Sleeves, Gussets, and Side Seams

A busserull was made for “full range of movement for vigorous work” like blacksmithing, fishing, and forestry ¹. The sleeves and gussets are where that comes from.

Pleat the sleeves

A busserull sleeve is a wide rectangle gathered into a narrow cuff with pleats. The Tromsø shirt has 6 pleats at the wrist, and pleats at the top of the sleeve too, 2 in front and 2 behind ²; Folkwear’s pattern uses four pleats at each cuff end ³. Mark the pleats with chalk, fold them toward the back of the arm, and baste them in place a scant 1/2 inch from the edge so they hold until the cuff goes on.

The gusset

The gusset is a small square of cloth set into the armpit: on the Lands Museum shirt it’s 9 x 9 cm ⁴. On the Tromsø shirt it’s cut in one with the front of the sleeve rather than as a separate piece ². Either way works; a separate square is easier to sew.

Folkwear’s order is gussets to sleeves first, then sleeves to body ³:

1. Turn the gusset on point, like a diamond.
2. Sew two adjacent edges of the gusset to the two underarm edges of the sleeve, right sides together, stopping exactly at the seam allowance at the corner.
3. Set the sleeve into the body at the shoulder, matching the top of the sleeve to the end of the yoke.

One long seam

Now the side seam runs in one pass ³: start at the cuff end of the sleeve, sew up the sleeve’s underarm, pivot through the gusset’s two free edges, and continue down the side of the body. Stop at the top of the side slit: about 5 cm on the Lands Museum shirt ⁴. Backstitch firmly at the pivot points and at the top of the slit, where the strain falls.

Finish the seams (zigzag, serge, or turn and stitch) and press them toward the back.

The back belt

Some busserulls have a half belt across the back, a strap called the spensel on the Hadeland shirt ⁵. Folkwear bastes it into the side seams at the waist, with 1-inch D-rings to adjust it ³. It’s optional; it pulls in the back fullness for working.

Try it

Before sewing the real gusset, sew one into a paper sleeve-and-body mockup with tape. Turning the square on point and seeing how its four edges meet four seams makes the machine work easy.