Tutorial: Getting a strip of fabric from a dress shirt sleeve

August 25, 2009 by Anne Weaver

manssleeve With all of the refashioning of men’s dress shirts, sooner or later you’ll come across a project that needs a little bit of extra fabric for a strap or a ruffle or extra width. One place to get the extra fabric is from the sleeve. (If you’ve ever cut out a shirt pattern, then you know how much fabric is in a sleeve!) But because a sleeve is not made up of right angles, getting usable fabric from it requires a little bit of planning. Christine from Christine Sews tells how to cut the sleeve to get a strip of usable fabric. Go to her tutorial.

[photo from Christine Sews]

[tags]sewing, tutorial, refashion, shirt, sleeve, fabric, cutting, strip[/tags]

Have you read?

Easy Cosmetics Bag Sewing Pattern

The bag is simple, uses very little fabric (about 2/3rds of a fat quarter), has no fussy inside pockets (although you can add your own if you like), and takes me well less than 30 minutes to print the pattern, cut out and sew. But quick and simple doesn’t mean it’s not awesome!

It’s the sort of bag that is versatile enough to be used for lots of applications, not just cosmetics and toiletries. Keep all your pens and pencils in order, use it for a small first aid kit for the car, keep it in your desk at work for a few headache pills and other personal supplies.

Make some for yourself, for gifts or to sell.