This post will show you how easy it is to design a Caftan Sleeve overlay to create the “caftan” look on your modest top.
To create an overall “caftan” look, we designed a band-collared Cowl neckline Blouson top. Yes, you can add a back-opening collar to a cowl neckline.
Blouse Styling
In the Blouse Tab, we chose the Waisted Aline Panel style and Cowl Neckline.
To create a Blouson effect, we reduced the Waist Intake to zero and added a Waist Line Extension of 5-cm. We also added Hip Ease to create an Aline lower bodice and make the lower bodice longer by adding a Hip Line Extension.
Caftan Sleeve Styling
To produce a “Caftan” style sleeve overlay, all we have to do is create a full even-width flounce which we sew over the regular sleeve.
To design this flounce, we added up the Top Armhole and Bottom Armhole measurements generated from the Blouse tab and multiply it by two to get the full armhole measurement. We use that measurement as the Flounce Length.
So, for instance, if our Top Armhole is 8.2-cm and our Bottom Armhole is 7.9-cm, our overall armhole measurement would be (8.2+7.9)*2 = 32.2 cm. That would dictate the length of our flounce.
To find the width of our flounce, we chose half the measurement of our full-sleeve or overarm measurement. For instance, if our full-length sleeve is 45-cm, our Flounce Width would be 22.5-cm.
We then go to the Trims tab and select the Even-width Flounce.
We enter our Flounce Length and Flounce Width measurements that we computed earlier. We can choose between three Flounce Spans: half, three-quarter, or full. A fuller span will create a more dramatic flounce with more drape and folds. For our model, we chose Full span. We can also choose between generating one or two pieces of the flounce pattern. Since a full-span flounce would take up a lot of paper, we decided to generate a 2-piece pattern instead which we will have to cut 2 pieces and join them at the seam allowance. By clicking Draw, we get the following pattern.
Band Collar
We chose a Band Collar to adorn our Cowl Neckline.
Modesty Requirements
For modesty, we will never just wear this “caftan” sleeve by itself. This sleeve is only used as an overlay to our existing full-length sleeve. Ideas for fabric include using a lace fabric or eyelet fabric as the overlay. A white-laced caftan sleeve will look good for a Victorian style on a wedding gown.
