Types of sleeves on dresses

There are three basic types of sleeves – set in, kimono, and raglan.

Cape Sleeves

This unusual sleeve design looks like a cape from behind but has a slit at the front where the sleeve would be so the fabric wraps round like a cape when it is cold or just drapes at the front when not required for warmth. A two in one kind of style!

Juliet sleeve. A long, tight sleeve with a puff at the top, inspired by fashions of the Italian Renaissance and named after Shakespeare’s tragic heroine; popular from the Empire period through the 1820s in fashion, again in the late 1960s under the influence of Zeffirelli’s film Romeo and Juliet.

Butterfly sleeve is a beautiful sleeve with a puff on top and slightly loose at the hem. It is basically a puffed sleeve but one that doesn’t taper off like the normal puffed sleeve, nor ends in a cuff. It has a very elegant look and is usually paired with low cut gowns.

FLOUNCE SLEEVES are a combination of a ¾ SLEEVE and a circular pattern piece that has a similar shape to a circle skirt. The actual sleeve can range in length, and so can the “skirt,” so this design can go a lot of ways!

As we already mentioned, French cuffs feature a length of fabric that is folded back upon itself and then fastened together with cufflinks, There are holes on both sides of the cuff going through all the layers of fabric. In other words, most French cuffs will typically have four holes in total to a cuff.

The calculation

So measure the target length for the flounce and divide it by 3,14. This gives you the radius needed for a half circle. But for a full circle you have to divide the result by 2. Use that radius to draw the first circle (=the inner one) with a compass.