How to Crop a Sweatshirt & Shorten the Sleeves

Like most of you, I’ve been spending a looooot of time chilling in sweats.

They’re comfy. They’re warm. And if no one is around to see me in my slovenliness, does my slovenliness even exist?

I think not.

But even I couldn’t lounge comfortably in this too-long sweatshirt.

I’ve found that a lot of sweatshirts of the low-end variety tend to run incredibly long, and I just don’t get it. Who are these for? I’m 5’4″, which is an average height for women. I do. not. understand.

Everything else about my sweatshirt fit just fine, but I felt ridiculous in it.

I could not settle for this, friends, and nor should you!

Here’s how to shorten a sweatshirt, (including the sleeves)!

If you have a sweatshirt that you think would look better cropped/shortened, you’ll be happy to know this is a pretty simple process.

While I’m shortening a sweatshirt that’s fairly fitted to right above my hips, this would also work really well for a more oversized sweatshirt.

You could also crop it higher if you want to set your midriff freeeeee! You do you.

You might also like this tutorial wherein I show you how to shorten a sweater.

To get started, grab a couple of safety pins.

Mark the bottom of your sweatshirt where you want to cut it.

Make sure to allow for the reattachment of that bottom band. In other words, pin a couple of inches higher than you actually want it to end.

Next, mark a sleeve the same way (allowing for the sleeve cuff to be added on later).

Now, cut a straight line where you pinned your sweatshirt.

Fold the bottom over as you go to keep it even (without the need for more measuring/marking).

Then, cut off the bottom band.

I left a little bit of the sweatshirt fabric on the band as I wasn’t totally sure my sewing machine would be able to sew through the thickness of the band’s seam and the top part. I was basically leaving myself with a Plan B.

Time cut into those sleeves!

Make a straight cut across the sleeve where you marked it with the safety pin.

Then, lay the cut-off part over the other sleeve, and cut it to the same length.

Cut off each of the sleeve bands.

Now we’re gonna re-attach everything!

Place the bottom band around the bottom of the sweatshirt, with right sides facing each other.

Now, pin the bottom band to the bottom of the sweatshirt.

Make sure to pull the elastic taut as you pin!

When you’re done, it should look like this.

Repeat this step for each sleeve.

Now for the fun part!

Sew the bottom band down, using the top row of stitching on the elastic as a guide.

Make sure to pull the elastic towards you a little as you sew so the fabric doesn’t bunch up!

Do the same for each sleeve.

As noted above, this part is a little tricky. Just sew slowly & carefully, and you’ll be fine!

Trim off any excess fabric.

Since I was able to sew through the bottom band seam & the sweatshirt just fine, I didn’t end up needing the Plan B seam allowance I left myself.

Press all of your new seams.

To make sure everything lays down properly, you’ll want to iron your new seams flat.

That’s it! For your final step, revel in the comfort of your custom-fitted sweatshirt!

I really like how, with just a few simple tweaks, I was able to take something I would never wear and turn it into a cozy stay-at-home staple.

All-in-all I’m pleased with how this turned out.

Is this one of my more exciting refashions? Oh heck no. But is it a really practical one that I know I’ll get lots of wear out of? Heck yeah!

If you have a sweatshirt languishing in a drawer somewhere that could use the same treatment, I hope you’ll give this a try!

Cheers!