shortening suit sleeves with buttonholes

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Sun, 04/20/2014 - 15:05
vmallett
User offline. Last seen 10 years 33 weeks ago. Offline
Joined: 04/20/2014
Posts: 1

Do I need to shorten the sleeves at the shoulder? No way to shorten at the cuff as the buttonholes prevent you from accessing and turning a new hem. These are "fake" buttonholes. They are not cut. The new hem line falls between the 3rd and 4th button from the bottom (approx 1.5 inches from existing hem line)  Do I remove the buttonhole stitching and work from the bottom as usual for a sleeve hem with a vent? Or will there be damage from all the buttonhole stitching after removing? Not sure where to start here.

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Fri, 05/09/2014 - 12:30
#1
Nehzat
User offline. Last seen 1 year 11 weeks ago. Offline
Instructor
Joined: 10/27/2007
Posts: 1026
Re: Shortening suit sleeves with buttonholes

Dear vmallett,

I have noticed that in recent suits, the fake buttonholes are only sewn to the top layer of the sleeve plackets. If this is the case, you can easily remove the stitching without having any problems with shortening the sleeves.

The only thing is to remove the necessary buttonhole stitching carefully and press the fabric in these areas using a press cloth. If your fabric is suede or velvet, you can steam the fabric from a distance with your iron to prevent damaging it.

If the buttonhole stitching catches the lower layer as well, you can still shorten the sleeves by only removing those buttonholes that are in your way. 

Once the sleeve hem is sewn you can redo the decorative buttonholes by hand or machine, before sewing the buttons. 

You could do the sleeve shortening from the top as well, however in most cases the top of the sleeves will become smaller than the armholes. This could be done if the suit or jacket is also large around the chest area, which lets you take in from the side seams as well. This way of shortening the sleeves requires a lot more effort and multiple fittings.

Happy sewing,

Nehzat

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