Hi sew-friends! Last week, I released the updated Lou Box Dress patterns and over the next few weeks I’ll be adding a few additional posts to the existing sewalong. These patterns are rated at a beginner level but everyone could use a little help now and then! Today, I’m sharing a video tutorial, showing you how to sew the short cuff sleeves of the Lou Box Dress 1 pattern. These cuffs are a little bit tricky to attach because they are a smaller piece fitting into a larger armhole but do not fear! I’m going to show you my methods for sewing them without any wrinkles or puckers.
Spoiler! We’re going to baste that baby first. Basting can often seem like a waste of time because you’re stitching a seam twice but if that seam is at all tricky, basting can save you a LOT of time in the long run. A few reasons why basting is awesome. Basting will hold the fabric together along the seam line like a test run. If the test run works out, you can just stitch right on top of the basting stitches. If it doesn’t work, you can remove a few or all of the basting stitches and baste again. If you dive right in to the shorter stitches but stuff gets messed up, you’re going to spend a lot more time seam ripping those stitches than you would have spent removing basting stitches. And as a sweet little bonus, basting stitches are really fast to sew and very easy to remove.
By the way, this dress is a mashup of the Lou Box Dress 1 and Lou Box Dress 2. You can check out the blog post about this dress right here. Let’s get on to the tutorial!
I hope that this video is helpful. Below is a quick recap of the steps for sewing these cuffs. You can also check out the still photos in the sewalong post here.
How to sew Lou Box Dress 1 Short Cuff Sleeves
Step 1 Stitch short ends of cuffs, pivoting at corners. Clip into corners and press seam open. Fold wrong sides together and press. Baste raw edges together, if desired.
Step 2 Pin cuff to arm opening matching seam in cuff to underarm and center of cuff to shoulder seam.
Step 3 Baste with the bodice of the garment next to the feed dogs. Check for any wrinkles. Re-baste if needed.
Step 4 Stitch cuff in place.
Step 5 Finish raw edge and press.
That’s it! You’re all done and if have a pretty little wrinkle free cuff. If you haven’t already, I’d be honored if you follow me on YouTube. There will be a new video next week showing how to sew the elastic waist casing for the Lou Box Dress 2 so stay tuned. Happy sewing!
