Nine years ago I shared that I add a small stitch to some of my sleeves so that they stay put when I scrunch them. I think this tip bears repeating, because the topic comes up frequently with my clients. This is an easy fix with a needle and thread that you can do in a couple of minutes.
I have two jackets and a dress where the sleeves flop back too easily after scrunching. A stitch in just the right place on the sleeves of the items makes them scrunch a whole lot better. The rigid fabric of the jackets makes them more conducive to sleeve scrunching than the soft linen fabric of the dress. Still, the stitch makes a difference.
A slim-fitting long sleeve on a top, jacket, or dress is ideal for sleeve scrunching, because the tapered silhouette stays put against the contour of your forearms and elbow. But sometimes even with a relatively narrow sleeve, the scrunch flops down because the sleeve opening is overly wide with the cuff unbuttoned. A simple solution is to sew a little stitch somewhere near the middle of the placket of the sleeve. This narrows the opening of the sleeve when the cuff is unbuttoned and the sleeve is pulled back into a scrunched position. The snugger sleeve fit creates a better scrunch.
Here is the placket of a new acid wash denim jacket getting its scrunching stitch.
Post stitch, narrower fit on the forearm keeps the scrunch in place. An easy and effective DIY hack.
