We recently added an Arm Shaper to our Body Shaper Pattern. This arm shaper does wonderful things for sagging skin under the arms. If you’ve avoided sleeveless garments because of your sagging arms, this garment will become a staple in your wardrobe. The cut-on sleeve eliminates shoulder and sleeve seams for a smooth seam-free line under sleeveless dresses, tank tops, and dressy tops.
But as the holiday season was approaching, our Design Team came up with another great use for the Arm Shaper – they turned the Arm Shaper into a Shrug!
To modify the pattern for a shrug, the girls extended the front by 8″. This makes the stylish cross-over front strap.
Then, because the fabric they chose is directional, they added a seam allowance to the centre back (instead of cutting it on the fold as the pattern directs). This allows the heart design on the fabric to be directional on the body. (If you are using an all-over pattern or solid colour, no need to add the CB seam.)
Otherwise, the hearts would have faced upright on the right-hand side and upside down on the opposite side. By adding the seam, we have the hearts facing upright on both sides of the garment.
If you are using Bamboo, as we did here, you will want to pre-wash the fabric so you won’t get surprises later. Here’s a tutorial on using Bamboo you might find helpful.
Sew the centre back seam and the side seams as the pattern directs, then use fold-over elastic to finish the neckline, sleeve and bottom edges. For a quick refresher on applying Fold-over elastic binding, see the post here. The fold-over along the bottom edge will overlap the fold-over along the neckline edge along the tip of the front extension.
Cut the end of the front extension square to a with of 1/2″ (12 mm). Sew one piece of 1/2″ (12 mm) strap elastic to the squared-off end. Sew the other end of the elastic to a clip, clicker or connector. Repeat on the other side. If you want to, you can add a slider to the strap elastic to make the strap adjustable to fit varying sizes.
Your new shrug is ready to wear over a cocktail sleeveless dress, or fancy top or even over your sports bra or bikini top.
If you prefer not to have the clips around the tummy, you can tie it up as we did here.
Hello,
I need to wear shrugs as compression. Is there a material I could use with this pattern to make them into compression gear?
Of course! I recommend power net, or Ultra Fine stretch Mesh as the fabric
Love the bralettes under the shrug. Which are they and material combos used?
They are the Sweet Sixteen bralettes made of sheer cup lining with stretch lace overtop. The Bamboo shrug is worn over an all-lace Ruby
This is so cute!