Another thing I've been doing for full sleeves (both blouses and
sweaters) that are too long is this: Obviously, you can usually hem a
free-floating sleeve bottom or move up a cuff. And I've done a lot of
both over the years. (Since my father, my brother, and my husband all
have short arms too,I have removed and replaced a lot of cuffs.) But my
newly favorite technique is to use some thin seam binding (I usually
just buy the synthetic/silky stuff in a matching color, but if I have
some suitable ribbon scraps around, I use those), sew it inside the
sleeve in one or two places higher up on the sleeve, run some narrow
elastic through to fit my arm at the place(s) where I want the sleeve to
fall, and thereby puff the sleeve while also shortening it.
What I've always liked for straight blouse sleeves is to use a row of
visible 1/2" tucks near the bottom, when I can, but that only works for
certain women's styles.
If you have a straight or somewhat flared sleeve with no cuff, and there
is a lot of decoration at the bottom of the sleeve, you can just cut the
bottom off right above the decoration, cut off some fabric from the
temporary new "bottom," and then sew the decorated part back on for a
"cuff" look. Obviously, some seam tapering is also necessary if the two
parts no longer fit after you have cut out some "middle."
Really, sometimes I'd rather do alterations than sew from scratch.
Especially when I'm really busy and need small projects.
Fran
Lavolta Press
http://www.lavoltapress.com
Rickard, Patty wrote:
Neat ideas - I'm short, too.
Patty
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