How to Not Ruin a Perfectly Good Shirt - by Sam

I am a guy, and like most guys who sometimes wear collared, button-down shirts, I will roll up the sleeves in hot weather. It is a comfortable and reasonably good-looking solution. Yet, try as I may, my sleeves eventually begin to sag and unroll themselves, catching at my elbows and making life generally unpleasant. My favorite shirt has this unfortunate habit, so I decided to take matters into my own hands. One trip to Hobby Lobby later, I possessed ribbon, cotton thread, and some matching buttons. I was ready.

Here follows a roughly pictorial account of the adventure. I missed photographing the more critical sewing steps, since I was doing this by myself and had left my extra limbs at home that day. I think you will get the idea.

Act 1: Get some sweet yellow striped ribbon. Cut it up and use a hot soldering iron to seal the edges against fraying. This bit is easy.

Act 2: Painstakingly sew these straps to the inside of your shirt sleeves, using a needle and cotton thread. I made a little square box with my threading, then sewed the button in the center of that little box. Also, be careful of your placement. Too high or too low will not feel or look good. Use safety pins to check your alignment!

Act 3: Look dead sexy in your lovely, (partly) handcrafted shirt. The best part is that the straps only show when the sleeve is rolled up, and the button barely shows up when the sleeve is rolled down.