M7313 and E&M Lucky girl mash up!

Last week I made the Ellie & Mac Lucky Girl top (pattern can be purchased here) with the split sleeve (style 1) and I really loved the outcome (see it here) but of course, I also wanted to make the tie sleeve version (style 2). I was looking at the fabric I had available and most of it was double brushed poly (DBP) which doesn't look nice on the back side (usually it's white on the back, printed on one side only), so I knew I’d want to line my sleeves. Last week, I decided to make the split sleeve version because how I was going to construct the lined sleeve was still percolating a little bit but now, I was ready to go!

Despite my plan to make more separates this year, I had 3 yards of the fabric I wanted to use and opted to make a dress. I can’t help it, I just love dresses! It’s one garment to have a whole new outfit. The E&M Lucky Girl has a dress option but it’s a sheath style and I decided I would prefer a bodice + skirt option. McCall’s 7313 is a pattern I have made a couple of times and I see it being a TNT (tried and true) pattern for me to whip up dresses. I decided I would mash up the Lucky Girl and M7313 to get exactly what I wanted from my new dress – bodice, A-line skirt and sleeves. Oh I also added pockets because pocket are awesome. #Ilovepockets

My M7313 pattern already had the alterations for my size included, you can read about them and the pockets in my review of that pattern here. I have put pockets in every version I’ve made because again, pockets are awesome.  

Pattern mash up – fitting the Lucky Girl sleeve to the M7313 bodice

So…the Lucky Girl (LG) is a raglan and M7313 is a set-in sleeve, essentially the top of my sleeve (the cap) is from M7313 and the bottom is from the Lucky Girl. To make my pattern pieces, I:

1. I folded the M7313 sleeve in half because I needed a front and a back piece, to match the LG sleeve which is two pieces. M7313 has several sleeve length options, I used the one for view D which is a ¾ sleeve because it would be at least as long as the LG.
2. I traced the front half of the M7313 sleeve on to bee paper (my preferred pattern tracing paper because you can easily see through it but it holds up well). Make sure to also copy the notches on the sleeves as well.
3. I added seam allowance of ¼ inch to the interior seam. M7313 isn’t sewn together in the middle but the LG sleeve is to make the opening. While sewing I had to pay attention to my seam allowances because the LG pattern has ¼ in but M7313 has 5/8 in. In sewing, it’s never simple ☺
4. Next, I put the LG front sleeve pattern under my bee paper and lined it up with the M7313 sleeve where they were the same width minus the ties. Note the tops of the patterns will not line up as raglan sleeves go all the way up to the neckline and set-in sleeves will only go to the shoulder. The LG sleeve top should extend well past the top of the M7313 sleeve.

   

   Purple line shows my M7313 sleeve traced. E&M sleeve is under the bee paper ready for tracing.
5. Trace the sleeve tie alteration on to the M7313 sleeve. Now, measure the distance from the top of the sleeve cap to the bottom where your ties will be and compare this to the distance from when your shoulder seam will sit down your arm. In my first iteration, it was way too long and my elbows would have awkwardly stuck out the holes in the sleeves. I moved the ties up and retraced considering my arm measurement, blending the sleeves into each other (that's why my photo above shows the tie traced in a different place than the pattern is shown to be).
6. Repeat the same basic steps for the left side of the sleeve but note that your ties should begin at the same place as on the front sleeve. I laid my final sleeves on top of each other to check they were both the right shape.

Pens are to weigh down the pieces only :)

How to line the Lucky Girl tie-sleeves (style 2)

You can benefit from my trial and error on lining the LG sleeves! I really don’t like being able to see the backside of the fabric on ties, I also made a facing for my tie-sleeve version of M7543 to avoid showing the back of the fabric. The alterations I made to the top of the sleeve shape shouldn’t have any impact on lining your sleeves if you make the full LG pattern, however it will impact your construction a little bit. Here are the steps I followed:

1. When you cut out your pieces, you’ll need four (4) front sleeve and four (4) back sleeve pieces. This will require a little more fabric, so I suggest to lay everything out to ensure you have enough before you start cutting.
2. Follow the LG pattern directions to sew the front and back sleeves together at the top for all 4 sets of sleeves.
   
   

   

   You'll have four total sets like this.

3. Now, there are two ways you can proceed from this point – I actually did one sleeve the first way and then decided the second method was better so I didn’t do mine the same way! I have labeled the steps from this point a and b to better distinguish them. My preferred method is b because there will be no seam under your arm which is nice and I think the hem edge looks cleaner.

a.   Sew a sleeve set together. To do this you line up the a front side to another front side (right sides together) and  sew around the bottom, tie around the opening in the middle and back around the other tie and bottom. Turn the sleeve right side out and press the ties. From here, you could attach the sleeves to the top following the pattern directions if making the normal LG top. If franken-patterning like me to a set-in sleeve, you’d need to sew the sleeve together at the under arm seam first.

After sewing around the ties, method a.

b.   This is my preferred method but it's a little trickier to do it this way if you are making the LG raglan. You will want to sew the underarm seam first, making your sleeve in its finished circular shape. After sewing the underarm seam on all four sleeve sets, you will have 4 sleeves. 
      

Method b, underarm seam sewn and preparing to sew around the ties.

      Next you want to sew two sleeves together, right sides together along the bottom, the ties and the opening in the middle. Flip the sleeves right side out. To attach it to your garment, you will need to sew it in the round, this is normal for my franken-pattern with a bodice but if making the LG top, you’ll need to sew up the side seams first and the sew around your sleeve in a u-shape. Then you can pick up from the normal directions and proceed forward.

I am really pleased with my dress which has all the features I wanted – bodice, A-line skirt, tie sleeves and pockets! This is really the joy of sewing, to have exactly what you wanted.

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