I am test making a mens tunic shirt with long sleeves and a button placket (a toile in quite open and fine calico). The pattern is by
“wardrobe by me” men’s tunic shirt, view A.
So you do the placket on the open sleeve and then you sew the edges together to make the tubular sleeve. They then say, “press the seam allowance towards the back and topstitch the seam”.
Well at the top end it is quite wide and difficult but possible. But as you get closer to the cuff it gets more and more difficult. Going round the circumference of the sleeve is fine - as in doing a cuff but going down the length and the material I have sewn has to go round through 90 degrees to slide it out of the way of the foot onto the machine. It is also getting tighter as you go down!
I did manage with a lot of fiddling on the first one but it was quite wavey - not professional looking at all. On the second one I caught some of the material from the other side which was all bunched up and had to unpick some of it and the start again from the cuff end. Ok on a toile but not good on a real garment.
Looking at the
video tutorial they provide, they miss out the top stitching all together!
Is there a clever way to do this or is it just a matter of practice? I did wonder if there was a special type of seam like a French seam that would make it easier but I still think you have to get the tube over the machine to sew!