When you have to take sleeves out of a garment, whether it is a jacket, shirt, top or dress, it is important to make sure you line up the center top of the sleeve with the center top at the shoulder.

Before you do this however, I would suggest you sew two rows of loose stitching around the arm hole, so that it can be eased  back in. The sleeve cap should be slightly gathered so that the sleeve will ease back into position, however there should be NO gather on the sleeve.

One of the major mistakes people make is to pin the sleeve back in, find they have more sleeve than before so they cut away the excess.  What this can do is cause the sleeve to become tight on the arm.

Happy sewing

Judith aka genie