A placket is a finished slit that lets a cuff pass over the hand or a neckline over the head. The continuous bound placket is the quick one: a slit 10–12 cm (4–4 3/4 in) long, bound with a single straight strip of fabric, best for blouse sleeves, children's clothes and neck openings. The tower placket is the shirt version: an overlap that ends in a point and an underlap, sewn into a 12–15 cm (4 3/4–6 in) slit and topstitched into a neat box at the top.

What is the difference between a continuous bound placket and a tower placket?

A placket is any finished opening in a garment that is not a full seam: at the wrist of a sleeve, at the back neck, at the front of a polo shirt.

The continuous bound placket binds both edges of the slit with one strip sewn on the straight grain. From the outside you see a narrow band on each side; one side is folded to the inside so the cuff overlaps cleanly. It is soft, fast and suits lightweight fabrics such as lawn, voile and viscose.

The tower placket (also called a shirt placket) builds a structured overlap, 2.5 cm (1 in) wide, that ends in a point above the slit, with a narrow underlap behind it. It is what you see on a classic shirt sleeve, it shows every stitch, and it suits crisp fabrics such as poplin, chambray and oxford cloth.

What do you need to sew a placket?

  • The sleeve or bodice piece, with the slit marked on the wrong side. On a sleeve, the slit sits on the back half, about a third of the way from the underarm seam toward the center of the sleeve.
  • For a continuous bound placket: a strip of the garment fabric cut on the straight grain, 4 cm (1 5/8 in) wide and twice the slit length plus 2 cm (3/4 in). For a 10 cm slit, that is 22 cm (8 3/4 in).
  • For a tower placket: an underlap strip 3.5 cm (1 3/8 in) wide by the slit length plus 2 cm, and an overlap piece 6.5 cm (2 1/2 in) wide by the slit length plus 5 cm (2 in), with one end cut to a point. A patch of lightweight fusible interfacing for the overlap.
  • Small sharp scissors, a point turner, pins, an iron, and a 1.5 mm stitch length for the reinforcing stitches.

Mark the top of the slit with a dot and the slit itself with a chalk line; cut nothing yet.

How do you sew a continuous bound placket?

  1. Reinforce the slit. With a 1.5 mm stitch, start at the raw edge 5 mm (3/16 in) to one side of the line, sew up toward the dot, narrowing to one or two threads from the line at the top, pivot with the needle down, and sew back down to the raw edge 5 mm on the other side. This V of stitching stops the point from fraying.
  2. Cut the slit on the line, up to the pivot point, without cutting the stitches.
  3. Spread the slit into a straight line, so the point of the V sits in the middle, 1–2 mm from the raw edge.
  4. Sew the strip on. Place the strip right sides together with the spread slit, raw edges level, and sew 6 mm (1/4 in) from the strip's edge. The seam on the strip is dead straight; on the sleeve it follows the V. At the point, keep the sleeve flat and hold the fold of the V out of the way so you do not catch a pleat.
  5. Press the seam toward the strip. Fold the strip's free long edge 6 mm to the wrong side and press, then fold the strip over the seam so the folded edge covers the first row of stitching on the wrong side.
  6. Secure the binding. From the right side, edgestitch in the ditch of the first seam, catching the folded edge underneath, or slipstitch the fold by hand on a fine blouse.
  7. Sew the point. Fold the sleeve right sides together so the two halves of the binding lie on each other, and sew a short diagonal 1 cm (3/8 in) long across the top of the binding, from the fold toward the seam. This keeps the binding from poking out at the top of the opening.
  8. Fold and press. Fold the binding on the front half of the slit to the inside of the sleeve and press; leave the binding on the back half extended as the underlap. Baste across the cuff edge to hold the fold. The sleeve is ready for its cuff, which the cuff tutorial takes from here.

How do you sew a tower placket?

The overlap goes on the side of the slit that lies on top when the cuff is buttoned, the same side as the cuff's buttonhole end.

  1. Prepare the overlap. Fuse interfacing to its wrong side. Press 6 mm (1/4 in) to the wrong side along both long edges and around the point, then press the piece in half lengthwise, wrong sides together, so it is 2.5 cm (1 in) wide with the point centered. Prepare the underlap the same way, pressed to 1.2 cm (1/2 in) wide.
  2. Cut the slit on the marked line, stopping 1 cm (3/8 in) below the dot, then clip a Y: two short diagonal cuts from the end of the slit to 1 cm either side of the dot, forming a small triangle at the top.
  3. Sew the underlap. Open it out, place it right sides together with the back edge of the slit, raw edges level, and sew 6 mm from the edge, from the cuff edge up to the base of the triangle. Fold it back into its pressed shape so the fold encloses the raw edge, and edgestitch its inner fold from the right side.
  4. Sew the overlap. Open it out, place it right sides together with the front edge of the slit and sew 6 mm from the edge, again stopping at the base of the triangle. Fold the overlap into its pressed shape over the seam and press.
  5. Fold the triangle up into the inside, between the overlap and the sleeve, and press. Lay the sleeve flat, right side up, with the underlap tucked behind the overlap.
  6. Topstitch the box. Starting at the cuff edge, edgestitch the inner long edge of the overlap up to the top of the slit. Pivot, sew across the overlap, pivot up to the point, around it and back down, then across once more to close the box. The horizontal lines of the box cross the underlap and the triangle and lock everything in place; keep them at least 5 mm above the top of the slit.
  7. Press and, if the pattern asks for it, sew a small buttonhole in the overlap 2 cm (3/4 in) below the box, as in the buttonhole guide.

Common mistakes with plackets

  • Cutting past the reinforcing stitches. The point frays and a hole appears after a wash. Cut to the pivot, not through it.
  • Catching a pleat at the point of a continuous bound placket. Sew with the sleeve on top so you can see the V, and spread the slit fully straight before you pin.
  • A binding that is too narrow, so the point shows. A finished width of 1 cm (3/8 in) on each side is enough.
  • A box stitched below the top of the slit on a tower placket, leaving the triangle and underlap loose. Mark the box lines in chalk first.
  • Overlap on the wrong side of the slit, so the tower points the wrong way once the cuff is buttoned. Check against the cuff before you cut the Y.

When should you use a placket instead of a keyhole or a button band?

Use a placket wherever a cuff or band needs to open but a full seam opening would be too long: the wrist of a long sleeve with a buttoned or elasticated cuff, the back neck of a blouse or a child's top that pulls over the head. A simpler alternative at the neck is a keyhole with a loop and button, which the keyhole opening tutorial covers; it suits a short opening of 6–8 cm (2 3/8–3 1/8 in) and fine fabrics.

A front that opens all the way down is not a placket but a button band or a facing with buttonholes. That is what Sewly draws when you choose the button front option on its woven top; shirt collars with a stand and sleeve plackets are not among its options, so a buttoned cuff on a drafted sleeve means adding the placket with the method above before the underarm seam is sewn.