Puffy Sleeve Sweater + Velvet Skirt

Puffy sleeves (aka balloon sleeves) are having their fashion moment. When I happened upon a gorgeous blush toned, thick cable fabric, I had to get it so I could make a trendy puffy sleeve sweater for my six year old. Another fabric store outing later, I found a beautiful blush toned velvet. The fabrics just go so well together, I thought to make a skirt to go with the sweater. It turned out really cute!

Fabric
I found the gorgeous blush cable sweater fabric at Hobby Lobby and, for the skirt, I found the blush velvet at JoAnn, both here in New York.
For the sweater, I purchased 1 yard.

For the skirt, I purchased 1 yard.

These measurements are fit for a 6 year old child.

You will also need:
2" garter elastic, cut one length of waist measurement (21" for my daughter) and two lengths of sleeve cuffs (7" for my daugther)

Safety pins and sewing pins

Thread and bobbin thread

Large paper for making patterns

Pencil, paper scissors, and fabric scissors/rotary cutter

Sewing machine

Serger (optional)

This is the simplest construction you can ever make of a sweater. Typically, armholes and sleeves are curved. I decided to simplify matters and make boxy armholes and sleeves. The sleeves are so simple, they are rectangular!

1. Together, fold two large sheets of paper in half.

2. Find an existing t-shirt that has a loose/large fit. Fold in half. Place on the folded paper and trace ensuring there is a seam allowance.

3. Cut the traced t-shirt pattern.

4. You will now have 2 panels - Front and Back. Cut the front neckline lower as you see fit.

5. For the sleeve, you will need a large rectangle. The width is 3x the size of the armhole. The length is the length of the arm plus a "cuff" (garter channel) that will be folded to fit the garter elastic.

6. Place each pattern onto fabric and cut. Keep in mind the sleeve pattern direction.

For the front and back panels, I serged the edges. Serging is optional. However, these are the edges that you will later need to either hem or zigzag stitch if you are only using a sewing machine.

In the photos, I have labeled which edges I have serged.

With the right sides facing together, attach the front and back panels by sewing or serging together the two shoulder seams and side seams.

1. Fold each sleeve in half, right sides together, widthwise as shown.

2. Serge or sew together the side seam of the sleeve.

3. Fold the bottom of the sleeve up, wrong sides together, to fit the size of the garter/to make a garter channel.

4. Stitch the garter channel, leaving 1" opening so the garter may be inserted later.

5. Baste stitch the top of the sleeve.

6. Pull on the top threads of the baste stitch and carefully gather the top of the sleeve.

Repeat on second sleeve.

1. Slide the sleeve into the arm hole, right sides facing.

2. Neatly arrange the gathered sleeve to fit into the arm hole and pin the edges together.

3. Sew the edges together to make a seam. Repeat for other sleeve. The sleeves are now sewn on! You can turn the sweater outside out.

4. Attach a safety pin to the elastic garter (cut to size for the cuff, in this case 7"). Slide the safety pin and garter through the garter channel. Make sure that the other end of the garter is also pinned to the fabric, so the elastic doesn't go right through. Pull the garter until the ends meet and the fabric is gathered.

5. Sew the garter ends together with a zig zag stitch. Sew the opening closed with a straight stitch. Repeat for second sleeve.

You now have puffy sleeves!

Hem the edges at the neckline and the bottom of the sweater with a straight stitch.

The skirt is made of one yard of fabric cut into two, lengthwise. The idea is to make a rectangle skirt that has a width at least 3x the size of your waist. The wider, the fuller. In this case, my daughter's waist is 21" and I used two lengths of the fabric, which was 58" wide (a total width of 116"). That means the fabric is 5.5x the width of her waist and you can see how full that is in the last picture.

1. Sew the seams together to connect the panels of fabric right sides facing together.

2. Sew the bottom hem. Because the fabric is a stretch knit velvet, I had sewn the edges raw without serging or folding over.

3. Sew a garter channel to fit the size of the garter elastic.

4. Leave a 2" opening to the garter channel.

5. Attach a safety pin to the garter and slide into the garter channel.

6. Attach the other end of the garter to the fabric using safety pins to ensure the garter doesn't go right through the channel while being pulled.

7. Pull the garter until the ends meet and the fabric is gathered. Sew the garter ends together with a zig zag stitch.

8. Sew the garter channel opening closed.

You now have a pretty velvet skirt to match your puffy sleeve sweater!