A cuff is a small waistband, and it follows the same logic: interface it, attach one edge, fold, and close from the front.
Do the placket first. The sleeve opening has to be finished before the cuff goes on, because the cuff ends sit on the finished placket edges. Attempting it in the other order does not work.
Interface one layer — usually the outer. A firm interfacing here, since a cuff needs to hold its shape and stand up to a button.
Press the fold line before you attach anything, and use it as your reference throughout. This is what stops the cuff coming out wider in some places than others.
Reduce the sleeve to fit. Gather with two rows of long stitching, or fold the marked pleats. Distribute the fullness where the pattern indicates — usually not evenly, with more towards the back of the sleeve.
Attach one long edge of the cuff to the sleeve, right sides together, matching the ends to the placket edges exactly. Press the seam allowance into the cuff.
Close the ends by folding the cuff right sides together and sewing across each short end. Trim the corners, turn, and push them out with a blunt point turner.
Finish the inside edge by folding it just past the seam line and either edgestitching from the front, stitching in the ditch, or slip stitching by hand.
Then mark the buttonhole with the cuff on the wrist, not from the pattern, and sew it through all layers.
Questions people actually ask
My cuff is uneven in width.
The fold line was not pressed before attaching, so the fold wandered. Press it first and keep checking against it.
Should the buttonhole run along or across the cuff?
Along the length of the cuff on most shirts, so the strain pulls against the length of the hole rather than opening it.
Last reviewed 2026-08-11