Shannan Costume – The Sleeves
The flowing sleeves were purely for aesthetic purposes and attached to the jerkin itself. The idea behind them was three-fold.
- To be unique and add femininity
- In keeping with the forest surroundings, they were to be cut to look like leaves
- To be related in design to Wren’s, the Guardian Trio Leader of the Southern Forest (and one of Shannan’s protectors) costume
I found a beautiful sage green fabric at Hobby Lobby to use for the sleeves. I wanted to keep everything as natural of fabric as possible, but getting them cheaply was a whole other issue. So, as with the cowl, I compromised a purchased a poly-suede fabric. (I even went outside to test it against the trees by the porch. It matched! Although it’s hard to see in the photo below, it has shades of umber and slate grey in it.)
In the sketch, the sleeve was a full circle sleeve. Mrs. Elrod suggested we go for a half-sleeve instead, only attached to the front and back armpit of the jerkin. It would save a bit on fabric and keep from having more fabric that could potentially bunch up under the armpit. I agreed and we moved onto the next step. Next up was trying to figure out the exact shape of the sleeves. I had drawn up a simple pleated sleeved (as shown on the left) while Mrs. Elrod fiddled with a more Renaissance-looking puff sleeve on the right.
In the end we went with the pleat sleeve as the one of the right looked too courtly for Shannan’s costume.
Final photograph © Lauren Athalia 2011. http://www.laurenathalia.com/
