In our new, warmer climate, hubby doesn’t need to wear long sleeve dress shirts for work. It seemed like a shame to just get rid of (donate) all of his dress shirts though. Most of them were in really good condition. So I tried making one into a short sleeve shirt. It wasn’t that hard! It may seem intimidating, but it is really very simple. It took me about 15 minutes to do this. I use a short sleeve dress shirt as a pattern so I know where to cut the sleeve. Line up the shoulder seams.
It needs to be cut about an inch longer so you have room to hem it. I think cutting the first sleeve off is the hardest part. After that, there’s no going back.
Using the sleeve you just cut off as a guide, cut the other sleeve off.
I remove the buttons before tossing the cut off sleeves. You never know when you might need to replace a button.
Fold the cut edge under once and then again and pin it. Do this all the way around both sleeves.
Line up the shoulder seams and make sure the sleeves are the same length.
Sew each sleeve hem. I line up the fold of the hem with the edge of my presser foot. That way the seam is the same distance from the fold all the way around.
A quick press to smooth out the new hem and you have a “new” short sleeve dress shirt.
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