In the image at the top of today’s blog post, Ken is modeling a handmade raglan-sleeved T-shirt, but what, exactly, does “raglan” mean? Well, in today’s blog post, we’ll dig deep into the differences between a set-in sleeve and a raglan sleeve, looking at doll clothes sewing patterns for both kinds.
If you’re wondering about the history of the word “raglan” (AKA its etymology), I’ll cover that toward the bottom of today’s article.
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The image above comes from the instruction sheet for Simplicity 8281 for vintage Barbie dolls. When I look at the instruction sheet’s image, I can clearly see that the seams go from the doll’s underarm to what would be the doll’s shoulder blades (if she had shoulder blades).
The opposite side of this doll’s garment would show a seam going from the doll’s underarm to the top of the doll’s shoulder blades (again, if a doll had shoulder blades).
The end result is going to look like this when it’s all sewn together:
Take a good look at where the seams lie on that pink shirt my Barbie is wearing in the image above. Do you see how the seams go from the underarm to the collar bone — but not quite all the way to the top of her shoulder?
That’s the typical seamline for a raglan sleeved shirt.
But what other types of sleeves are there? Well, there are plenty of other types of sleeves — kimono sleeves, bishop sleeves, cap sleeves, etc. But let’s look at a basic set-in sleeve…
Ken is wearing a shirt with set-in sleeves from Advance 2899 doll clothes patterns for Vintage Ken dolls.
Take a close look at the seam that attaches his sleeve to the chest area of the shirt. Do you see how this sleeve’s seam goes from the doll’s underarm to the tip of his shoulder?
Essentially that’s the difference in how the sleeves are put together. A set-in sleeve is sewn into a more-or-less circular area of the shirt bodice, so that it creates a very tailored, closer-fitting sleeve.
The images above show the shirt before attaching the sleeve. The collar is built without the sleeve incorporated into it at all.
But when you create a raglan-sleeved shirt, the top edge of the raglan-sleeve either becomes part of the shirt’s collar, or it attaches directly to a collar that runs along the edge of the sleeve.
Look below at how the top part of the sleeve is actually forming the neckline of the raglan-sleeved pink shirt:
On the other hand, Ken’s sleeves are not attached to the neckline, but rather, we attach them to that C-shaped area at the edge of the shirt’s shoulder.
In the image below, for example, Figure 1 shows the basic shape of the sleeve. The round part of that sleeve will be fitted into the gap where the arrow points, between the shirt’s front and back.
Figure 2 shows a similar sleeve after it has been sewn into place. This results in a sleeve that — like Ken’s checkered jacket’s sleeve — is not attached to the collar in any way, but rather, is curled around the curvature of the area between the shirt’s front and back.
It’s obvious why we call this a set-in sleeve because it gets set into that curve.
So why is the other type of sleeve called a “raglan” sleeve?
The gentleman you see pictured above was FitzRoy Somerset, the First Baron of Raglan and an officer in the British Army.
Yup! The raglan sleeve is named for a dude! And he’s quite worthy of the title, if I may say so myself!
According to Wikipedia, “Somerset… served on Wellington’s staff at the Battle of Quatre Bras on 16 June 1815 and at the Battle of Waterloo two days later where he had to have his right arm amputated (and then demanded his arm back so he could retrieve the ring that his wife had given him). Faced with the difficulties in dressing following the amputation, he invented the so-called Raglan sleeve, sewn from the collar rather than the shoulder.”*
They say necessity is the mother of invention, and there you go!
Please add a comment. Do you prefer sewing raglan sleeves? And if so, why? Is there another type of sleeve that you prefer even more?
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*Wikipedia contributors. “FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 12 Jul. 2025. Web. 14 Aug. 2025.