If you’d like a little extra puff in your sleeve, it just takes a few extra minutes and steps to make it happen.

This tutorial uses the lovely free Eva pattern from Fabrics-Store with the 3/4 sleeve option with an extended hem.

Let’s jump in!

Steps

1. Make a copy of the sleeve pattern out of paper or fabric. Gift wrap tissue paper or package paper works great for this if you have some on hand.

2. Make a series of cuts every 1” (2.5 cm) along the pattern copy. Instead of cutting all the way through, leave a short space intact at the bottom to hold the pattern together.

3. Lay the sliced pattern on the fabric. Pin the bottom of the sleeve in place to keep it level. Then pin each slice in place. The more you space out each section, the more puff you’ll get in the sleeve.

4. Cut out the new sleeve shape. For this shirt I also extended the bottom of the sleeve for a wider hem.

It can be a bit tricky to decide where the new cut line should be along the top. Don’t stress it. Just do your best guess. It doesn’t have to be perfect.

Don’t be afraid of adding too much width to the sleeve. You can see how much larger the new sleeve is than the original pattern, but it doesn’t add too much puff.

5. To gather the sleeve into the puff, sew two lines of loose stitching within the recommended pattern seam allowance.

6. Pull the bobbin threads to gather the sleeve until the length is the same as the original pattern piece. Distribute the gathers evenly along the cap of the sleeve.

7. Carefully clip the sleeve to the armscye of the shirt and continue with regular pattern instructions.

That’s it!