Shirt/ Shift Part Two: Sleeves

Having cut out your pattern pieces, you now start actually making the thing!

The link I gave before gives instructions which you can follow if you like. Mine are roughly the same, just in a slightly different order plus I don't cut any shaping for the neck-hole.

I start with the sleeves.

If you cut the body in one, then fold it in half so the fold lies from shoulder to shoulder and mark the halfway point on each side with a pin (if you put the pin in, out, in and out then it stays better than just putting it in and out once each).
If you cut the body in two pieces, as I have done, then you will need to do a short piece of the seam along the shoulder first. Lay the body-front on top of the body-back. Overlap them slightly so that the back shows for about 1.25 cm or half an inch above the top of the body-front. Pin about 6 inches or 15cm down at each side and in the middle, to hold the pieces in alignment while you work. Now fold over the body-back edge just a bit, about 1/4 inch or just under 1cm. Press the fold firmly with finger and thumb and it will stay (linen is useful stuff!).
Now fold that down on top of the body-front, and pin it through the folded body-back ad the body-front (try not to pin it through all thicknesses to the body-back further down!). Take out the holding-pins if it helps. The folded edge should be about 1/4-1/2 an inch or 1-1.5 cm from the raw edge of the body-front. Sew along the fold. I just use a running stitch. Now turn it inside out and you will see the raw edge of the body-front; fold this under and sew it as above. This can be with a running stitch or with a whip-stitch. I use a running-stitch on the main parts, so what I end up with is a double-line of running-stitch. It's like the seams on a pair of jeans. It's extremely strong which is why running stitch is fine and you don't need back-stitch.
The seam is reversible, looks the same each side, and has no raw edges showing (raw edges are structurally weak).

Sew approx 3" or 7cm of the shoulder-seam and just leave the thread hanging (you'll come back to it later; all you're doing jsut now is making the two body pieces into one so you can put the sleeves in).

Now take the sleeve-piece and fold it in half. If you have it longer than it is wide, check to see which is the lengthways and which is the widthways direction! Fold it lengthways and pinch the fold at the shoulder-end to mark it. Now align that with the shoulder-seam on the body, or with the fold on the body if you cut it in one. Fold over the edge of the body and pin it onto the sleeve as described above. Stitch that, then turn it inside-out and fold under the raw edge and stitch that.

Now repeat for the opposite side. You now have a shirt or shift body with both sleeves sewn on.