DIY: Elastic Cuff Links.

Over the years I've discovered that my arms are slightly longer than the average person for my body type.  That or I like my sleeves to fit longer than average for my size.  Two sides of the same coin, I guess.  Nonetheless, when I find a jacket that fits well in the torso the sleeves are too short, and conversely, when the sleeves are correct the body is too loose.

One way to circumvent this is to wear 3/4 length sleeves either by design or, more often, by rolling them up a bit.  I have a few denim jackets that I love with too-short sleeves but folding the cuffs is a problem.  Folding the cuffs up while buttoned makes them too tight on my forearm and cuffing while unbuttoned leaves them loose and falling open.

At first I safety-pinned the ends but found that the pins would pop open, bend, or damage the fabric.  I needed something like a stretchy cuff link and after trying a few types of elastic and rubber bands with various methods I finally found a suitable solution, a hair elastic.  I have a handful of these pony tail holders (the term we used growing-up) from when I had longer hair and now use them all over the house for all sorts of purposes.  They are a fantastic little creation.

Last week when I grabbed my incredibly versatile, white, Levi's denim jacket from the closet I realized the sleeves weren't rolled up and the little elastics I used were not in the buttoned pocket where I like to keep them after washing it.  So I used the opportunity to document the simple process.

First, I cut an average sized hair elastic in two equal pieces and knotted them at the ends creating two loops about an inch long.

Next, I looped it through the button hole and pulled one end through itself.  Apparently this is called a lark's head knot.

Then I pulled that same end and stretched it over the button.  Easy peasy.

Lastly, two folds up of the cuff and it's ready to wear.

I used a brown elastic here because that is what I had laying around.  Someday I'll buy a package of colors or neutral tones but it's not a priority.  The other jackets I've done this with are darker and it's less noticeable, but it's hidden quite well on the back of the forearm.

There you have it, a quick and easy fix for problematic jacket cuff rolls.


2013.11.14.
[Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM]