How do I sew a sleeve placket?

A placket is the finished opening at the wrist that lets the cuff open. The classic shirt version — the tower or continuous placket — is a sequence, and it only works if each step is pressed before the next.

Mark everything on the wrong side of the sleeve: the slash line, the point where it stops, and the two short diagonals at the top of the slash. Accuracy here is the whole job.

Interface the placket pieces, or at least the tower section. It is a small piece that takes strain from a button.

Sew the under placket first to one side of the slash, press it away, fold it over the raw edge, and edgestitch.

Then the over placket. Sew it to the other side, press, fold it over, and press the tower point crisply before you stitch. Pressing the point before stitching is what makes it come out symmetrical.

Clip into the top of the slash exactly to the marked point, right into the corners. Under-clipping puckers the top of the placket; over-clipping puts a hole in the sleeve.

Stitch the tower down in one continuous line: up one side, across the point, down the other, then across the base through all layers to secure the top of the slash.

The simpler alternative is a continuous bound placket — a single straight strip bound around both sides of the slash, folded so one side sits inside. It is faster, it is what many patterns use, and it looks less tailored.

Practise on a scrap. Placket geometry does not read well from a diagram.