landsknecht wams/double part 3 - the sleeves

 The main thing with this outfit was going to be the sleeves.

I based the sleeves on my regular S-sleeve pattern that I have made and then did a quick mock-up and tried them on.

I enlarged the pattern and made the shoulder curve a lot more shallow, in the end it would probably have worked just as well with a simply square piece, that would have made it easier all along.

The sleeves where marked with squares and slashes, just like the bodice, but I made the slashes a few centimers larger on the sleeves. Then it was on to hemming them, there were around 50 slashes on each sleeve.

Now for the end of the sleeves I made two circles. This is not something that I have found on other tutorials for making landsknecht sleeves on the web, but a good friend (who has previously worked professionally with sewing) showed me how he had done his sleeves, and that another member of our group also had this kind of sleeve. This circle makes it possible to keep the main sleeve wide all the way to the end, and you don't have to deal with a lot of gathering at the wrist.

The sleeves were constructed with me sewing the outher fabric and one of the sides of the interlining together, then I attached the other side of the interlining over the three layers of fabric. For the sleeves the lining was sewn on its own and I attached it last to cover all the seams of the sleeves, both at the cuffs and the armscye.

To finish the sleeve I added a cuff in linen and the interlining wool. The sleee was basically done, but I wanted more and decided to add some decorations and the seams.

For the decorations I cut strips of the pink wool, rolled them up and then wrapped them in strips of grey wool. I would have preferred black, but I didn't have enough black wool in my stash. I then attached these rolls over the seams at the top and bottom of the sleeve. The rolls could have been thicker, but I have a limited amount of fabric and with the hoses still to be made I didn't want to cut away more than I really had to.

I will say that this sewing all these layers of wool together was really hard on my hands and they really hurt, just like the muscles after a hard training session. Sharp needles are essential to make them go through all the layers of fabric.

The doublet is finished with three sets of lacing holes to one side to close it, and one set of lacing strips holding the flap of the front bodice in plase at the other side. I have also added a small cloth button to close the cuffs.

And now it's on to the hose