Jacket Sleeve Alterations

Suit jacket sleeve alterations are not difficult. Sleeves can be easily altered to be shorter. They can also sometimes be altered to add up to an inch of length, depending on the depth of the existing hem allowance.

A well-fitting suit jacket is essential for any stylish men’s costume. However, the look of even the most expensive and perfectly tailored suit jacket can be ruined by ill-fitting sleeves. Sleeve length is a crucial factor in achieving a polished look, and it is not uncommon for off-the-rack jackets to need some alteration to fit correctly. In this blog post, we will discuss the process of altering suit jacket sleeves to achieve a perfect fit.

Step 1: Determine the Correct Sleeve Length

The first step in altering suit jacket sleeves is to determine the correct sleeve length. Ideally, the sleeve should fall at the wrist bone when your arms are at your sides. To check if the sleeve length is correct, stand with your arms at your sides, and have someone measure the distance from the shoulder seam to the wrist bone. Keep in mind that the sleeves should have a slight break or fold where they meet the hand, and they should not be too long or too short.

Step 2: Desconstruct the old sleeve

If there are buttons on the sleeve placket, remove them.

Rip out seam that attaches lining to jacket fabric at sleeve hem, working around any placket.

Step 3: Mark the New Sleeve Length

Once you have determined the correct sleeve length, it is time to mark the new length on the jacket. Using a seam ripper, carefully remove the stitching on the bottom of the sleeve. Then, fold the sleeve to the correct length and use a fabric marker or tailor’s chalk to mark the new length.

Step 4(a): Shorten a too-long sleeve

To shorten sleeve, fold up the jacket fabric to the desired length and steam press new hem.

If necessary to make the new length work, remove placket entirely and hem the sleeve with no placket. 

Step 4(b): Lengthen a too-short sleeve

To lengthen sleeve, after ripping out the fabric/lining seam, straighten out all fabric and steam press to remove fold lines.

Sew seam binding to the end of the sleeve fabric.

Fold the jacket fabric to the desired sleeve length, and steam press (you can fold up a very small amount of the jacket fabric – just enough to hide the seam binding.)

If needed, sew a band of lightweight fabric to the sleeve lining to make he lining as long as the sleeve.

Step 5: Finish sleeve

Fold and steam press a small hem in the lining, towards the sleeve fabric.

Hand-sew the lining hem to the sleeve hem.

Steam press hem of sleeve alterations.