Sew on cuffs - calculate length and sew correctly

• Material and preparation
• Sew on cuffs
• Quick guide

The cuff is the easiest way to finish an open fabric finish nicely. Therefore, it is also suitable for beginners. But to be perfect from the start, you should pay attention to some of the details that I would like to give you in this guide.

In this tutorial, you will learn what kind of finishes there are, what makes up the cuff fabric, how to correctly calculate the length for different uses, and, of course, how to sew cuffs.

Difficulty level 1/5
(this guide is for beginners)

Material costs 1/5
(depending on the application pennies up to a few euros)

Time required 1.5 / 5
(with this instruction, you sew cuffs jerk-off)

Various types of finishes for garments on garments

As already mentioned, there are some ways to finish an open fabric edge visually beautiful. In addition to the stripe-serging, where the edge is bordered with a matching strip of fabric and sewing with bias ribbons, which are also placed around the edge of the fabric, you can also sew a rubber band, make a proper waistband processing, sew other strips with open edges (for the Used Look) or just cuffing as described in the following instructions.

Material and preparation

Bundchenware is usually sold as a tubular fabric in a width of 35cm - so cut 70 cm. There are also extra wide cuffs. Mostly made of 95% cotton and 5% elastane. As a result, like jersey fabrics with the same composition, they are very elastic. Also common with Jersey is the production method. Cuffed tubular fabric is knitted, the individual loops can yield and thus increase the elasticity. In addition, the cuff fabric is knit in fine rib, so he gives a little more yield. Some types of cuffs have - just like the jersey - a right and a left side of the fabric. In others, you can see no difference.

What can you use cuff fabrics ">

What do I need to pay attention to when purchasing?

Basically, you can easily sew with all kinds of cuffs. The more elastic the fabric, the less you need in length.

How do I calculate the correct length?

I prefer to work with fine rib cuffs. The following rule of thumb applies:

Desired circumference x 0.7 + 1 cm NZ

So if I sewed a T-shirt with a house cutout of 40cm, I need a cuff length of 40 x 0.7 + 1 = 29 cm .

Tip: If you do not have cuffed fabric at home or it is less stretchy, you can also increase it to 0.75 or 0.8 length from the main fabric.

For the height, I always use different dimensions. For my tops I take 5 - 6 cm, for children's shirts rather 4 cm, which is already pretty much at the bottom of the scale, so it is still good to sew. For sleeves and abdominal cuffs it can sometimes be 40 - 50 cm, because the cuff fabric is doubled.

Sew on cuffs

So that not only is all gray theory, I have prepared for this tutorial, of course, a sewing example: A women's skirt for myself. For this I have measured my hip width and the desired length, tailored an appropriate rectangle and sewn together the edges right to right. Then I ironed out the seam allowances and lined the bottom edge.

Now comes another peculiarity: Since I have a fairly wide pelvis, but a narrow waist, I calculated the length of the cuff with 0.6 for my skirt. Nice that cuff fabric is so flexible! This ensures that my skirt stays in the right place and retains the right length.

At height I would like to have about 8 cm cuffs. Since it is double and I therefore need twice the seam allowance, I have set a height of 20 cm.

The open edges of the cuff are sewn together, the seam allowances are disassembled.

Since the cuff fabric is shorter than the upper circumference of my skirt, I have to sew it under stretch. But I want to stretch it everywhere the same, so he does not distort. That's why I mark myself in advance on both my skirt edge as well as on the cuff fabric some fixed points to which I can hold myself. Normally four points are sufficient: In my case directly at the seam,

then exactly opposite, when the bow is in the seam and both sides of the newly formed bow, when I put these two points on top of each other.

That's exactly what I'm doing at the cuff.

Tip: For larger distances between these points, it makes sense for beginners to stake out even more points at regular intervals.

Then I fold the cuff fabric once, so that the left side (with the seam) comes to lie inside. This creates two layers that I can put together at the marked points.

The cuff I put now from the outside (ie on the right, the "beautiful" side) of the main fabric and put all the layers together at the markings. Here you can clearly see how much shorter the cuff fabric is, because the main fabric folds.

I put all three layers under the foot, lower it and sew a few stitches. I make sure that the needle remains in the lower position and holds the fabric, so to speak. Then I carefully pull on the next marker collar on the cuff fabric, and that until the main fabric is straight and makes no more wrinkles.

You may have to pluck a little here and there with the other hand. At longer distances I reach with the right hand in a pleasant distance, in which I can hold all layers of fabric well without too strong a pull. With the left hand, I grasp the fabric behind the machine and ensure even tension so that the fabric does not slip forward as soon as the needle goes up.

Tip: When sewing stretchy fabrics, never use a straight seam, as it will not stretch and the thread will tear at the slightest load. Be sure to use at least a small zig-zag or stretch stitch! Of course, this seam can also be sewn with an overlock seam, as this is also stretchable.

After the round is sewn and I am back to the beginning, I sew. On the main fabric you can now see some uniform wrinkles, but disappear with a slight pull on the cuff immediately. From the cuff side, however, the wrinkles are not noticeable at all.

If you like it, you can leave it that way. Especially with such high cuffs, even when sewing with the normal sewing machine no further seam is necessary. You can see a few small wrinkles, but under stretching, so when you wear the skirt, they disappear immediately.

With narrow cuffs and children's shirts, it can happen that these fold up again and again and you can see the seam allowance underneath. Of course that is not so nice. But a simple trick helps: Quilting once more from the outside over the main fabric and embracing the seam allowance. Place the fabric edge of the main fabric under the foot so that you can sew about 0.5 cm next to the cuff fabric. Make sure that the seam allowance on the underside points towards the main fabric and sew again with slight stretch with a stretch stitch.

Think of sewing at the beginning and end! And you can sew right cuffs!

Quick guide

1. Calculate cuff height and cuff width (formula: circumference x 0.7 +1) and crop
2. Sew cuff fabric to the ring and unfold seam allowances
3. Mark fixed points on main fabric and cuff fabric (at least 4)
4. Cuff fabric left to left Fold together and fixed points
5. Place the cuffs on the right side of the outer fabric, put them together at the fixed points
6. Sew on cuffs with slight stretch
7. If desired: Stitch from the outside in the seam allowance (stretch again!)

And done!

The twisted pirate