I’m so excited to show you how to add a longer sleeve to the Washi Dress as shown in the Ruby Star Washi Dress post! I’ve made a pattern piece that you may download for free (yay!!). For your convenience, the instructions for sewing the sleeve are printed on the pattern piece in addition to this tutorial. Please note that the various sizes of this pattern are UNTESTED, so you use at your own risk. Feel free to email me if you have feedback. Thanks!
This pattern piece is provided with the understanding that it will be used in conjunction with the Washi Dress Sewing Pattern. All files and images are protected by copyright law. You may not distribute or reproduce this file. Please link to this post and not directly to the file itself when referencing this file. Thanks!
Download, print, and tape together the sleeve pattern piece
You will first need to download the sleeve pattern piece and print it out (at 100%, remember to check your scale, people!!) and tape the three pages together.
Adjust size of the pattern if needed
The sleeve piece is for a size Medium, but as you will see, the pattern piece is marked with a line that will allow you to size up/down the pattern piece quite easily just by sliding the two pieces apart/together.
For the larger sizes, where you slide the pieces apart, I would redraw the curve to smooth it out:
And for the smaller sizes, you can just slide the pieces so that the curve overlaps at top:
(but don’t forget to add length at the bottom then!)
It should be noted that the length of this sleeve pattern piece is long enough to come to about elbow length on me when my arms are bent. I have long monkey arms, but even so you may want to add a couple inches to the length of the sleeve if you want it to be a 3/4-length sleeve, just to be on the safe side!
Cut out sleeve pieces
Place sleeve pattern piece along the fold and cut out two sleeves. Transfer dots to fabric with a marking pen.
Gather sleeves
Using a long stitch length and high tension on your sewing machine, stitch between the two dots along the top of the sleeve
Pull threads to gather
Repeat for the other sleeve
Attach sleeve to dress
You’ll need to sew your shoulder seam (front bodice to back) before you attach your sleeve, so do that first:
Then, with the right side of the sleeve facing the right side of the dress, pin the sleeve to the armhole curve, starting at the armpits and moving toward the center. When you get to the gathered part, adjust the gathers as needed and pin excessively to keep your gathers evenly spaced at the shoulder seam. Once you have it pinned, sew the sleeve to the armhole with a 1/2″ seam.
HINT: I like to first machine baste (don’t forget to reset your tension) the sleeve to the armhole, check my gathering, then re-sew with a normal stitch length just to make sure my gathers look the way I want them to.
Now your sleeve should look like this:
Now continue the dress construction by adding the neckline facings (or a lining — check out the video series I made).
THIS PART IS TOTALLY OPTIONAL:
I chose to do a lining, so the next step for me was attaching the lining to the neckline. I used an off-white voile lining and cut out an extra bodice front and bodice back. I also made this neckhole slightly larger by stitching with about a 1″ seam allowance at the base of the neck to lower and widen the neckline slightly and about 1/2″ at the shoulders instead of the normal 1/4″ neckline seam allowance called for in the pattern.
In this version I also added an elastic casing to substitute for the shirring in the back. I cut the back lining piece 1/2″ below the lowest shirring line, then folded that extra 1/2″ under and stitched it down to make an elastic casing that ended where the lowest shirring line would have been):
Then I did the armholes using the lining trick shown in the videos, first rolling up the sleeves and sewing very carefully to keep them out of the way.
When it’s time to sew your side seams, you’ll want to sew up the side seam of the sleeve (in the picture below you can see my finished back lining with the elastic casing; if you go with facings you would see shirring there instead):
Once your side seams are finished, you’ll want to make a casing: fold and press under 1/4″ and then again 1/2″ at the ends of each sleeve. Stitch along the second fold, leaving 1″ open to thread the elastic through. Then cut a piece of elastic long enough to circle your forearm + 1″ and thread that through your casing. Overlap the ends of the elastic and stitch together, then stitch your casing shut.
OK, I really hope that makes sense! ENJOY!!!
24 Responses to Tutorial + Pattern: Long Sleeve for Washi Dress
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Hi! I'm Rae, Head Boss Lady of Made By Rae Enterprises. I love to sew. This blog is a showcase for my crafty stuff.
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Thank you so much for posting this!! I’ll be ready to sew when I get back from Quilt Market.
Hooray! Hooray for flattering clothes during the dark months! Thank you so much.
Oooo thank you for this!! I love how you designed the sleeve pattern with the instructions right on it. That’s really ingenious.
I love that you added sleeves! I’m not a sleeveless person so I wasn’t interested in the beautiful dress right away; now that I see it with sleeves I’m in love!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yay! Thank you so much! Printed. Now to finish this dang Halloween costume (and start/finish a flower girl dress) so I can finally sew Washi 3…
Thankyou Rae!!! I made my first Washi, (in fact, first ever garment for myself!) a couple of weeks ago but coz it’s a bit chilly now here in UK I’ve been wearing it over a ls t-shirt. Now I can use the AMH fabric i ordered for Washi2 to make a beautiful Autumnal version. You rock
xx
thank you!!
Thanks so much! Can’t wait to try this
you are the coolest rae.
You sold me with the sleeves! I just bought the Washi pattern yesterday. I can’t wait to make my first dress with this pattern! If only there weren’t so many Halloween costumes to finish right now.
Yayyyy!!! I think my next Washi is going on the cutting table TONIGHT!
Wow – thanks for sharing a Washi sleeve with us!!! I LOVE my Washi pattern! My first version was a top, but I can’t wait to make a dress with sleeves!! Thank you, thank you!
Thanks for the awesome tutorial! I am getting so interest in making one…I think I may need to order the pattern…
Love this sleeve! However, I’d also like to mention how much it always stuns me that people do not use their iron to press pieces before sewing. Not just so photos of the process look nicer, but so that the finished project turns out better. Ironing fabric before cutting is integral to cutting pieces properly. Pressing pieces before sewing is integral to ensuring a good fit.
I love that more and more and more people are turning to learning sewing and taking hold of the handmade movement for themselves. However, I think it is great to encourage people that following the steps will help you enjoy your finished garments better down the line… no wonky seams!
Hope this doesn’t sound mean, I don’t mean it to.
I’m wish Kristen on this… I don’t go sleeveless any more, but bought the pattern awhile back because I liked the dress so much. Now I can actually sew one up for me. Thanks bunches!!
[...] closures, making it a great apparel pattern for the intermediate sewist. Rae even shows you how to modify the pattern to make long sleeves on her [...]
[...] I really love the scoop neck on Kristin’s dress, as well as the the neckline on Rae’s long sleeve version so I decided to change the look a little on my dress [...]
Ack! Just printed out the PDF and the rectangle is measuring 7 1/4″ x 9 3/4″ instead of 7 1/2″ x 10″. I have no idea how much to adjust the to get it right.
Wondering if anyone else has run into this?
Hey, Jennie, I would love to know if you have found a solution to the problem by any chance? My scale is 100%, but still, every “inch” on the pattern only measures 7/8″. Help, anyone??!?
[...] considering the sleeves Rae has drafted to use with the Washi, I decided to instead pair the sleeves from the Wiksten Tova [...]
[...] of attack since I’ve never sewn sleeves to a lined bodice. But, I remembered Rae’s tutorial and video for adding sleeves to a Washi dress, so I followed that… I’m sure there are other ways to add sleeves to a lined bodice, [...]
How much extra fabric should we purchase if we want to make a dress with sleeves?
Hi Jane,
I don’t know exactly, but I would guess 1/2 yard or slightly more. I’m pretty sure the pattern piece is around 18.” It really depends on whether or not you can sneak it into the current yardage (between other pattern pieces) or if you’ll have to add more fabric.
[...] I made the basic Washi. I didn’t want to go too crazy with my first one and figured a tank top would be better for cardigans in the fall and winter. And since it’s already hitting the 90sF here, no sleeves is a GREAT option. I shirred the back (my first time ever) and added the pockets. Next time I think I would like to try one of her variations. I especially like the long sleeved option as seen here. [...]