Cover a Hole in a Shirt Sleeve with Faux Cuffs

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I like to buy as much of the girl’s clothing used as I can, because that way she has a lot of options without spending a lot of money, and it doesn’t matter when they get stained or she grows out of them in half a season.

And though the place I do most of my shopping is good, sometimes less-than-perfect items slip in and sometimes I accidentally buy them.

So it was with this shirt. I didn’t even notice until the first time she wore it that there was a hole in the sleeve. She didn’t mind, but I thought I could make it a little more comfortable and cuter for her by covering up the hole.

First I thought I would just cover the hole with an applique like I did when I was covering stains on a skirt. But then I thought it might be cute if I added something that looked like a cuff to both sleeves so it wouldn’t look so much like I was trying to hide something.

So I did. I think it’s adorable. And it’s pretty easy, too.

mending hole in shirt — Mend the hole in the shirt before you cover it up.

First, sew the hole closed with a needle and thread.

Find some fabric you like and cut it into strips of the width you want and the length you need to go around the sleeve, plus a little more for the seam. Mine were 2.5 inches wide and came out about 2 inches after hemming.

cuff on shirt — Trying out the cuff length on the shirt.

Fold fabric in half right sides together and sew the seam.

Fold over a little at the top and bottom edge and sew down.

cuff for shirt — The sewn cuff before applying to the shirt.

Align the cuff on the sleeve. I put the seam of the cuff near the seam of the sleeve, but you can do it however you like.

Sew the cuff in place. I could only do it along the bottom, so the top is hanging open. If that poses a problem, I’ll tack it down with fabric glue or fusible webbing.