Sleeve Alterations and Vegan Cheese

I made up the Butterick 6754 blouse. It fits well and will serve as a good jumping-off point for other tops, but it required some adjustment to the sleeves. I’m not sure what it is about sleeves, but I always seem to be making changes to them.

First, the finished top.

It could stand to be lengthened a bit but it’s not bad as is. This is some polyester charmeuse from the Joann Fabrics clearance rack. The fabric frayed a bit as I was working with it but was otherwise well behaved. Inside seams were serged, or sewn and finished with the serger.

I cut the sleeves according to the pattern. When it came time to set them into the armscye, however, I discovered that the sleeve cap was way too tall. The most obvious explanation was that the sleeves were intended to be gathered at the shoulder. I looked at the pattern envelope. It did not include a description of the finished garment. I looked at the photos on the cover. The sleeves did not look gathered to me. I looked at the line art. The drawings did not illustrate a gathered sleeve.

One of the rules of pattern drafting is that the length of the curve of the sleeve cap should be a few inches (1.5-2.5”) longer than the circumference of the armscye. That extra length is eased in when setting in the sleeve. I measured the circumference of the armscye. It measured 19”. I then measured the curve of the sleeve cap in the pattern. It measured 23”. That difference was more than a few inches. Based on the number of YouTube videos out there on altering sleeve caps, I am beginning to think this is a common issue on set-in sleeves. Either this sleeve was intended to have gathers at the shoulder—not reflected in the photos or line art—or something was screwy with the pattern drafting.

I was making the D-cup bodice for my size. I have a hunch that that is where things went sideways, because the pattern piece for the sleeve was the same for every garment size and cup variation. One of the things that happens when adding bust darts for larger cup sizes is that the shape of the armscye changes. The front of the armscye rotates into the armpit in order to keep the armhole opening from gaping. That, in turn, changes the circumference of the armscye. My theory is that drafting the sleeve cap for the smallest cup size without making corresponding changes for the larger cup sizes results in a sleeve cap that is too tall.

[As they say in construction, “Every part of your house is connected to every other part of your house.”]

I redrew the sleeve cap so the curve measured somewhere in the neighborhood of 21”. I cut two new sleeves, serged the seams and hemmed them, then set each sleeve into the sleeve opening. They went in perfectly. The sleeve seam lies smoothly on the body with no puckers or gathers.

And now I have a basic dressy blouse pattern. Hooray.

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DD#2 sent me a copy of her food allergy test results. I still haven’t received my copy, but based on what my naturopath told me, it looks like she and I have very similar test results. I am struggling to make sense of this, however. This was an IgG antibody blood test. The jury seems to be out on whether this kind of test is reliable or not. Is the patient reacting to the food because it isn’t healthy or because it’s something he or she eats regularly? DD#2 reacted strongly to wheat. On my test, apparently it didn’t register, and yet, when I eat wheat, my digestive system goes haywire.

I am having trouble believing, as cleanly as we eat, that I am reacting to eggs and dairy. I don’t ingest foods that make me feel lousy because I don’t want to feel lousy. Eating eggs and cheese doesn’t seem to have a detrimental effect on my day-to-day activities.

Having a vegan friend has been educational. Our friend, Anna, has a catering business and sometimes uses us as her test kitchen for new recipes. While I don’t want to go completely vegan, I am quite fond of vegetables and she makes some really delicious meat-free meals. I spent a few minutes at the health food store yesterday looking at vegan food items. I was curious to see exactly what went into making a vegan cheese product. I could give up yogurt (reluctantly), but cheese is another matter.

I understand that there are people who truly cannot tolerate dairy products but still want to eat cheese, and for them, this offers an alternative. I do not, however, believe this would be healthier for me than eating fermented cow’s milk. For one thing, safflower oil is on the no-eat seed oils list. I know what that would do to my joints.

DD#2 is going to cut out dairy to see what happens. I am still on the fence. I have given up so much already. The thought of totally revamping my diet—AGAIN—and having to make separate meals for the two of us is more than I am willing to do. Quality of life is a consideration and I am getting a bit hedonistic in my old age.