted into a round armhole. This makes a garment with raglan sleeves a great dress project for beginners. With this in mind, I have added it as an option to our Dressmaking in a Day and Step by Step: Introduction to Dressmaking workshops.
It makes it a bit more interesting to add some decorative piping to the seams or use some imaginative colour blocking!
There are numerous sewing patterns with raglan sleeves to try out, Grainline studio’s Linden Sweatshirt is one, let me know if you have any favourites
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