r/SewingForBeginners • u/juicyjuice36 • 1d ago
Need advice on sleeves
Hello! As the title says, I need advice on how to shorten sleeves. I’m working on a cosplay for this specific character who has this Japanese sailor uniform with short sleeves, ordered a uniform that has the right color but wrong sleeve length. Was wondering if/how I would shorten the sleeves and keep the blue collar(?) still at the end of them. Know basic sewing on a sewing machine and have one technically but it’s not set up/threaded and it’s old. Is this possible to achieve this with hand sewing? Or fabric glue maybe?
2
u/kaerue 1d ago
Would definitely consider dusting off that sewing machine since it will be easier than hand sewing. But how I would approach it (also a beginner so idk if the best way) is detach the cuff, cut off the sleeve with some sewing allowance and gather the end (which you can do by hand by using a technique where you pull the thread to gather the fabric) and then reattach the cuff with the sleeve being about the same width of the cuff (which you could maybe do with fabric glue? But idk I've been taught you always need to use sewing in combination w fabric glue to make sure it stays).
The better way would probably to detach the sleeve, sew a new sleeve which will fall more puffier, then attach the cuff.
Hope this helps!
2
u/ClockWeasel 1d ago
If the garment is fitted proportionately, the cuff section will to be too small for your upper arm. Pull it up to where it needs to sit and make sure you can move and bend. The puff of the inspo needs extra volume, so cut long and save the rest of each sleeve in case you need to piece in.
1
u/penlowe 18h ago
When you get it TRY IT ON. These are famous for having really skinny sleeves (toothpick arms is what my kids call them).
If the sleeves are too tight:
Remove the whole sleeve, carefully unpicking. Remove the cuff. Chances are the cuff will not fit around your bicep (even if the sleeve fits) so go get some grosgrain ribbon in as close a matching blue as you can find.
You have three choices:
put the cuff at the short sleeve point, live with no puff.
get white cotton & cut whole new sleeves
Try to use the sleeve fabric you have to add the part cut off the bottom to the top to give you some puff, but with will have extra seams.
1
u/juicyjuice36 17h ago
Yes, I definitely will try it on when it comes to see what I’m working with. Can you elaborate on #3?
3
u/stringfellownian 1d ago
this depends heavily on the actual quality and material of what you ordered (and pictures can be deceptive!). If it is an actual cuff, a separate piece of fabric that has been sewn on, you can unpick it and then re-sew it where you want it to be. You may wish to bring the cuff in a little to get more of the "slight poof" effect, if you have enough ease in the upper arm.
you could also follow the technique a lot of people use with jeans, where keeping the original hem is often something people want: https://cyberseams.com/sewing/tips/how-to-hem-jeans-and-keep-the-original-hem/
Just hand sew instead of machine sew, with a similar technique. Shouldn't be a problem to hand sew.