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

Tutorial: Bow Front Dress

I have this irrepressible desire to create things on a whim with no direction - except for the cute photo I find on Google or other places. This bow dress is one such item. And I absolutely love how it turned out! I mean,  seriously, wouldn't you if you had a cute little model to put it on?

Well, first things first: a supply list.

~ 1/2 yard fabric for the bodice OR a shirt

~ coordinating zipper (if choosing to make your bodice)

~ 1 yard fabric for the skirt

~ coordinating string

~ needle

Step 1: Construct a bodice. 

I actually don't have that part of the dress on this tutorial because I had started this dress awhile ago (with a different skirt in mind) and then got side-tracked with other projects. Which means, that I dug my bodice out of the closet. BUT, I will be posting a bodice tutorial SOON! 

If you'd rather save time, or don't feel comfortable making a bodice, go ahead and use a t-shirt and trim to your desired length. You can attach the skirt directly to the shirt :) Easy!

Let's move on.

Step 2: Cut out the belt and bow pieces.

You'll need 6 rectangles:

2 bow "knot" pieces: 2 1/2" x 5 1/4"

2 bow pieces: 4 1/2" x 22"

2 belt pieces: 2 1/2 x the circumference of the belly (in this case I cut mine to 27")

I simply cut along the bottom and side edge of the yard of fabric to get these pieces. 

With wrong sides together, sew the two pieces together for each size. Make sure to leave an opening at the end so you can pull your fabric through. Once completed, set the three sewn pieces aside.

Step 3: Sew the side seams of the skirt.

From the remaining yard, cut two equally sized rectangles for the skirt. Pin the sides together and sew.

Once the side seams are sewn, press them open.

Step 4: Gather the skirt and attach to the bodice/shirt.

Make sure to line up the side seams on the skirt to the side seams on the top. Sew in place and cut extra thread.

Step 5: Hem the skirt.

Now that the skirt and top are sewn together, you have yourself a basic dress. From here, you can hem the bottom to the desired length. I like to fold my rough edge over twice so there are no frayed threads when all is said and done.

Step 6: Making the bow.

With the bow pieces, sew the ends together so that you have a circle. Lay the circle flat and center the sewn ends.

Take the bow "knot" piece and sew the ends together as well. You can adjust the size of the circle so that the "knot" in the middle of the bow can be narrow or wide. I decided to go for a slightly more narrow look. Thus, the extra fabric in the inside of the circle.

Next, thread the bow through the bow "knot" and center the bow. Make sure the seam on the bow "knot" are in the back. It should look something like this. With a needle and thread, stitch the bow and "knot" together.

Step 7: Sew the belt to the dress.

Now, when I measured the belt, I didn't plan on having my two ends connect, so I didn't start in the middle of the bodice. Here, you'll place one end of the belt on the FRONT center of the bodice. This is simply to ensure that you never see any seams.

 With a stitch close to the edge of the belt, attach to the top. I attached the topside of the belt first and then to the skirt.

 The end product looked like this. If you've made your belt long enough for the ends to meet then you won't have the gap I did. I make my gap for two reasons: 1- I didn't make it long enough and 2- my belt is wider than my bow "knot" and didn't that to show. So, I'll hide those end under the bow.

Step 8: Place the bow on the dress.

Using a needle and thread, center the bow to the front of the dress. I attached at the "knot" first and then stitched down the corners of the bow. And you can't even tell my belt is short!

 Does the dress make you feel this way too? Haha...what a girl!

If you end up making a Bow Front Dress, send me a picture so I can share your hard work! Also, feel free to ask questions! Reach me at 

sewmuchpotential (at) gmail (dot) com.