Tutorial ~ Rolled Cuff With Argyle Applique Shirt

This tutorial is a two part post of sorts.  It started with turning a long sleeve into a short sleeve shirt, and then I used the cuffs and scraps from that shirt to make a rolled cuff shirt with a fun argyle detail.  So easy because you just use the old cuff as the tab on this shirt, so the button hole is already made for you .  Yeah, I thought you’d like that.  You could even pull out one of their shirts from years past as the donor.

It’s a great way to turn some of those long sleeve shirts your little one wore last winter into short sleeves for the hotter months before they grow out of them.  And if your kids are anything like mine, they get pretty attached to certain shirts, so this just gives them one more life.  Round up some shirts, and catch me after the jump for all the details!

If you need help with any of these terms I have a sewing tips directory that might help you out, or just leave any questions in the comments.

Supplies:

• long sleeve shirt
• cuffs and scraps from second long sleeve shirt
• heat -n- bond for applique
• all your sewing stuff

The Process:

Start by cutting off the cuffs.  You don’t want to cut up too high because you need enough left to roll up.  I just cut right above the button.

Now sew a zigzag stitch around the sleeve just on the edge.  You can see that part of the cuff tag is still on my sleeve, but that’s okay, it will be in the roll so you won’t see it.

It should look something like this.

Now take the cuffs from the older shirt and cut them away from the sleeve right along the seam.  Save those buttons!  You will use the bigger ones later, and I think I might replace the little ones on the collar of the new shirt with the little ones from this cuff.

Next, roll up the sleeve to where you like it.  Then tuck the cuff inside and position and pin it in place.  I had to cut about 2 inches from my cuff, that way when I sewed it in place you wouldn’t see where when the sleeve was rolled up.  Just don’t cut off the button hole!  Pull the cuff up and make sure that the button hole and button placement will line up okay.

Turn the sleeve on the shirt inside out, so now the cuff is on the outside.  Take the sleeve off of your machine to give you some room to work.  Work the sleeve of the shirt up under the needle and sew the tab in place.

It should look like this when inside out.  I did have to unpick and re-sew my first cuff, because I didn’t sew the cuff on straight, so try and pay attention to that .  Repeat on opposite sleeve.

Now turn the shirt right side out and roll the cuffs where you want them.  Pull the cuff into place and mark where the button should go through the hole.  Sew the button on.

You could be finished here, but if you’re feeling like some applique….

Cut out 5 diamonds from the itty bitty scraps left from the cuffs of the first shirt.

Place on the heat -n- bond and have a hot iron ready.

I like to use paper towels to place over the heat -n- bond to protect my iron.  Iron the appliques per the instructions.  Tear them from the towels, and then iron in place onto the shirt.  I placed three in one column and then two right next to that.

Now sew around each diamond to secure.  I use a slightly longer stitch length for this step.  When you get to the points of the diamonds, make sure your needle is down, raise the foot and rotate the shirt pointing to the next point.  Put the foot down and repeat when you reach the next point.

Then set those stitches with a hot iron.  At this point I switched my thread to a heavier button thread for the lines going through the diamonds.

You can see in this photo that I just sewed diagonal lines, connecting where there were two.  Just follow that pattern .

You’re finished!  Now my little guy has a new shirt made with parts of his favorite old shirt.

Check out that pose.  He took this whole modeling the shirt business seriously.  I think I will change out the buttons to match the ones on the cuffs…maybe.  Or maybe not, that is a lot of buttons…

As always, I love to see pics of what you make, so please send me some if you have a chance to make one of these!

You can find a bunch more boy tutorials here, there are some fun ones!

~Destri

Tagged as: boys, children's clothing, repurposing