Pattern: Little Boy's Dress Shirt

Sewing is something I like to do without store-bought patterns. The whole purpose of sewing for myself and my kids is to keep clothing costs low. When you add the purchase of a pattern it defeats the purpose! So, rather than spend money on patterns I make them up! Sometimes it takes a few attempts, but the more practice I get the better things turn out!

For Halloween this year, D-man wanted to be Woody from Toy Story. Halloween is my holiday. It's the holiday that allows me to show off my stuff! Anyway.....do you know how hard it is to find a yellow and red plaid shirt that is true to Woody's style? Believe me, it is. But, not that like that matters because I would have made my own, regardless.

So, to make a pattern for a dress shirt, or button down, or whatever you want to call it -- grab a similar shirt from your little boy's closet. Just make sure it isn't stretchy like a t-shirt or you'll end up with a shirt that doesn't fit. If you don't have a dress shirt, no worries. You'll just have to take measurements and use a t-shirt as your guide. 

The first thing I like to do is fold the shirt in half and tuck the sleeve under. This shape will give me my front piece for the pattern.

 When it comes to making the pattern, I will some times use construction, white wrapping, or painting paper. Whatever I have on hand and is big enough. In my pictures you'll notice that the standard 8.5" x 11" isn't big enough, but you can tape more than one piece together or make notes. Anyway..... with the piece of paper behind the shirt, you'll trace right along the edge of the material, careful not to draw on the shirt.

 Once I've traced the shirt front, I take a fat tipped marker and add another 1/4" for the seam allowance. If you zoom in on the picture you'll notice that I make a few notes. Such as adding length to the bottom and making the center of the shirt extend out so that I can make the button portion of the shirt. You'll cut two pieces from this pattern for the shirt.

 I then flip the shirt over and repeat for the backside. This piece of the pattern you'll notice that I did not add the extra seam allowance down the center. That's because that portion will go on the fold of the material.

 Next come the sleeves. I lay flat the sleeve with the shoulder and side seams as my guide for the sleeve shape. You can do all sorts of stuff with the sleeves, like make it shorter, longer, 3/4, cuffed, un-cuffed, etc. For the Woody shirt I actually made cuffs, but for the pattern in the picture I was going for short sleeves. Whatever you do with your sleeves, make sure to allow enough room at the bottom for a hem (unless you're doing a cuff). In this picture, the non-seam allowance portion will be placed on the fold of the fabric and you'll cut 2.

 After the sleeves I like to move to the collar and neckband. I lay the collar flat and then fold it in half. Saves paper. Trace the outline of the collar and add the seam allowance. When it comes to cutting fabric, you'll need 2.

 Do the same thing for the neckband. You will also cut 2 of these. 

That, in a nutshell, is how to come up with your own pattern for a button down/dress shirt. I'll have tutorials on how to put all the pieces together soon enough!

But, in the mean time, constructing my own shirt pattern has proved pretty well so far. Don't you think?

If you have questions on how I did something or want to share your own project as a result of this post or related posts send me an email!

sewmuchpotential (at) gmail (dot) com