Ways to neatly shorten the sleeves of clothes

Sometimes in life a situation arises when you urgently need to shorten the sleeves of a jacket, shirt, dress or coat. If a person has at least a slight understanding of sewing, it will not be difficult for him to cope with the work. The main thing is to correctly determine the new length and carefully carry out the work according to the instructions. For those who do not rely on their own strength, it is better to contact a studio.

Shorten the sleeves of a shirt, blouse, dress

Often you have to shorten the sleeves of light clothing. When buying a new shirt, blouse or dress, it is not always possible to accurately determine the optimal length. During wear, two or three extra centimeters are incredibly annoying, and you want to shorten the product as quickly as possible.

If the model’s sleeve edge is absolutely straight and there are no cuffs, the work comes down to the following steps:

1. measure the required length;
2. open the hem, straighten and smooth the edges of the part;
3. measure the new length from the shoulder and draw a hem line with chalk;
4. cut off excess fabric, leaving 4-5 cm for hem;
5. place the hem inside and stitch with a stitch;
6. steam with an iron;
7. Sew the hem with a blind seam or machine stitch.

If you need to remake a product with cuffs, the work becomes a little more complicated. After all, you will have to not only remove the excess material, but also tear it off, and at the end of the work, re-sew the cuffs, preserving all the folds.

The sleeve with cuff and button placket should not be shortened by more than 2 cm. A short vent spoils the appearance of the product.

You can shorten the sleeves of the product not only from the bottom, but also from the top. To do this, you need to tear off the part, cut out the edging according to a new pattern and carefully sew it in place. An inexperienced seamstress will have difficulty coping with this job.

How to remove sleeve length from outerwear

Jackets, coats, leather jackets, fur coats and other outerwear are provided with a lining, and winter models are provided with padding polyester or other insulation. Multi-layers, slots, and buttons significantly complicate and slow down work.

Here are detailed instructions that will help you properly shorten the sleeve of a lined product.

1. Using a seam ripper, rip off the lining and the tape securing the edge (if any). Remove old threads, carefully straighten all layers of material, and iron.
2. A new length is set off from the shoulder and a hem line is marked.
3. Leaving 4-5 cm for folding, cut off excess material. If you are folding the sleeves of a fur coat, try to cut precisely along the line so as not to damage the pile. The padding polyester and lining are also trimmed by 4-5 cm.
4. Separately, the hem of the facing material and the lining are secured with a basting seam. The insulation is stitched together with the lining fabric.
5. The lining is placed on the hem so that 1–1.5 cm remains to the edge of the product, and sewn with a hidden seam.

The work is finished, all that remains is to iron the product and correctly sew on the decorative details, if any.

To prevent the sleeve from “pulling”, do not cut the lining material too much. There should always be a small overlap (1–2 cm).

How to shorten the sleeve of a knitwear item

Very often it is necessary to shorten the sleeves of a knitted blouse or sweater. This can be done in several ways. The choice depends on the features of the model (with cuffs or not) and on the density of the knitting.

Machine knitted item without cuffs

Usually, knitting sleeves on a machine starts with an elastic band or double stockinette stitch. In any case, this detail must be left unchanged, otherwise the item will lose its factory appearance.

The shortening work is carried out in several stages.

1. Try on the sweater and use a basting stitch to mark the new length. In this case, it is necessary to take into account the length of the factory hem, since in the updated product it will remain in place. For example, if a sleeve needs to be reduced in length by 5 cm, and the hem is 2 cm, then the stitch line should be 7 cm from the edge of the product.
2. Turn the edge of the part right side out and align the line marked with thread or chalk with the line where the elastic band transitions into the main fabric. Pin the inner seams and stitch them in a circle.
3. Now all that remains is to stitch along the marked line. To do this, you need to prepare the sewing machine: replace the needle with a “knitted” one, select the “knitted stitch” function (indicated as three rows of short strokes), and disconnect the removable platform.
4. The part is stitched 1–2 mm below the factory hem. Excess fabric is trimmed, leaving 0.5–1 cm, and the edges are processed using an overlocker or manually.

The sleeves of the machine-knitted product are turned right side out and steamed through damp gauze.

Thick jersey sweater with cuffs

In order to shorten sleeves with cuffs, you need to do the following work:

1. Put on the jacket and use pins or chalk to mark the desired length.
2. Measure the width of the cuffs and raise the marked line up by this amount. After all, in the updated product the cuffs will be sewn in place.
3. Tear off the cuffs and trim off the excess material, moving down 1–1.5 cm from the line.
4. The sleeve is narrower at the bottom than along the cut line, so the inner seam needs to be adjusted a little.
5. The cuffs are sewn into place, the allowances are processed with a zigzag.

As in the previous version, all seams must be ironed through a damp cloth, and if desired, you can stitch them with a knitted stitch along the front side of the cuff.

Hand knitted sweater

To shorten the sleeves of a knitted blouse, you need to do the following:

1. Mark the new length. Select the row of loops that runs along the cutting line.
2. Cut the loop near the side seam and carefully pull the thread out in a circle. As a result, the canvas will split into two parts.
3. The open loops of the short sleeve are picked up on a knitting needle and then closed or tied with an elastic band.

There are many ways to shorten the sleeves of clothing without spoiling the appearance of the product. If you have no experience in sewing, you can practice on old things that you don’t mind ruining. You need to start with simple models without lining, cuffs and other parts that complicate the work.