Sew T-shirt yourself - instructions + free sewing pattern

• Material and preparation
  • material
  • Draw section
• Sew T-shirt
• Quick Start Guide - Sew T-shirt

Especially now in the spring, when temperatures are slowly rising again, it's time to fill the wardrobe with fresh designs. Of course, one is particularly proud when part of it consists of self-sewn works. A T-shirt is one of the basics. But it should already be something unusual and can be made quickly, to provide variety. That's why we show you today how to create a simple ladies shirt with only two cut pieces.

Just sew your new favorite shirt yourself

The pattern is designed to fit (made of cotton jersey) for all sizes from 36-46. I even wore it during pregnancy. I've just extended it a bit below. With 20 to 30 centimeters more at the bottom you do not have a nice beach dress and - depending on the fabric selection - also something for the restaurant in the evening. You can adjust the pattern at any time to your measurements. Simply measure the necessary points and change it to your liking.

Difficulty level 2/5
(also suitable for beginners)

Material costs 2/5
(depending on length 1 to 1, 5m jersey fabric on full width)

Time required 1-2 / 5
(if the pattern has been created, the shirt can be sewn within an hour)

Material and preparation

material

This cut is only suitable for stretchy fabrics, otherwise it does not fit well and restricts freedom of movement. Ideally, use a cotton jersey with a high percentage of cotton.

Depending on how long the shirt (or dress) should be, you need at least one meter of fabric in full width (that's 150 cm).

Draw section

As a measure, ideally use a tape measure. For tops, measure over the bra (or over a thin bodice if you do not wear a bra), lying flat on the body. It is drawn for the front and back half a pattern, so all width dimensions must be divided by 4.

The pattern "E-Shirt"

Start with a horizontal line at the bottom of your cut. That's your hip line. At right angles, draw a vertical guide (the center of the body) near the left edge.

Measure now at the hip line from the starting point a quarter of your hip circumference to the right (in my case 100 cm divided by four equals 25 cm). The hip circumference is the widest point on the hips.

In the next step, measure your waist circumference and the distance between your waist and hips. The waist circumference is the narrowest part of your midsection. From the starting point, measure the distance between the waist and hips upwards from the starting point (which is 28 cm for me) and from this point on a quarter of your waist circumference to the right (that's 21 cm for me).

Now follows the chest circumference. To do this, measure upwards again from the hip. Enter the height (for me 40 cm) and a quarter of the circumference (for me 24.5 cm).

The sleeve length is a matter of taste. I have set my upper sleeve height at 55 cm with a width of 29.5 cm.

The shoulder height is also measured from the starting point, the hip, upwards. Here it is 63 cm. Since I prefer a slightly wider neckline, it lies at a width of 13.5 cm.

Now only neck and neckline are missing. Measure again from the hip up to the points where you would like to have your neckline. For me, the front neckline is 48 cm, the back at 57 cm.

Now that all important points are marked, you can connect them together. Make sure that along the waist and hip, a beautiful, curved arch is created, which is best drawn in pencil and without a ruler, so you can still correct. Under the sleeve should be a slightly stronger curvature (1-2 cm) to the outside. The armhole and the shoulder line can be drawn with a ruler. Front and back neckline should each be made with a beautiful bow. Make sure that it is not too sharp at the front.

Now cut the pattern on the two lines at right angles and on the outer lines. At the top, select the rear neckline bow to cut.

Tip: You can use this pattern for front and back and you do not need to draw two separate pieces. In order to be able to transfer the front neckline well to the fabric, cut the front neck line to 2 cm, then you can easily fold it back and forth.

The given cut according to my measurements is suitable for the sizes 36 to 46, if it is sewn with cotton jersey, because this fabric is very elastic. I even use this cut easily in pregnancy.

Before sewing

Fold the fabric in the break parallel to the threadline. For motifs, the motifs that should be in the middle, come exactly in the break. The seam allowances along the shoulders and silhouette are about 0.7 cm. For the neck and sleeve hem add about 3 cm seam allowance, for the bottom hem it should be already about 7 cm, so it will fall nice. Put the pattern on the fabric and cut once the front with the front neckline and once the back with the rear neckline.

Sew T-shirt

Place the two fabric pieces right to the right (ie with the "nice" sides facing each other) exactly to each other and attach both the shoulders and the silhouette to both sides with pins and sew these four seams with the overlock or with a tighter zigzag. Zack stitch of your sewing machine (about 1 mm wide is enough).

Tip: For stretchy fabrics, it's best to always use a light zigzag stitch or special stretch stitches. The reason: When the fabric stretches, a straight seam breaks. In a zigzag stitch, the seam can stretch and does not break.

Turn the shirt on, now it's the bottom hem's turn:

Fold the edge outwards (I prefer to take 7 cm), then fold the edge back exactly in half (3.5 cm) and pin all three layers of fabric with a pin.

Fix so the entire hem. Sew the three layers together with a seam allowance of about 0.7 cm. In the next step, fold down the new fabric edge so that the seam comes to lie inside.

Sew from the outside just above this seam with a zig-zag or decorative stitch (or even with the twin needle) once all around to fix the seam allowance and thus ensure that the hem does not roll up unfriendly to the outside.

The fabric is sometimes wavy, but this can be easily ironed out with the steam iron. It is important not to pull on stretchy fabrics while sewing. In this case, the fabric would wave much more and this would not be remedied by ironing.

The same applies to the hemstitch and both sleeve seams, with the only difference that instead of 7 cm you start with only 3 cm of cover (in the second fold over, this is 1.5 cm).

And your new favorite shirt is ready!

variants

Apart from different lengths, the pattern can also be fragmented as desired, with the same or with other materials. However, the individual substances should ideally always have the same material composition.

Quick Start Guide - Sew T-shirt

1. Transfer the pattern to the cut sheet as specified or your own measurements "E-shirt"
2. Cut out the SM, cut the front neckline or cut separately
3. Place the material in the break, put on the SM and fix it
4. Cut fabric with seam allowances (below 7 cm, neck and arms 3 cm, rest 0.7 cm)
5. Merging fabric pieces right to right
6. Sew shoulder and silhouette seams
7. Hemming
8. And done!

The twisted pirate