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is sleeve cap ease really bogus?
Calendria   Advanced Beginner AK USA Member since 7/4/05 Posts: 595	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 7/24/12 8:19 PM I know I've posted this before but would love more of a debate on this. is it really bogus? which camp are you on and why? to ease or to NOT ease. do women with bigger upper arms REALLY need more ease?
Marilly Advanced Beginner OR USA Member since 7/9/06 Posts: 609	Login to reply to this post In reply to Calendria << Like this post Date: 7/24/12 11:35 PM Depends. Clothing style...is it a fitted blouse or a camp shirt? A fitted blouse wears differently on the shoulders than a camp shirt. The camp shirt will not need as much ease or height in the cap since it's usually worn at shoulders edge or below vs. closer into the body over the ball of the shoulder fit a blouse might have. I also don't expect to move as dynamically in fitted style as I might in a casual one. Fabric type...knit or woven? Knits don't need as much depending on their stretch & recovery factor, be it 2 way or 4 way, and can get away with no cap ease and less cap height. Wovens are more likely to need some, depending on style demands , thickness and hand of the fabric and your prefs in shoulder fit. How do like your shoulders to fit? I'm a petite plus with 14.5 bicep and prefer a minimal bicep ease of about 1.5 - 2 in. and a .5-1 in. max cap ease for wovens. For knits I go with 0 -.5 in. cap ease and 1 -1.5 bicep ease. I wear my knit sleeves closer into my body than I do wovens and I do not have a beefy shoulder ball..it's my bicep that is bigger and flabby so more often than not I opt for next to no ease. That and knits stretch so you'll get have ease just because of that. If I wore my woven close in as described above I would need a bit more to cup over my shoulder ball. I personally prefer wearing wovens closer to my shoulder edge, it's just a me thing. Bottom line..for me anyway. All these factors above help me judge how much, so it's not a cut and drive decision. Shel
andye   Beginner VA USA Member since 5/9/09 Posts: 1532	Login to reply to this post 1 member likes this. Date: 7/24/12 11:39 PM Ah, the debate. I believe itt was the fashion incubator that first called sleeve cap ease "bogus". There are two problems with sleeve cao ease. First, the armscye is not symetrical, but sleaves frequently are drafted as if they were. Without a perfect match beteen armscye and cap, the sleeve has to be eased in. Second, the wide seam allowance decreases the circumference of the armscye and increases the circumference of the sleave, so you can't just match fabric edges. Fassanella gets around this by drafting the patterns properly and using narrow seam allowances.
Calendria   Advanced Beginner AK USA Member since 7/4/05 Posts: 595	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 7/25/12 3:02 AM is there any pattern in the world that does this?
petro   Intermediate FRANCE Member since 6/24/07 Posts: 2204	Login to reply to this post 2 members like this. Date: 7/25/12 9:17 AM It depends on fabric, and style as much as fit. Until I read threads on PR about this issue, I did not realise that people were struggling to fit a few inches of ease in, or that pattern companies were drafting symmetrical sleeves. This is what I was taught and it still holds good I think. A shirt sleeve, or one which is tending to that kind of fit low on the shoulder, deeper underarm shouldn't need or have ease. The sleeve head is drafted much flatter, a different kind of curve. A knit, depending on the stability/stretchiness and the style often doesn't need ease, but is only drafted symmetrically in cheap sweatshirts à la mass production, where a neat fit isn't really an issue. A set in sleeve should be shaped differently front and back, as should the armscye. It tends to be worn higher on the shoulder. The higher ( shorter the shoulder seam) the more necessary it is to have some ease to get a good fit. This is because the head of the sleeve is going up the side of the arm, (one dimension) and across the top of the shoulder ball joint (second dimension). RTW gets around this by the judicious use of styling and shoulder pads, and you can set a sleeve in without ease and get a good looking garment which has hanger appeal and fits a lot of people pretty well without ease. Couture garments, and personally tailored garments tend to use ease, especially if the shoulder seam is high. A high fitting shoulder, when in fashion, looks pretty neat and businesslike. The garment lets you move your arm without the effect of a shoulder pad lifting up independently. Those with small, sloping shoulders and a larger top arm measurement have a particular fitting difficulty, and couture tends to use padding to 'correct' fit, as well as for fashion reasons. A shoulder pad can help to lift the shoulder line and get more room into the armhole, so that the width needed at top arm can be more easily accommodated. That's about where I stand on this controversy Oh, and you don't need inches of ease, if the pattern is asking you to ease in a huge balloon of fabric, something is a bit peculiar. ------ so many patterns, clamouring to be sewn http://patternpandemonium.wordpress.com/
jadamo00 Advanced NY USA Member since 3/13/06 Posts: 1235	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 7/25/12 10:10 AM RELEVANT QUESTION: What is the MAXIMUM, SANE amount of ease that can be in a sleeve cap? j.
sewsally   Intermediate WA USA Member since 8/18/02 Posts: 1200	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 7/25/12 11:19 AM For wool jackets maybe 1.5 inches at the most. Blouses 1 inch or less. Knits almost zero. But of course there should be enough room to go around your bicep muscle with some ease.
Diahn   Advanced TN USA Member since 6/27/05 Posts: 131	Login to reply to this post In reply to petro << Like this post Date: 7/25/12 12:06 PM Thank you for your detailed explanation. ------ http://seamslikeparadise.blogspot.com/
Calendria   Advanced Beginner AK USA Member since 7/4/05 Posts: 595	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 7/25/12 3:45 PM okay thank you sooooo much. I will try yet again
Lena Merrin Expert/Couture AUSTRALIA Member since 2/5/09 Posts: 477	Login to reply to this post In reply to jadamo00 << 3 members like this. Date: 7/25/12 7:14 PM Sleeve ease depends on the properties of the fabric. On average in made to meaure the sleeve cap ease is 10-12% of the length of the armscye (average sleeve) . In factory method it would be about 6-8%. Jacket sleeve cap ease is about 7% (factory made). P.S. I am busy writing a book on sleeve, so I am researching the subject very closely -- Edited on 7/25/12 7:15 PM -- ------ www.thesewingspace.com

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