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 Dol's Double-sleeved Flight Suit tutorial (Pix heavy)

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So, I saw someone ask for a tutorial on  how to make a double-sleeved flightsuit.  As I was in the process of making my own, I decided to go ahead and document it, turning it into a tutorial.  Here it is for those that want it.  You'll only need to be able to pretty much just sew in a straight line.  No complicated or tricky patterning or seam fitting. 

Take a moment to look at how sleeves are constructed.  When the sleeves are put into the body of a garment, notice that they're put in and sewn from the inside.  one common mistake..having the sleeves inside out when fitting to the body.  It doesn't hurt to triple-check that the "outside of the sleeve" is touching the "outside of the body" when you put them together.)  Mixing that up is a common mistake.  Also.. as a public service announcement; we have a house-rule that states "no sleeves after 9 Pm."  Putting in sleeves isn't very difficult, as long as you pay attention to what you're doing.  So make sure you're awake enough to think a little bit.

The sleeves of my Flight suit http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007EZ1IS2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 are serged. I don't have a serger, but that's a non-issue.  I just throw a zig-zag line on the outside of the seam to duplicate the same thing.  Since this isn't going to be ever-day wear, that's perfectly fine.  If you really want to be safe, find someone with a serger and run a quick edge when you're done.  Easypeasy. 

On to the process:

Step 1.. measure where you want the "short" sleeves to fall.

  Put on your jumpsuit and then mark the location on one of the sleeves.  No point in doing it on both, that just introduces more variables. Both of them will be the same length, so you only need to measure it out on one. (Unless you *want* them to be different lengths for whatever reason.)  Note.. make a point to do this when you're WEARING it.   99 out of 100 times, if you eyeball it just sitting on the counter, you'll guess wrong.   Now that you have a line on  your sleeve to mark your short sleeves.. time to start the work.

Step 2.. take the jumpsuit you bought, and rip the sleeves out.  That sounds scary but don't let it get to you.  Take a new xacto blade and carefully start cutting the threads, and work your way around the holes.
 
Take your time.  Take care.  be sure to just cut the threads, and use your hands to pull the fabric apart, making it easy to get to the threads.  You'll be able to whip through this fairly quickly.



Step 3.. pattern the new sleeves.  Take the sleeve that has the mark on it for your short sleeve.  Line up the fold of the sleeve to the fold of the material  you're going to use.  I chose black duck, as it was similar to what my flightsuit is made from. 

Draw a line marking the edges all the way around the sleeve, leaving about 1/4" away from the edge of the sleeve's material to give you a bit of extra room and for seam allowance.  Remember, you want your outer sleeves just a touch bigger but not TOO big.  That 1/4 inch is plenty.  Also, be sure the original sleeve is INSIDE OUT when you're drawing your pattern line.. you want to take into account the seam allowance for that sleeve too.

Set the jumpsuit sleeve aside, and cut out the short sleeve. 

Lay out the now-cut-out short sleeve piece, and cut a mirror of it for the other side:



Step 4.. Make the short sleeves.  Run a quick seam up the bottom (inside) edge of the sleeve. Quick and easy. 
Yes, it really is one fast seam.


Step 5.  Now put bias tape on the edge.  You can roll the edge of the fabric and hem it that way, but I'm lazy.  Bias tape is faster and less bulky.



Step 6.. Put it all back together.  Take the new short-sleeve you made above, line it up with the long sleeve you removed from the jumpsuit.  Double check, again, that the short sleeve and long sleeve both have the correct "outsides" facing as you want them.


Now,  line up the fabric edges for where they fit into the hole in the body.  I had marked one of the sleeves and one of the holes in the body just so I made sure I didn't swap sides.  95% of the time this doesn't matter, but it's a step I do anyway.  It takes 30 seconds.


Rule of thumb when you fit this all together:  "Sleeves are right-side out... body is INSIDE out.. slide sleeves into body."    Slide them into the hole in the jumpsuit and pin them in place.  Pinning is very important.  The edge here isn't straight, but it WILL match up perfectly.  Remember,  you patterned the short sleeve from a sleeve that had already been sewn in place and cut down.  Because you matched that when you made your new sleeve, it will work.


Now, it's just a matter of running the sewing machine around the seam.  Seriously, it's just a quick straight run around the edge.


I then follow up with a quick zig-zag, just in case.


Once you're done with that, flip them back rightside out.. and viola.. double-sleeved flightsuit.   This whole process took me an hour tonight. 




There you go.  Dol's quick and dirty "how to add half-sleeves to your flightsuit."  Hope this helps anyone who may need it. 

Thanks,
~Dol


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Vraeden


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Re: Dol's Double-sleeved Flight Suit tutorial (Pix heavy)
« Reply #1 on: Mar 08, 2015, 12:32 AM »
Thank you for this!

It looks great and the pictures make your tutorial top-notch.

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Re: Dol's Double-sleeved Flight Suit tutorial (Pix heavy)
« Reply #2 on: Mar 10, 2015, 01:31 PM »
and you got the literal exact same flightsuit as me from amazon only i got charcoal. excellent!

thanks again

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