u/repsilonyx

Hi all!

I recently purchased a cute top that has raglan sleeves. There are evenly-distributed gathers that run the length of the neckline, which is raw, sewn into/between the collar.

I haaaate (!) gathers and hoped to redistribute them as much as possible towards the back— meaning, I wanted to completely flatten the front, and especially avoid any gathers on the sleeve cap. But now that I’ve unpicked the seams and removed the collar to proceed, I am realizing that was stupid greedy and have discovered some issues that I should have foreseen, even as someone who is very new to sewing (lol I know, why did I try to alter sleeves already).

1. There is a LOT of excess fabric that I didn’t expect, so I definitely cannot redistribute all of it to the back. Otherwise, I’ll be pulling the sleeve back in a way that it can only be worn by someone with an arm growing out of their trapezius
2. If I don’t completely flatten the front and simply reduce, I’ll just have to add more gathers/volume to the sleeve cap, which would be sooo much worse for me as I am a puffy-sleeve-cap hater above all else
3. I am now stuck and don’t know how to undo what I did, because the gathers were perfectly distributed and I don’t know how to recreate them. My stuck-ness is exacerbated by the fact that the collar is significantly shorter in circumference than the raw neckline, so I have to reintroduce a lot of excess fabric into a very limited space

Is there anything folks think I could try? Please feel free to also scold me, I didn’t do enough prep and jumped in way too quickly 🤪

Pictured: The fabric still remaining at the sleeve cap and slightly at the back, after flattening just the front (which I’ll probably have to undo all things considered)

Tried for so long to achieve a longer tassel length, but this is what I ended up with in the end! I digitized a 13th-14th century pattern from Mamluk Egypt for the border design. As the caption says, please feel free to use it :)