Sleeve investigations

Shoulder pad examples:

You can see here that these are very modern types of shoulder pads with the use of modern materials. It is said that should pads originally were made from horsehair. I can see myself making me own shoulder pads with the left over wadding from the lining so that I can have padding that is the correct shape and thickness needed for this particular coat. My plan is to gauge this during my next fitting. 

I came across these examples of should padding and sleeve heading. From what I can gather these have been removed from old suits are are very interesting to investigate. 

The use of canvas/linen to give the heading extra structure.

This looks like hand stitching to me.

I decided to do a practise shoulder with scrap wool fabric before I proceeded to the cutting the final sleeve. I thought that this would be a wide choice because of the fact that some materials sit differently when cut, in my case I knew that that there was a chance that wool would compared to the canvas toile fabric. If theres anything that I've learn't it is better to be extra cautious when insure of the circumstances.

I thought I would pin the should pad in first to look at the shape that it gives. From what I can see it creates a good amount of thickness. This may be the right size of padding that i'll ultimately need for the final garment. I also decided to buy sleeve heading from mandors; thats good about this stuff is that it has a layer of stiffened canvas which gives it an even better structure.



Having the sleeve heading and the shoulder pad has added alot of extra structure and thickness, but my main concern is how much would actually be needed for this particular size and style of garment. It is difficult to judge when I don't have my model in call whenever I need him.

Unfortunately the sleeve head test did not go the way I was expecting. Instead of the sleeve head sitting with a lip, it fell below the shoulder seam. I eventually came to the conclusion that it must have been because there is not enough ease in the sleeve. This does make sense because I felt that there could have been slightly more ease when putting the toile together however I didn't see it as an issue as the time because it looked perfectly fine during the fitting. However, this is a prime example of how fabrics can sit differently due to their nature e.g thickness in this case. I made the right decision in doing a tester because I now know what would have happened if I hadn't, I would have wasted very expensive fabric. In future I will be more inclined to make this choice as it will help my journey in the long run by correcting mistakes before it becomes too difficult to do so. Another issue could be that the thickness of the shoulder pad and the sleeve heading combined with the fabric actually creates too much bulk causing the sleeve to lie flat and pulled with no room. The next step is to reconfigure the paper pattern adding more ease before I progress to cutting the final sleeves.

These are some very formative links that I have come across in my research that guide you with how to set in a sleeve which will be very useful for me for the future progression on to the final piece.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7370831@N07/5418961364/in/set-72157625924156568/
http://everythingsewing.blogspot.ca/2011/11/setting-in-sleeves.html
http://thesewingdivas.wordpress.com/2008/10/09/sleeve-heads/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7370831@N07/5178543224/in/set-72157625253865870/
http://tuttofattoamano.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/sleeves

very interesting video to watch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qps2Uy4qSWw&feature=player_embedded#at=134

Sample of cuff decoration. 

Ideally I would have prefered to have used my Russia braid for this sample however there still is no sign of its arrival. I would like to use this decoration on my final costume piece... I like the idea of it being quite simple but still an interesting decorative piece.

example of cuffs

As I have already stated, this outfit is not going to be historically exact as I feel that it is important for me to investigate..

As you can see these Hussars captains from the 7th and 8th French Regiments have rows of Chevrons as a symbol of their high status in the ranks. However, I personally feel that I should approach this aspect in a more simplistic way due to factors such as budget; these laces are barely affordable for a student therefore for me in this present time I would work out much more affordable for me to use Russia braid only. If I were going for authenticity I would know what I would need to do in future, but as this is an experimental first time recreation I know where my limits are.