Patternmaking + Design: Creative Sleeves
Suzy Furrer
Class Preview
0:45
- In-depth Instruction; over 258 mins
- On-demand video access anytime
- Bonus downloadable PDF resources
- Access to class Q&A
Introduction & Getting Started
44:35
Meet your instructor, Apparel Arts founder Suzy Furrer, and consider the changes you'll need to make to a bodice sloper before you start drafting your sleeves. Suzy reviews the pattern modifications needed for a blouse, dress, jacket or coat, then goes over the key measurements you'll want to take for accurate sleeves.
Basic Sleeve Sloper & Tailor Sleeve
51:42
With your measurements in hand, you're ready to draft a sleeve sloper that will serve as the base template for your sleeve designs. Suzy walks you through the drafting process line by line, and shows you how to true up the sloper to your bodice pattern's armhole. Then try your hand at drafting a tailor sleeve, which includes a dart at the elbow for ease of movement. Finally, double-check your final measurements and preserve your sloper by transferring it to sturdier paper.
Two-Piece Sleeve & Sleeve With Vent
27:52
A two-piece sleeve, with or without a vent, is common on jackets and coats. Learn how to draft a two-piece sleeve with the seams just where you want them and make an adjustment to compensate for the arm's natural bend. The add extensions to create a vent with buttonholes. Suzy shows you how.
Sleeve Variations Part 1
54:02
Short sleeves and 3/4-length sleeves are simple to draft if you follow Suzy's tips. Learn how to true up the base of the sleeve for a perfect underarm seam and how to draft the sleeve hem so it isn't skewed. Next, learn how to draft a cute, gathered puff sleeve that you can customize in a number of ways, or a pleated leg o' mutton sleeve with a narrowed elbow. Sleeve heads keep your sleeve puffs lofty, not limp.
Sleeve Variations Part 2
30:41
Add some flare to your sleeves by slashing and spreading your pattern to create a full bell from the shoulder or starting lower on the arm. Suzy shows you how to draft both variations, along with a facing that makes hemming easier. Then try a cute cap sleeve with doubled fabric for structure, or a petal sleeve with overlapping curves.
Lining, Placket, Pleat & Cuff
33:04
If you're drafting a coat or jacket, you'll want your lining to fit well within the sleeve. Suzy demonstrates how to create a lining with added ease for a smooth fit. Suzy also explains the correct positioning of a placket and pleats on a cuffed shirt and walks you through drafting the components. You'll be delighted to see her demonstration of placket folding as she demystifies what can be a confusing construction.
Drop-Shoulder Sleeve & Bodice
15:43
Wrap up your class with a quick draft of a casual dropped-shoulder knit top. Suzy walks you through drafting the bodice, then shows the modifications you'll need to make on your sleeve sloper to accommodate the lowered shoulder. Some basic rules of thumb make it a speedy process
Create custom-fit woven and knit sleeve slopers and use them to design more than a dozen sleeve styles with Apparel Arts founder Suzy Furrer. Build patterns for basic sleeves, tailored sleeves with elbow darts, and two-piece sleeves for a jacket or coat. Draft a short sleeve with an anchor and hem, a three-quarter-length sleeve with a cuff, a mutton-leg sleeve with pleats or darts, and more. Tackle bell sleeves with varying degrees of fullness. Create chic cap sleeves, eye-catching tulip sleeves, and luxuriously lined sleeves. Design sleeves with a placket, pleats, and a cuff perfect for a button-down shirt. Plus, learn how to draft a bodice and sleeve with a drop shoulder. Reach your patternmaking potential! Draft custom sleeves like a fashion designer.
Suzy Furrer
Suzy Furrer has over 35 years’ experience in the fashion industry. She began her career as a freelance patternmaker and directed the development of capsule collections for small fashion companies. Suzy is the Founder and Director of Apparel Arts (established 1996) and Apparel Arts Productions (www.ApparelArtsProductions.com), an online fashion design school established in 2020. Suzy developed a comprehensive curriculum to give students in-depth training to be strong candidates to enter the workforce in apparel or costume design or to simply build strong sewing and drafting skills for one's own personal use. Apparel Arts has graduated hundreds of students who currently work in the apparel or costuming industries. In addition, she has been an instructor for GAP Inc.’s Product Development Immersion Program. Suzy teaches and speaks at sewing and craft conferences, sewing guilds, and art schools and has taught classes for the employees of entertainment giants Pixar and Lucas Films. She is the author of Building Patterns, The Architecture of Women’s Clothing. Last, but not least, Suzy has taught online pattern drafting classes for Craftsy.com since 2011.
Bonus materials available after purchase