How To Sew Raglan Sleeves

Today I’m showing you how to sew raglan sleeves using the raglan sleeve pattern that we drafted in a previous tutorial.

When most people think about sewing the raglan sleeve they usually consider it from a knitting angle as many sleeves on knitting patterns are raglan style. This tutorial is for sewing raglan sleeve pattern pieces together.

If you prefer video, I also added the accompanying video tutorial on my YouTube channel to the bottom of the article.

What You Need To Sew Raglan Sleeves

The list of things you need for sewing this sleeve type is minimal:

• Fabric – I’m using woven fabric for this sample, but you can also cut yours in knit fabric if the pattern is appropriate
• Pattern pieces
• Pins
• Fabric scissors
• Sewing machine (or hand sewing needle)
• Thread
• Iron

I recommend that you sew a sample toile / muslin before sewing the pattern in your chosen fabric, because you may decide to modify the raglan style line – you can then simply draw onto the sample as you wish and transfer the markings back to the development pattern.

The pattern I am using is the one I created with the raglan sleeve pattern making tutorial.

And I have cut the pattern out with a basic calico / muslin fabric.

The Sewing Process

Sewing sleeves is always a challenge for sewing beginners, and the raglan sleeve is no different. It has a challenging aspect in the curve that attaches the front and back sleeve pieces to their respective bodice sections.

Make sure to use the presser bar to lift the foot on your sewing machine and pivot fabric as needed, making sure that your needle is still down of course!

I use the pivot method often when sewing these trickier curves, and it works well.

The order that we will be sewing is as follows:

1. The back raglan sleeves to the back bodice pieces
2. The front raglan sleeves to the front bodice piece
3. The underarm and side seam connecting the front and back pieces
4. The shoulder / overarm seam which closes the sleeves

Now we’re ready to get sewing!

Sewing The Back Raglan Sleeves

I’m starting with the back pattern pieces for my raglan sleeve bodice. My back bodice pieces are cut as a pair for a center back opening.

I start my matching the notches on the right bodice and sleeve pieces.

Then pin the remaining sections. Repeat for the opposite sleeve and bodice piece.

You can see from the above photo that the way I have pinned them means that one piece will be sewn with the sleeve on top (right), and one will be sewn with the sleeve underneath (left).

Sew carefully from the neck to the underarm point, removing the pins as you go.

I sometimes use a tool – the needle screwdriver or my stitch ripper both work well – to keep the fabric in place once I have removed a pin on a tricky section.

Remember to pivot. I take a few stitches at a time whilst pivoting. Doing a pivot in one go means you can end up with a sharp point in your sewing, and we want it to be a smooth transition.

once sewn, you’ll need to clip the curves in your raglan sleeves to allow for a nice, flatter finish not eh right side.

You can finish by pressing the seam.

Sewing The Front Raglan Sleeves

Now that the back pieces are complete we can move onto the front. I have the front bodice piece cut on the fold and two front raglan sleeve pieces in front of me.

Its important to line up this armhole notches again, as we did for the back pieces.

Pin both sleeves into place. Note again that we are sewing one sleeve on top, and one beneath. They should both be sewn as sleeve on top or sleeve below, but I wanted to use this as an opportunity to show you the difference.

Again, sew nice and slowly, removing the pins as you go.

Below you can see the two different raglan seams. On the left is the ‘sleeve under’ version, and on the right is the sleeve on top version.

Again, clip your seams and give both a good press too.

Sewing The Side And Underarm Seam For Raglan Sleeves

Now we need to close the underarm / side seam. I like to start by pinning the front and back pieces together at the underarm point.

Then I work from the hem of the raglan sleeve, up to the underarm point and down the side seam.

It doesn’t necessarily matter whether you sew sleeve hem to bodice hem or vice versa, but you should maintain the choice for both side so that you don’t end up with a skewed look to your final piece.

The underarm is a good point to practice pivoting.

Sewing The Shoulder And Overarm Seam

The last step is to sew the shoulder overarm seam together on both the front and back raglan sleeve pieces.

I start with the neckline and join the front and back shoulder together here. You can then pin down to the sleeve hem.

Once the shoulder seam is sewn, you’ll have a nice curved line all the way down to the hem. Give it a press and turn it through. You may need to clip the seam of the shoulder point depending on how curved you made it.

The finished raglan sleeve bodice is fitted in the bodice with a gently curve to the shoulder line and a neat raglan style line. Although the front raglan sleeve pattern had a style-line which curved downwards, it is barely noticeable in the sample.

But the upward style-line of the back raglan sleeve is noticeable.

It’s important to note that with a sample in calico / muslin, you can draw on any changes. If you’d like to try a more extreme style-line for your raglan, mark it in and transfer that to your pattern before recutting and sewing.

This is a great way to be experimental with your pattern making and design process!

Video Tutorial On How To Sew Raglan Sleeves

As promised, I created an in-depth video tutorial on how to sew the raglan sleeves in case that’s more suitable for your learning style.

Let me know how you get on with creating a raglan sleeve of your own, and if you need more help with sleeves do check out the variety of guides and tutorials I have for you on sleeves too!

Share it out to others!