How to Sew the Lou Box Dress 1, View A Sleeves and Cuffs – Lou Box Dress Sewalong Day 9

In today’s post I’ll show you how to sew the sleeves and cuffs for the Lou Box Dress 1, view A. These sleeves are a three-quarter length with a cuff and if I was pressed to choose a favorite sleeve from the Lou Box Dress options, this would be it. I'll show you how to sew a turned back cuff as seen in the black dress above, and one that is more of a sleeve extension as seen in the blue striped dress above. I recommend the latter method when working with thicker fabrics like ponte or sweatshirt fabric.

How to Sew Lou Box Dress 1 View A Sleeves

Step 1: With right sides together, pin three-quarter sleeve to shoulder matching circle to shoulder seam. If you are sewing with knit fabric, stitch using serger/overlocker or use stretch stitch and finish raw edges. If you are sewing with woven fabric, stitch, finish the raw edges together and press the seam allowance towards the sleeve.

Step 2: Attach the in-seam pockets and stitch the side seams as shown in the instruction booklet. If you are using knit fabric and would like to use a serger for these steps, check out this post.

Step 3: Prepare the cuff. With right sides together, stitch short ends of three-quarter sleeve cuff. If using a woven fabric, press seam open. If using a knit fabric, press seam to one side. Turn right side out. Fold wrong sides together along fold line matching raw edges and press.

Step 4: Next we'll stitch the cuff to sleeve. To have our cuff fold back to the right side of the sleeve, you need to pin the cuff to the WRONG SIDE of the sleeve, matching the seams and center points. (Tip: If you are sewing with knit fabric, you can reduce bulk at the underarm by nesting the seam allowances. Position the seam allowance from the cuff so that it goes one direction and the seam allowance from the sleeve goes the opposite direction.) Stitch and finish raw edge. In the photo above, the dress is turned right side out. When the cuff is folded back, like in the photo below, it covers the seam.

Fold the cuff to the right side, covering the seam allowance. Press gently. Invisibly hand stitch the cuff to the dress at the underarm and top of sleeve with a few tacking stitches.

If you are using a heavy knit fabric or don’t want your cuff to fold back, stitch the cuff to the sleeve with RIGHT SIDES together. This will create a longer sleeve and finish the raw edge of the sleeve. The easiest way to stitch a small loop like this cuff, is to position the fabric like in the photo above.

Stitch the cuff to the sleeve and press the seam allowance towards the sleeve. Tip: To have contrasting stripes on your cuff like in the photo below, rotate the pattern piece 90 degrees from the marked grainline.

That's it for today. Tomorrow I'll share a post for how to sew the sleeves for the Lou Box Dress, view B. Check out the links below for more of the sewalong. And if you haven't picked up your pattern yet, there are links below for that too. Happy sewing!