Dickens Fair costuming for women, part 3: altering the sleeves.

Monitor de la Mode, 1855. Costumer's Manifesto.
Sometimes, the sleeves of your thrift store blouse or shirt will need alteration, too, in order to work for a Dickens Fair outfit. This is another area where a too-big shirt or blouse will make a better mid-Victorian bodice: if the shoulder seam hangs below your own shoulders -- between 2 and 5 inches --it will match the lines of the real Victorian bodices! Also, make sure to use a thrift store blouse with long sleeves: gathered sleeves that have a cuff, or looser sleeves without a cuff. Make sure that the sleeves are long enough to reach to your wrist bone, or no more than 2 inches shorter; longer sleeves can be hemmed or cut to the proper length.

If the sleeves have an elastic drawstring at the wrists, you'll need to open the seam, cut the elastic string, and draw it out of the sleeve; if the sleeve is long enough you can even cut off the whole elastic cuff, then fold the cut edge of the fabric to the inside of the sleeve and sew or glue it in place. If the sleeve is at least 3 inches larger than your wrist, this will make an open sleeve style, or a "modified Pagoda" style in the Victorian era. If the sleeves are already loose and open at the wrists, you may not have to alter them at all, other than make them shorter, if they're long enough to hang over your hand. You can also make the sleeves narrower (with safety pins or needle and thread, taking in the sleeve seam from inside the sleeve), following the curve of your elbow and tapering gently to the wrist. Decorate your sleeves around the wrist, at the shoulder seam, and/or along the elbow seam.

Under your open sleeves, you'll need to wear under-sleeves. You can make under-sleeves, easily, by purchasing a white Oxford style long-sleeved business shirt at the thrift store, cutting off the sleeves, and wearing them underneath your blouse bodice sleeves, tying them around your bicep or making a casing for elastic, or even safety-pinning them to the inside of the shoulder seam of your bodice, to keep them in place. The white cuff of the under-sleeve, and part of the lower area of the under-sleeve, should be all that shows when it is worn under your blouse bodice sleeves. If you feel like it, you can sew or glue white lace or ribbon to the cuffs of the under-sleeves, to decorate the part that will show when it is worn.

If the blouse bodice sleeves are gathered and have a buttoned cuff (not elastic or drawstring), you may be able to leave them as they are, just decorating them, if you want. You can also get a white button-down shirt that has French cuffs (double, or folded-over cuffs), cut off the French cuffs and safety-pin, sew or glue them over the cuffs on your blouse bodice sleeves for a different look. Tuck the French cuff's raw edges under and fasten them down so they don't show. Your sleeves will add another wonderful element of style to your costume!

The official Dickens Fair costume guide
Dickens Christmas Fair website
Kay Gnagey’s 19th Century Costume Research Center
Elizabeth Stewart Clark’s Sewing Academy