Introduction

Sleeves can either be attatched to the kirtle or can be seperate garments. The vast majority of women on the manor make seperate sleeves and I'd suggest following suit. There's two reasons for that. Firstly, seperate sleeves are simpler and quicker to make. Secondly, Kentwell alternates between exhaustingly hot and never-ending rain; seperate sleeves allow you more flexibility to cope with the weather.

Sleeves can be made of wool lined with linen or, my favourite, wool lined with thin wool. There's no requirement for them to match your kirtle, either in outer fabric or in lining, although it's fine if they do. To give you an idea of the range of colour combinations in period, several of the pictures in this collection of paintings of Italian working women in the late sixteenth century clearly show seperate sleeves.

From bitter experience, I've learnt that sleeves are at their most comfortable (and warm) if they're a relatively snug fit. Too loose, and drafts get in around your shoulders and armpits. Brrr! Plus tight sleeves grip the arm a little, supporting some of their own weight, and making them less likely to pull down the shoulder straps. So this pattern is for a relatively tight sleeve.

What you'll need

• Two large pieces of card or, less ideally, newspaper.
• A pen.
• Scissors.
• A tape measure.
• A ruler (or, at least, something you can draw a straight line with. My ruler's vanished; I use a book.)
• Sticky back plastic (the Blue Peter guide to Tudor Sleeves...)
• A yard or so of scrap fabric to test your pattern (optional).
• Half a yard of wool.
• Half a yard of linen (or thin wool) to line the sleeves.
• Pins.
• Needle and thread.
• A nice cup of tea.

Drafting the pattern

Working over your shift, measure from your shoulder (where the outer edge of your bra strap sits) to your wrist. Add an inch and draw a line this length on the piece of card.

Measure snugly around the widest part of your hand. Add an inch. Draw a line this long at right angles to the first line.

Measure from armpit to wrist. Don't add an inch. On your pattern, mark a dot on the first line this far from the wrist line.

Measure around the widest part of your arm. Add an inch. Draw a line this length, running through the dot from the previous step, and bisecting the first line.

Join the dots, as shown to the left. This, with seam allowance, gives a perfectly functional sleeve; I've got a pair like that myself. However it has the seam running down the underside of the sleeve, which doesn't seem to be the most period of placements. Tudor sleeves typically had the seam running down the back of the arm rather than the underside, and this pattern will need a couple of adjustments to produce that. But first of all you'll need to cut out that pattern.

Eyeball a point a third of the way along the wrist line, and a third of the way along the shoulder line. Join them up. That's the red line. Cut along that line...

... then transfer that third to the other side of the sleeve and tape it into place, so what were the outside edges are joined together. In effect, the seam has just been shifted a third of the way around the tube the sleeve will form.

Transfer the whole thing onto the second piece of card. You want to draw around it making several changes. Firstly, round off the sharp angles along the shoulder line. Secondly, smooth out the angle on the wrist line. Thirdly, add seam allowance. You could, in theory, add the seam allowance when you cut the fabric but I for one have a tendency to forget and end up with itty-bitty sleeves. If you're not sure how much seam allowance you need, then half an inch all the way round is a pretty good guestimate. This is your sleeve master pattern. Label it and keep it safe.