How to Sew a Flutter Sleeve

Join us for another Off the Cuff with Kate. This week, Kate is sewing a flutter sleeve to the Charli Anne Wrap Dress.
And be sure to take advantage of our Semi-Annual Sale, now through Saturday, Sept.12th! 20% off of the entire store!
Today, I’m sewing a flutter sleeve on the Charli Ann Wrap Dress from Sew to Grow, with a few extra bodice tips tossed in.
I’m using our Cotton + Steel Hermione Rayon in Slate for this project, and after I cut out the front bodice and simply carried it to the sewing room, it immediately stretched out along the front diagonals. To counteract the stretch, I compared the fabric to the pattern piece, steamed the fabric back to size, and applied WOVEN stay tape to the diagonal to keep it in place. I also applied woven stay tape to the wrong side of the back shoulder seams so they wouldn’t stretch out.
The most challenging part of sewing a flutter sleeve is hemming a curve, but I have tips to make it easier:
Mark the wrong side of the fabric ½” from the curved edge (or the depth of your hem).
Thread trace by machine along the marking.
Iron ½” KNIT stay tape to the edge. The knit stay tape will curve nicely.
Press the hem toward the wrong side, using the thread tracing and the knit stay tape as guides.
Tuck ¼” from the raw edge into the ½” hem.
Hand baste along the edge of the hem from the wrong side.
Topstitch the hem in place from the right side. Your hand basting will guide your stitches.
Inserting the sleeve works the same as a non-flutter sleeve. The Charli Ann instructions have you sew the sleeve to the armscye before you sew the side seam, which is challenging with a woven. Here are a few tips to make it easier:
The Charli Ann sleeves are cut on the fold, so the front and the back are the same, and the shoulder-seam mark is at the half-way point. The back armscye is longer than the front armscye, however, so I shifted the half-way point on the sleeve cap approximately ½” toward the back armscye.
The pattern instructions do not say to gather the sleeve cap at all, but the sleeve cap seamline is longer than the armscye seamline. After distributing the extra fabric in the sleeve cap evenly, I sewed the sleeve to the armscye with the sleeve against the feed dogs. The feed dogs pull the fabric that’s against them faster than the fabric that’s against the presser foot, which does the easing for you!
Press the sleeve in place on a tailor’s ham.
That’s it! I know I have included a lot of steps, but they all make your job easier.
Charli Anne Wrap Dress: bit.ly/Charliann
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[@brendafoley6995]

Hi, I am about to cut this pattern out! Lucky I found your video. I am using woven cotton. Are you using a stretch fabric?

[@ConfidentStitch]

Hi! I’m using a woven rayon, so woven cotton should work great!