How much can you shorten sleeves?

[Torpedo]

Hello,

I often come across with suit jackets with too long sleeves, sometimes way too long. How much is it really possible to shorten a sleeve without resort to major retailoring? That is, just removing the cuff excess and rearranging the buttonholes if needed, as opposed to rebuilding the entire sleeve tube (supposing this is really feasible).

Regards!

 

[Lone_Ranger]

I think it's getting harder & harder to find the 'right' tailor. I recently took a tweed hacking jacket to the tailor, to get the sleeves shortened, and was met with 'you'll loose all your buttons."

Meaning, they weren't going attempt to relocate the buttons, and the 'vent' if that is the correct term.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Well, a sleeve can be shortened as much as you like.

But the construction at the end of the sleeve only has a limited amount of extra fabric with which to reconstruct the 'vent'. If you need too much shortening, the 'vent' is lost. That's just how sleeves are cut.

The best solution is to have the sleeves shortened from the shoulder. this is obviously a bigger job and more irrevesible. But the result are far more satisfactory.

bk