How to Shorten Shirt Sleeves
By TaVare · updated 2026-08-14
To shorten shirt sleeves you almost always work from the cuff – not by turning up the end the way you would on trousers, because a long-sleeved shirt has a cuff and a placket. The correct method is to detach the cuff, remove length where the sleeve meets it, and sew it back on; a short-sleeved shirt, by contrast, is just a simple hem. Here are both methods, and the signs that tell you when to leave it to a tailor.
Shirt sleeves are shortened from the cuff
The key difference from trousers is that a shirt sleeve does not end in a plain edge, but in a cuff attached with a placket, and the fabric is gathered into small pleats towards the cuff. So you cannot simply turn up the end – the length has to come off where the sleeve meets the cuff, so you keep the cuff, the placket and the button position. The exception is short-sleeved shirts with no cuff: there the sleeve ends in an ordinary hem, and shortening is as easy as hemming a pair of trousers.
Measure the right sleeve length
Put the shirt on, with your arm relaxed by your side. A shirt cuff should rest on the wrist bone, right where the hand begins – just long enough that it does not slide up when you bend your arm, but not so long that it covers the back of the hand. Measure how much to remove on each arm separately; many people have slightly different arm lengths, so one measurement for both often misses the mark. Under a suit jacket the shirt should show just beyond the jacket sleeve.
How to shorten a shirt sleeve with a cuff
This is a manageable but slightly fiddly job if you can sew. The method is the same on both sleeves:
- Measure and mark how much length to remove while the shirt is on.
- Unpick the cuff from the sleeve, noting how the pleats towards the placket sit.
- Remove the excess length from the top edge of the sleeve, keeping a little seam allowance.
- Re-form the pleats so the sleeve again fits the width of the cuff opening. If a lot is removed, the placket must be shortened and reworked to match.
- Reattach the cuff and match the original topstitching. Give it a final press.
Short-sleeved shirt: just a simple hem
If the shirt has short sleeves with no cuff, you skip the whole cuff job. Then you shorten it the same way as a trouser hem:
- Try the shirt on and mark the length you want on both sleeves.
- Add a couple of centimetres of hem allowance below the mark and cut off the rest.
- Finish the edge, turn up the hem and press it flat.
- Sew the hem with a straight stitch or blind-stitch it by hand, in matching thread.
When should a tailor do it?
A short-sleeve hem or a plain cotton shirt is easy to do yourself. But on a good shirt with a cuff, a placket and visible topstitching to match, the result is often neater at a tailor – especially if a lot has to come off so the placket must be reworked, or the shirt has double cuffs (for cufflinks). The shortening then becomes both more invisible and more durable. You order online, and you see the price before you order.
You see the price before you order.
Frequently asked questions
Can shirt sleeves be shortened without ruining the cuff?+
Yes – that is exactly why the job is done from the cuff. You detach the cuff, remove length where the sleeve meets it, and sew it back on. That keeps the cuff, placket and button position intact.
Can I just turn up the shirt sleeve like trousers?+
Only if the shirt is short-sleeved and the sleeve ends in an ordinary hem. A long sleeve ends in a cuff with a placket, so the length must come off at the top, not be turned up at the end.
Where should a shirt cuff sit?+
On the wrist bone, where the hand begins – long enough that it does not slide up when you bend your arm, but not so long that it covers the back of the hand. Under a suit jacket the shirt should show just beyond the jacket sleeve.
Can you shorten the shirt sleeves for me?+
Yes. We shorten the sleeves from the cuff and match the original topstitching, including on shirts with double cuffs. You order online, and you see the price before you order.
Rather have us handle it?
You see the price before you order.