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The Stitching Scientist

    Free Vintage Shirt Pattern and Tutorial

    Free Pattern· Women

    12 Sep

    I have always been intimidated to sew shirts, mainly because of the sleeves. For some reason, it just looks really hard to put together. Well, I decided it was time to conquer my fear! I found this really cute cherry fabric at my local fabric store and thought it would be perfect for a nice vintage shirt for work. I got an old shirt of mine and dissected it into all the main parts: sleeves, one side front and back. This weekend, I am planning on writing up a tutorial on how to draft your own pattern from an old shirt in your closet. I am not 100% happy with the way the shirt came out. I think it would have looked better with a collar instead of a binding neckline. What do you think? I hope you guys enjoy the Free Vintage Shirt Pattern!

    This pattern fits a size medium with bust circumference of 34″-36″. It fits a bit lose which is perfect for me since I am not so proud of my abs:-). This project was longer than most; it took about 3 hours from drafting the pattern to sewing the buttons.

    Here is the pattern for The Vintage Shirt. Please forgive my rough drawing of the pattern. I don’t have pattern software so this was done freehand. I also did it in pencil first and then sharpie over when I was sure I had the correct measurements. I did a 1/2″ seam allowance on the pattern so you just need to cut it out as is at 100% scale.

    Here is what you need
    1 1/4 yard fabric of choice
    6 buttons
    1/4 yard medium weight interfacing

    Step 1
    Cut out all of your fabric from the pattern pieces. You should have 2 front pieces, 1 large back piece, 2 sleeves, 2 pieces for the neck binding and 2 pieces for the front band. Iron on interfacing to your binding and band pieces.

    Step 2
    Sew on the darts on your front pieces and back pieces as indicated on the pattern. Iron out the darts

    Step 3
    Sew the front and back pieces together at the shoulder right sides facing each other.
    Step 4
    Fold in and iron fold in front of both front pieces on marked lines on the pattern.

    Step 5
    Sew down on the sides of the folds from top all the way down.

    Step 6
    Sew the sides of the shirt together. Serge or zig zag seams.
    Step 7
    Make the band for the two front pieces by folding in your band pieces 1/4″ on both long sides and then fold in again in the middle.

    Step 8
    Sew on the band to the end of the front pieces by placing the band under the first fold.

    Step 9
    Make the binding to the neck line. Connect your two binding pieces right sides together. As you did for the band, fold in the long sides of the binding and then fold in the middle.

    Step 10
    Place the edge of the neckline in the middle of your binding and sew all the way around.

    Step 11

    Connect the underarm of the sleeves together by sewing right sides together. Take the entire sleeve, sew it on the arm of your shirt, right sides facing each other. You may want to pin it all the way around to make sure it lines up. You can also slightly gather the upper part of the sleeve to make it fit.
    I am sorry these pictures are not the greatest. Its difficult to hold my camera and hold the sleeve at the same time.
    Line up where you connected your sleeve on the side to the side of the shirt
    I gathered the top a little to make it fit the circumference of the armhole.

    Step 12
    Fold in the bottom of your sleeve 1/2″ and then 1″ and sew all the way around. Iron.

    Step 13
    Hem the bottom.
    Step 14
    Add 6 button holes about 2″ apart along with your buttons.

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    +1 Vote up Vote down
    Kukafera's avatar - Go to profile

    Kukafera · 619 weeks ago

    Wow! Nice tutorial for a nice shirt!!
    I was also afraid of sewing shirts for me because of the sleeves... I did one recently and I had some issues with them (well, actually because I didn't draw the pattern correctly - the shoulder part wasn't wide enough...) I'll have to try again!!
    With a collar would have been perfect! But that's a lot of work! and it's also nice this way!
    My recent post Määäähh!!
    Reply
    1 reply · active 619 weeks ago
    +1 Vote up Vote down
    Brenna 's avatar

    Brenna · 618 weeks ago

    Very pretty! I want to make one now. I like it as is but it might work with a long strip attached to make a tie at the neck.
    Reply
    0 replies · active 618 weeks ago
    +1 Vote up Vote down
    Gail's avatar

    Gail · 618 weeks ago

    Did you cut your neck binding on the bias? It will lie flatter and would be easier to sew it onto the shirt if it is cut that way.
    Reply
    1 reply · active 617 weeks ago
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    kitblu's avatar - Go to profile

    kitblu 23p · 618 weeks ago

    Very pretty blouse. Thanks for the close-ups as the fabric was not what I thought. I have fabric with a similar (if not exact) pattern but it is a glossy cotton. (There is probably a proper term for that type but I don't know it.) I favour tops without collars so this is perfect for me. I am signing up so I can get the drafting tutorial.
    Reply
    1 reply · active 584 weeks ago
    0 Vote up Vote down
    Hetty's avatar

    Hetty · 608 weeks ago

    Hi there. Could you please tell me, when cutting out the pattern, am I to line up the printed lines or tape the paper together as is (with gaps in the print)? Hope that makes sense.
    Thanks Hetty
    Reply
    1 reply · active 608 weeks ago
    +1 Vote up Vote down
    Deb's avatar

    Deb · 599 weeks ago

    This is an adorable blouse and almost exactly what I've been looking for! I want long sleeves, so I'll experiment with that.

    I do have questions: I didn't see markings for the darts on the front and the back pattern pieces. I can see where the dart should go on the front piece, but how wide should it be on the seam side and what angle? I don't see a place for darts on the back. It also took me a while to figure out the black lines for the tucks along the button edge are the fold lines, and to stitch about 1/8" from the fold? Very cute addition. BTW I did have to tape the pattern together with gaps. Your pattern shows the lines up to the edges of the page (on screen), but my printer can't print to the edge so I ended up with gaps. Not an issue though! Tthanks for sharing such a cute pattern!
    Reply
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    This the sweetest blouse. You cannot find patterns anymore like this. I love the front and I intend to copy it.
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