For our discussion on setting in sleeves this week, Donna will be focusing on The Tulip Sleeve, or petal sleeve. It’s easy to see where the name comes from. The sleeve looks like a tulip or petals of a flower, so it’s known by both names.

A tulip style sleeve, with its curved edges, gives a garment a lovely feminine detail that is just right for a more tailored design.

This style of sleeve can be a little confusing when you just look at the pattern pieces because this kind of sleeve usually has two pattern pieces for each sleeve. It is important to mark any symbols and notches, so it will be easier to see how to match the sleeve sections together. You will see that it looks like a normal sleeve shape once the two pieces are overlapped at the sleeve cap.

The sleeves featured in the video are from dKinley designs’ pattern, Two Tulips Dress, but the general instructions would apply to most tulip sleeve patterns. Because the sleeves on this pattern are lined, rather than hemmed, it works best to use a lightweight fabric because of the number of layers at the sleeve cap. If a thicker fabric, such as quilting weight cotton, is to be used for a tulip style sleeve, you would probably get better results by using a single layer of fabric and hemming the lower edges.

Follow along as Donna demonstrates how to construct the sleeve sections, both lined and unlined, and then put them together to form the sleeve. She goes on to discuss applying the sleeve to the garment, correcting potential problems, and cleanly finishing a lined garment at the sleeves.
Find the Two Tulips pattern here: https://www.pixiefaire.com/collections/dkinley-designs/products/two-tulips-dress-18-doll-clothes-pattern
Join us in giving Tulip sleeves a try!