

Foliis is such a great pattern on its own, but I had an idea that I couldn’t shake when I came upon some super soft brushed French Terry. I went with my gut, and started hacking away, and I couldn’t be happier with the result. Meet the Foliis cropped sweater with bell sleeves! Okay, maybe I’m a little too excited, but since this will go great over my daughter’s Solis and Optimum dresses this fall, it was exactly what she was needing. I know I’ll be making more with different sleeve variations.

Pattern Pieces Needed:
- Bodice Front (option B)
- Bodice Back (option B)
- Sleeve (I printed her size and the smaller size to narrow the sleeve as it went down the arm)
- Waistband height measurement (pattern piece not needed)
Bodice Hack
- Trace out the bottom of your bodice pattern, from slightly above the armscye to the bottom of the bodice.

- Draw a line parallel with the grainline from the top of the side seam (at the bottom of the armscye) down past the waistline.

- Extend the waistline to the new side seam. This line may be curved slightly, if it is, continue the slight curve.

- Cut out the changes and tape to your original bodice front/back, and repeat for the other bodice piece.

When cutting out the front bodice, cut on the fold, eliminating the seam allowance from center front. For help, refer to this tutorial, this tutorial will also come in handy for the neckband length.
Sleeve
Use the 3/4 sleeve length to cut your sleeves.
I chose to slim my sleeves to the smaller size as it went down the sleeve, then as I was sewing, I made a larger seam allowance to slim it even more, so you could slim your sleeves more, so that you keep a consistent seam allowance.
Before cutting out the bell part of the sleeve along with the neckband and bottom band, you’ll sew the top together so that you can figure the measurements for the rest. Following the steps in the instructions, the following:
- Shoulder seams
- Attach sleeves
- Side seams/sleeves
Neckband
Refer to this tutorial, step 5 for your neckband. I chose to use the same fabric as the rest of my top instead of ribbing, and it didn’t have nearly as much stretch, so I used something between 85-90% instead of 80%. This percentage really depends on how much stretch your fabric has. Top stitch if desired.
Bottom Band
- Measure the bottom of your top (hem area), add seam allowance to sew the 2 ends together, this will be the length.
- Measure the height of the wasitband pattern piece.
- Cut your bottom band using these measurements.
- Sew the two short ends together and press.
- Fold wrong sides together, and attach like the pattern instructions, although it will fit the bottom of your top exactly.
- Press the seam allowance toward the top (away from the band) and top stitch if desired.
Bell Sleeves
I’m not going to pretend this part was really easy to figure out, instead of going through the headache I did, here’s what I suggest:

All done!