Sigil and Set-In Sleeves
I thought I would start this post with the punchline: Sigil is now sewn up and has sleeves. Unfortunately, the bathroom mirror picture option doesn't make it easy to see that it fits the way I planned it or that the set-in sleeves actually do look okay. Or that Sigil lacks a collar and has a significant number of ends remaining to be woven in. But just getting to this point was a bit of a victory for me -- I mean the sleeves are actually the right length! -- so I did the best I could while my photographer is out at a conference in California.
Since grey yarn is a nice yarn to demonstrate with from a photographic perspective, I decided that I would also put together a little explanation of how I deal with set in sleeves. Since it's a lot of pictures, if you're interested, you'll have to bring up the extended portion of the entry.
Set in sleeves aren't really as difficult to deal with as they get made out to be. True, they aren't the easiest sleeve form to deal with either, but like most knitting-related challenges, if you spend time setting the stage correctly, you have a much higher chance of success.
What I do first is make sure that the shoulder and sleeve seams of the main body of the garment are stitched together on both sides (I prefer mattress stitch, but backstitch is okay as well). Then I position the garment so that the base of the armhole is facing me, as in the picture.
Next I match up the sleeve seam with the seam that runs up to the armhole and pin the two sleeves together so that the body of the sweater is facing me and the sleeve is right-side out, but on the inside. After pinning the seam, I then pin the bound off areas and decrease shapings that match each other on either side. The reason? These parts of the sleeve exactly match and that makes it an easy foundation point.
Once the bottom and top regions are set, I continue to pin from each side close to the base. On the bound off shaping at the cap, I pin so that the bound off edges are not stretched and so that the edges line up with the edges of the garment body.
Finally, I find the place where the decreases end above the armhole bind offs (i.e. just where the shaping matches exactly on both the sleeve and the body) and start to mattress stitch the sleeve to the garment. I've found that starting in this location rather than at the top or base seam makes things a little neater under the arm and at the shoulder. After you get it started, you can just keep travelling around, seaming one stitch to one stitch until you get to the end of the decreases. When you go around the cap, you do have to use a little bit of judgement to make sure the seams mate up without bunching or stretching.
It's hard to see the details, but this is the final result. The sleeve lays gracefully and you don't see any strange distortion around the cap. Sometimes I do have to go in and press the inside seams to make things lie a little flatter. But I won't do that with this garment until I get the collar in place and do a final blocking.
I am deeply impressed ! Sigil is looking beautiful.A lovely little jacket.
Sigil is my new favorite thing. What exquisite work you always do! Makes my "faking it" routine look rough and worn in comparison. Wow.
Amazing! You have created a beautiful piece - the cables are exquisite. Thanks for the sleeve tutorial!!
Wow, it looks amazing! I agree with Rachel, it makes my "winging it" stuff look terrible in comparison! You have a real talent
Sigil is on my list, very beautiful!
I *think* you and I do this the same way, but...yawn....I'm only halfway through my cup of tea and I'm lucky to even be able to type this.
Sigil is beautiful! Looks like a rousing success. And I'll be referring back to your helpful photos, I predict....
I always find your clear demonstrations so helpful! You've inspired me to take some of the haphazardness out of my knitting - especially at the finishing stage where it really counts. Er, shows.
i dont care if its not finished, it still looks wonderful! i cant wait to see the final!
Beautiful!
you've done a great job. keep up the good work.
Very cool!! Can't wait to see Sigil all sewn up in person!
Oooh, nice sleeves. Nice Sigil. Nice bathroom shot!
Oooh, she looks great! That is going to be one wonderful cardigan.
Sigil is such an interesting cardigan! I think it's wonderful that you designed it yourself... Thanks for sharing.
woo hoo hoo hoo!! It looks lovely! The details I can see in the photo are impeccably done. Thanks for the motivation.
What a fab step-by-step. I just did set-in sleeves myself, and I did it similarly to yours, except I pinned it all inside out, so I was sewing in the sleeve on the inside! (I swear I think it was a Rowan magazine that told me to do it this way.) I so wish I'd pinned it so I could see the outside as I sewed; it was like driving backwards.
I'll blog about my sleeves shortly; they turned out ok, though there's a little boxiness at the corner of the cast-off edge at the top. I tried to fudge it by sewing it a stitch or two down from the edge, to make it more rounded, but I still wish I had Joan Crawford shoulders.
Your sweater is fanastic. B.R.A.V.O.!
Wow. From imagination to fruition in (what seemed like) 60 seconds. I hope to see a photo with your arms down, so I can see the whole sweater. It looks really beautiful.
looks fantastic. what a great cardi. i would wear that out. the color works with everything. just gorgeous! your cables really pop.
Ooh, that Sigil looks so warm and comfy. Who needs a collar?!
Your jacket is great! I love what you did for the collar. I think it matches the feel of the jacket perfectly. And I think a zipper would be a nice closure.