Sleeve Cap Adjustment, Final Phase

Sleeve cap adjustment is next up. If you have been following along the last discussion about sleeves, you are now at your armhole bind off, with a sleeve that fits the width of your upper arm plus ease, and that works with your armhole and whatever fitting adjustments you made.

Accommodating Sleeve Cap Adjustment to Body Adjustments

1. Additions or subtractions to length of the armhole on the body need to be reflected in a similar sleeve cap adjustment.
2. If the curve of the armhole on the body is changed, the change in curve requires a sleeve cap adjustment.
3. Changes to the width of the body (front and/or back) width
4. The sewing line on the armhole and the sleeve cap need to be similar in length.

Take a look at the schematics I’ve drawn, where I’ve put in lines to indicate where the adjustments to armhole would be reflected in the sleeve cap.  Details follow.

A = Adjustments in body girth that need to be reflected in sleeve.

B = Back armhole length adjustments

F = Front armhole length adjustments

C = Front armhole curve adjustments

D = Back armhole curve adjustments

E = New cap shape or height to adjust measurement to match armhole changes

Narrower or Wider Upper Arm / Cap Adjustment 

In the drawing above, the red sleeve is from widening the entire sleeve, the orange from narrowing. An adjustment can also be made so the sleeve cap is severed from the sleeve to underarm and the height is lowered in the center of the sleeve, so the width in the length of the sleeve is changed separately from the cap.  At the underarm width, the sleeve cap and sleeve width are the same.

Split the cap (figuratively or on paper) to shorten or widen it at the front and back at F and B. This would match what was done to the armhole.

The final step is to make adjustments along the sewing edge of the sleeve cap by shortening or raising the height. Remember that the armhole and sleeve cap seam lines should measure the same or nearly the same.

Narrower or Wider Upper Arm / Cap Adjustment 

Adjustments made in rows on the body may need to be made in stitches when making cap adjustments on the sleeve. Or vice versa.

Let’s say you added 4 rows into the back armhole.  With stitch gauge of 5 stitches and row gauge of 7 rows.  In the sleeve cap, you want to add in stitches because stitches are matched to rows (look at the schematic).

  5 sts    =    X  sts
  7 rows       4 rows

Cross-multiply:  5 * 4 = 20

And divide:  20 / 7 = 2.857 (round to 3 stitches). X becomes 3.  So as 5 is to 7, then 3 is to 4.

How to Get That Seam Line Measurement?

When the body is completed, you can measure your blocked armhole.  Stand your tape measure on end and then carefully measure around the armhole.  Having the tape on edge makes it much more malleable.  To do the same to the sleeve cap you might need to draw it out on paper.

1. Draw a line the width of the sleeve at the underarm.
2. Draw in a perpendicular line from that line upward to represent the cap.
3. Divide the number of rows in the pattern for the sleeve cap (this may mean you have to add up the shaping and some inches). Make a mark on the sleeve cap line that far above the underarm width.
4. Draw in the flat bind off amount (stitches bound off divided by stitch gauge) working from the outside edges inward. making marks on your width line
5. Lay your blocked armhole on the paper, matching the bind off to the line, now sketch in the curve as far as you will follow it on your sleeve. Guessing is fine.
6. Now sketch in the rest of the cap. 
7. Measure along your sketched-in shape (my red line).

If your cap seam line doesn’t match, raise or lower the height of the sleeve cap to get extra or reduce when there is too much.

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