Dear Donna,
If you have ever looked at a sleeve pattern, you can see that it is widest at the bicep line or underarm seam, and tapers as it descends toward the wrist. This means that the only way to shorten such a sleeve is to sew a very narrow hem--no more then 5/8 of an inch. Turn under 1/4 to 5/16 inch; sew in place. Turn under another 1/4 to 5/16 inch and stitch again. Any wider than that will cause the sleeve to pinch and wrinkles along the hem.
Teri
I shorten sleeves a lot, as I have short arms :) I always 'mirror' the existing hem. That is, if I need the sleeve to be 2" shorter (inc. the hem allowance), then I cut exactly 2" all the way around. I first mark the 2" line with a pencil, then cut. That way the new hem mimics the line of the old one...the only difference being it is now shorter. I also use the hem measurement from the old hem for the new one (so that if the old hem was 1" that's how side I make the new one). =20
-Irene
I just bought three shirts that I really like, except that the sleeves are what I think are called 3/4 sleeves. They come about half-way between wrist and elbow.l I hate 3/4 sleeves, and want to shorten them to regular short sleeves--about half-way between shoulder and elbow. I want them about seven inches shorter than they are now.
Can I just cut off the extra inches straight across (less hem allowance), or do I need to cut off less near the underarm seam? How would I go about figuring how to cut? Does someone know of a good website that shows how to do this? These are ready-to-wear shirts, so I don't need information on altering patterns, just how to shorten a sleeve that already exists.
Thank you for any help you can offer.
Donna G. Michigan's Upper Peninsula
One more word of advice: on each shirt, draw your cutting line on the sleeve with a wash-out marker, try the shirt on and use a full-length mirror and a hand mirror to look at it from all angles, *then* cut.
Joy Beeson
Donna Gennick wrote in news:IFRni.43$in6.759 @eagle.america.net:
I would use the same line as the RTW shirt. Another idea is to take a shirt with sleeves that you like, place it on the shirt you want to shorten the sleeves on, and use that line as your shortening line. Be sure to cut it longer than the hemmed version and turn up that amount to hem.
Thank you, everyone, for your great suggestions. I just finished shortening the sleeves on one of the shirts, and it looks better and feels a lot more comfortable. I can finish the other two quite quickly, now.
Donna G. Michigan's Upper Peninsula
Donna Gennick wrote: I
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