I've run into a terrible problem on my first try with raglan sleeves, and I think I may have wasted a beautiful piece of linen! I did not read all the directions through first after I sewed the shoulder 'dart' I just went ahead and sewed the rest of the sleeve and thought I'd 'drop in' the sleeve as I always do. Then I got to the next section of the directions and found that you have to attach the sleeve front to the front and back to the back and then finish by sewing the side seam and sleeve arm seam together.

I French seamed the sleeve when I finished it, meaning I trimmed some off the first pass and I think it I rip it in order to follow the directions, it will no longer fit the front and back it has to match to, having lost what I trimmed off.

Is there no way to 'drop in' a raglan sleeve?

Sob! Thank you!

Janet

Sorry, but no, at least in the traditional sense. If you look at one you will see that the sleeve goes all the way to the neckline with diagonal seams going from the top of the side seam to the neckline. There is no seam at the shoulder line. That means the front and back will also be cut differently.

Just to make sure I understand what you did: you French seamed the sleeves' underarm seam before attaching the sleeves to the bodice? And the sleeves are now tubes that need to be attached to the bodice?

I would French seam the bodice's side seams, then "set in" the sleeves to the bodice, just like how you would normally set in regular sleeves. The difference here is that the armscye seam will be a horseshoe shape instead of a circle, with the ends of the "horseshoe" seam running into the neck line. In fact, it seems to me that the open ended horseshoe armscye seam would be less challenging than the circular armscye seam of a regular sleeve because it's not as restrictive, and I won't need to ease the sleeve cap .

I would finish the horseshoe armscye seam with self-fabric bias seam binding.

Darn it, Anna, I did not see your reply. I got the digest, but somehow did not see that there had been a reply, so didn't come look! My daughter-in-law was able to help me out on this. She said I could do it the same drop in way as a regular sleeve, just to be careful I started at the side seam and worked my way around. So I started pinning, and lo and behold,although it was weird, it worked! I even French seamed that seam also, the same way you'd French seam anything, wrong sides together first, then right sides.

I am wearing the blouse/jacket with pride! It has a dark grey sleeve and a cherry red body, with small, pearly buttons, and is so silky next to the skin, and I just love it. But in future, I think I'll always sew all sleeves the open ended, armscye way rather than the drop-in way, for the benefits mentioned by Anna. I hate my sleeves with they end up with little gathers at the top. I like them flat.

I'm sorry I missed your kind replies.

No worries, Jan! I'm glad things worked out well. Good job on French seaming the raglan armscye. I am not sure if I would attempt that myself!