How to change elastic cuffs to sleeve binding for a polished look — Masson LifeStyle

So we made S9469 earlier this week, and it is a great pattern! On my first version I had made a change to it. Mostly because I don’t care for elastic sleeves cuffs. There is nothing wrong with elastic on your cuffs but I just don’t care for it, they are actually somewhat uncomfortable for me. So today I’m going to show you how to change the elastic on your sleeve cuffs to a sleeve binding.

First things first, you need to remove the stitches on the sleeves and also the elastic. So get your seam ripper out and remove those stitches. Give your sleeve a good press.

*Time to take out that elastic and rip out those stitches. Give it a good press once you are done.*

You will also need to do two rows of your longest running stitch on your machine as you want to create gathers as we have quite a bit of width on the sleeve cuffs.

*Add two rows of gathering stitches… longest running stitch on your machine. Leave those threads long and don’t lock your stitches!*

Next measure your forearm! Grab the measuring tape and measure the circumference of your forearm. That is the length of your forearm.

*Length of Forearm + 1/2” Ease +6/8” Seam Allowance (3/8” per seam allowance and you have two) equals the total length of your pattern piece*

Cut a 2” wide ( 5cm ) and use the length of your forearm plus 1/2” ( 1.27cm ) for ease and an additional 3/8” ( .95 cm) for seam allowance. Remember there are 2 seam allowances so you need to add 3/8” for each one… so 6/8”. That will give you the length of the pattern piece. In addition, this piece needs to be cut on the BIAS. I repeat, this sleeve binding pattern piece you are creating from scratch needs to be cut on the bias because it needs to stretch.

*Self drafted sleeve binding pattern piece*

If you are not a lover of self drafting your own pattern pieces you can also use pattern New Look 6471 and a sleeve binding piece is included with this pattern. HOWEVER, you should measure it and see if you need to add a little length to it so it fits your forearm.

Now you need to stitch the sleeve cuff together. So with right sides together you have a 3/8” seam allowance. Press the seam allowance open!

Line up your seam with the seam on the sleeve. Pin. Pull your gathers so its the same opening width as the gathers on your sleeve binding. Pin. Remember you are pining on the outside (right sides together) because we are going to fold this towards the inside.

Stitch at 3/8” seam allowance all around. Don’t forget to back stitch at the start and at the end.

Now trim the gathered seam allowance down to 1/4” on the inside of the cuff and press your cuff towards the outside, and then press towards the inside 3/8”..

Now you need to slip stitch the inside of your cuffs. You can also stitch in the ditch (this is if you rather use your sewing machine!) but if you do make sure you catch the fabric inside the sleeve with your sewing machine…. hence why I like to use needle and thread and do it by hand. Give it one final press and you are done!