How to Sew a Shirred Cuff
Using shirring elastic to produce a gathered cuff is surely one of the most satisfying pieces of sewing you can do. So easy, but so effective. It produces a really comfortable cuff which feels nicer to wear than a normal elasticated cuff, and looks a bit fancier too.
Examples of a Shirred Cuff
I’ve features shirred cuffs on a number of my dressmaking patterns, including the Rottingdean Blouse, Tillington Top and Petworth Dress.
Here’s a example on the Rottingdean Blouse.
And here’s a different example on the Tillington Top.
Sewing a Shirred Cuff - TLDR
If you just want a quick overview of the process, below you’ll find a YouTube short that sums it all up in about 60 seconds. The only thing you’ll need in order to make one is some special shirring elastic.
If you’d like to know more and see a properly worked through example, the keep scrolling…
Sewing a Shirred Cuff - A Worked Example
Since all of our dressmaking patterns come with their own video tutorials, it’s easy to point you to some worked through examples. The tutorial videos are broken in to chapters making it easy to view the section you want, below is the tutorial video for the Tillington Top - just click on the video and it will take you to the section that covers the shirred cuff process, including how to wind the shirring elastic onto the bobbin and insert it into your machine.
At this point in the tutorial I have already hemmed the cuff - but if you want to watch how I did that, just rewind the video a little.
Sussex Seamstress is an independent pattern maker, based in Sussex, UK.
Check out some of our recent patterns below.