Adding Half-Cap Sleeves to a Sleeveless Dress

Here is a custom/alteration detail that I am often asked to do for people.  It's a small detail that has a lot of impact!  

Aren't these sweet little sleeves...well, half-sleeves?

This sweet sleeveless Baptism dress was going to be worn by a little girl whose mother knew she would not keep a jacket or a sweater on, but wanted her daughter covered up a little more than the sleeveless look would provide.

It just needed a more permanent solution that would be as darling as the dress itself.

I found a piece of fabric that closely resembled the dress, and fashioned two partial sleeves.  If you have ever set in a regular sleeve, you are familiar with how a sleeve pattern piece looks - and how much time it takes to set in a whole sleeve!  With this method you only need to use the top half of it - the "cap" part.  (The pattern piece actually looks like a football).   And it takes less than half the work!

You can gather it at the very top to whatever fullness you choose,  or leave it ungathered.  I gathered these.

You can take the lining apart and insert the sleeve inside that seam or you can simply lay it underneath that top half section of the armhole and handstitch it in place!

There are a lot of options within this sleeve addition.  Have fun with it!  It can add a lot of personality to an otherwise boring sleeveless bodice!


Do you have anything you can add Half-Cap sleeves to?

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