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Fitting the cuffs

01-pieces

We have one more quick adjustment you can do with your Hawthorn before you start sewing.

This one is really easy, but can make a big difference in your comfort. We’re going to adjust the cuff, so it’s exactly as snug as you want it.

First, cut out your cuff pieces and mark the button placement (Above, you see I marked mine with pink pencil).

02-try-on

Pin the cuff together by pinning through the button mark. Now slip the cuff up your arm and put it over the widest part of your forearm. How does it feel?

03-bend-arm

Try bending your arm. Does the cuff strain? Does it feel too loose?

Make your cuff bigger or smaller, whatever feels good to you.

04-pleat

But you still want your cuff to match your sleeve, right? No problem. There’s a small pleat in the sleeve that you can adjust so that the cuff will still fit.

If you decide to make your cuff bigger, just make the pleat smaller by the same amount and draw the circle marks for the pleat a little closer together. If you need a smaller cuff, increase the size of the pleat by drawing the circle marks further apart.

If you have very large or very small arms all over, you may still want to adjust the sleeve itself. Otherwise, this is a great way to make small changes to your cuff without affecting the shape of the sleeve too much.

That wraps up the adjustments we’ll be covering this week! Next week, we’re going to start actually assembling our Hawthorns, so you might want to cut your final fabric this weekend after making your fitting changes.

Are you ready?

The Hawthorn Sewalong

  1. Announcing the Hawthorn Sewalong & Contest (53 Comments)
  2. Full and Small Bust Adjustments (52 Comments)
  3. FBA Bonus: Splitting the Dart (15 Comments)
  4. Wide or Narrow Shoulder Adjustment (42 Comments)
  5. Fitting the cuffs (12 Comments)
  6. Interfacing, Staystitching, Darts, and Shoulders (22 Comments)
  7. Collar, Facing, and Side Seams (13 Comments)
  8. Attaching the Skirt or Peplum (10 Comments)
  9. Hawthorn Version 1, Short Sleeve (9 Comments)
  10. Hawthorn Version 2, 3/4 Length Sleeve (20 Comments)
  11. Hawthorn Version 3, Armhole (13 Comments)
  12. Closures, Hem, and Finishing (11 Comments)
  13. Hawthorn Parade: Vote for your favorites! (36 Comments)
  14. Hawthorn Parade Part Two: Vote for your favorites! (29 Comments)
  15. Hawthorn Contest Winners! (15 Comments)

Comments

Rebekka

So, how do you adjust the sleeves? I’m so glad for a dress pattern with longer sleeves, because I have arms like hams, but it won’t do to be bursting the seams either. Will you be covering sleeve adjustments too? I’ve always found it tricky, because setting the sleeve is so fussy already.

Good point, Rebekka…I have arms like hams; I hate sewing in sleeves–always end up ripping out at least once (usually 2-3 times before they’re in smoothly), and adding fullness for the ham arms? Yike-ola!

Rebekka, the full schedule for the sew-along and everything we’re covering is here. Unfortunately, we don’t have the ability to cover every adjustment, so adjusting for large arms isn’t really part of the schedule.

As an alternative, you could try some fitting books like Fit For Real People, which should definitely cover this and can be applied to this pattern!

Seattlerain

Just wanting to echo the request for full ham arm adjustments! Haven’t seen my Hawthorn pattern, though it was supposed to be shipped 6/25, so I’m not even to muslin yet! :(

Mugsy

So many terrific tips and tutorials here – sewing information gold! :) Thank you so much for sharing all this…

Katie

Haven’t had the opportunity to make a muslin yet but plan to this weekend. I anticipate I won’t need any major adjustments which is common when I use your patterns. I may need to alter the cuff though so thanks for this tutorial!

Caitie

I’m just making my version of the long sleeved dress up now and I’ve followed all the instructions perfectly, traced it properly, but I’ve found that there’s an extra 3 centimetres of fabric (2 whole seam allowances) extra on the sleeve as opposed to the cuff and they won’t fit together. Has anyone else experienced this problem? I can’t be the only person to find extra fabric on the sleeve bottom (unless something went drastically wrong somewhere along the line of course).

SpaceDoll

You’re putting in the pleat, right?

Caitie

I was putting in a pleat! :)

I’ll take a look, but I’d encourage you to adjust your pleat to fit. But we’ll be covering the cuff and placket construction a little later as well.

Caitie

Thanks, I just added another pleat to remove the extra 3 cm and it worked fine.

Pvc fabric | paccana.com

This was really helpful! Thank you so much!