Finished my 2025 Christmas presents for real, this time, back in February (though apparently I never actually published this post), with a pair of linen sleeve protectors. While the documentation I gathered back in the day suggested that such sleeves were primarily used by clerks and other people engaged in large amounts of writing, there was also scattered references to grocers' assistants, artists, and other occupations where one's forearms are at risk of soiling, but where rolling up the sleeves would be inappropriate.*
This pair is intended for one my favorite tin-smiths, who has been looking for a way to protect her dress sleeves from snags and abrasion while cutting tin. The mid-weight linen I used is fairly stout and close-woven, without being coarse, and I hope that it will do the job.
*Of course, when I repeated the search in 2026, Google Books had exactly 3 results for this kind of oversleeve in the period 1840-1865: a clerk, an artist, and a doctor performing 'chemical experiments.'
