In this easy sewing tutorial, I'll show you three ways to alter the sleeves of dresses, tops, jackets and jumpers. Transform your wardrobe with these easy clothes upcycling ideas. Learn how to make sleeves shorter, sew a puffy sleeve and elastic sleeve hem. All projects can be down without a sewing machine using iron on hemming tape or hand sewing.
How to sew an elastic waist on pants or a dress - • Make a dress from a to...
Sleeve sewing tutorial #1
Using shirring elastic to create a puffy sleeve.
One of my favourite sleeve transformations is to create a puffy sleeve by using shirring elastic. This blouse started off with long sleeves and was a bit too big and not really my style. I wanted to make it more feminine and shirring elastic was perfect for the project.
If you’ve never used shirring elastic before, next time you’re at the haberdashery store buy some because you’ll never look back. It comes just like cotton reel but it’s thin elastic instead of thread. You then wind the elastic onto your bobbin by hand.
It’s important however that you don’t wind it on too tightly or use the automatic bobbin winder on your sewing machine as it will be too tight.
Then normal cotton is threaded at the top of the machine and you sew as you normally would. The end result is an elasticated band where you sew. It couldn’t be easier.
One tip I would recommend is to sew a few test runs on a scrap of similar fabric as you usually have to adjust the bobbin and thread tension to get the combination right.
If the fabric you’re sewing doesn’t have a line in the print you can follow, just draw a faint line in chalk so you don’t get all wobbly.
Sleeve sewing tutorial #2
Adding an elastic to create a puffy sleeve
Another of my favourite sleeve alteration methods is to use elastic as you would to create an elastic waist on pants or a skirt. First, I measure how far I want the elastic from the sleeve hem. For this project, to make the job easy, I used the width of a ruler as my guide. Then, measure and cut two lengths of elastic - one for each arm. Then, as you would when creating an elastic waist for pants or a skirt, mark the half and quarter segments on the sleeve. And the half and quarter segments on the elastic. Pin these segments in place. And it’s over to the sewing machine. If you want a more detailed tutorial on how to do this, check out my video where I joined a top and skirt together to make a dress. I’ll put the link in the comments below. This is a simple way to transform tops you buy thrifting or upcycle old tops in your wardrobe.
Sleeve sewing tutorial #3
Create an elastic sleeve hem.
I’ve saved the easiest until last - a simple elasticated sleeve hem. I use this method on long and short sleeves and it’s handy if you like to be able to push long sleeves up and want them to stay in place. The first step is to create a new sleeve hem that’s wide enough to thread the elastic through, remembering to leave an opening where you’ll start and end threading through the elastic. At the beginning, I add a safety pin so it glides through the new hem “tunnel” and I safety pin the end in place so it doesn’t follow it through. Once finished, you sew the two ends of the elastic together and then sew up the opening. And that’s it. I have done this so often that I can complete an elastic sleeve hem in about 20 minutes.
And there you have it, three very easy ways to alter sleeve hems on tops, dresses, jackets and even jumpers.
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See you next time,
BEX.
My videos and tutorials include:
* how to sew sleeves
* sleeve sewing tutorial
* sleeve upcycling tips
* how to upcycle clothes ideas
* upcycling clothes ideas
* upcycling clothes before and after videos
* sewing tutorials for beginners
* easy sewing tutorials
* 10 minute sewing projects
* quick sewing projects
* chartity shop upcycle
* op shop upcycle
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Second Life Upcycling is about altering and upcycling clothes to give them a second life, inspiring people to recycle, repurpose, refashion, reuse, and rethink. On this channel, you'll find easy, quick, and simple step-by-step clothes upcycling tips and easy sewing tutorials. I have been thrifting, second-hand shopping, and sewing for 30+ years. I started thrifting in the 1980s. My passion is following an ethical style when it comes to my clothing choices and living an environmentally friendly life. I rarely buy new clothes (or anything new for that matter), instead shopping second hand at shops, Goodwill, Vinnies, Salvos and flea markets.