Slouchy Boxy Tee Tutorial

Went fabric shopping on Monday with my aunt to a fabric store I've never been to before. There was a whole row of fabric just dedicated to knits! It was amazing. The guy who was the cashier was super nice. It turns out my sister and I grabbed some sample jersey that wasn't for sale... heh heh... guess we should've assumed when we saw that it a) was in a box with a bunch of factory labels and no price tag, and b) there was a whole a roll of the same fabric, which when asked about came the same response: it hadn't been priced yet and wasn't for sale. So it was kind of embarrassing.

Cashier guy: where'd you find this?

Me and sister: [look at each other] In a cardboard box. There wasn't a price tag.

Cashier: Oh, that's not for sale.

[I start to reach towards the fabric, deeply regretting the fact that it's about to be returned]

Cashier: [sighs] Whatever.

Doesn't he sound like the nicest person ever?! I know. Lucky I got that fabric, or there wouldn't be a tutorial today! Another easy drapey tee (sister modeling).

Materials: less than a yard of jersey, sewing machine and thread, pins, scissors, ruler, pencil, pattern paper, all that good stuff. No important/fancy tools.

First make a pattern. Grab some pattern paper--just kidding! As if. Get out that newspaper! And for those of you who have pattern paper... wish I could have some. Get a loose, comfy tee. Not so big that you're drowning in it, but just a t-shirt that's not clingy or tight... I don't know how to describe it, but the finished product is boxy and oversized.

Fold your tee in half and put it on your paper, lining up the neckband with the top of the paper and the center fold of the shirt on the edge of the paper (yes, i painted over the back. It was one of those ad logo things).

Mark a line where the sleeve is with a ruler. Or you can be sad and pitiful like me and use a tissue box (truth: I couldn't find my ruler).

Now, line up the shoulder seam and the sleeve fold on the top of the paper so it's straight. From the line you made with the sleeve, curve it down under the armpit, and draw down. It will look like this:

Cut out your paper. This is the pattern piece. It will look like half of a T with a curve for the armpit. The straight edge is the center front, and the top is straight. Pretty much all straight lines except for the armpit curve. Write 'fold' on the center front. Your pattern piece is really a quarter of your whole shirt. You're going to cut around it with your fabric folded in half so you have a front. You'll repeat for a back.

Done! Now get your jersey, place your pattern on the end with the sleeve facing out, and fold the fabric where the center front says fold. Cut around, adding seam allowance. You can pin the pattern to the front if you'd like.

Note: you CANNOT fold your whole piece of jersey in half and cut the piece from there, unless your jersey is super wide. You have to have the fold near the end, or else there won't be enough fabric, unless you piece the back together or something, but that can look funny.

Cut out 2 long 4" wide strips for your cuffs, and a long 2.5" wide strip for your neckband.

Cut out your neckhole. Fold your front and back in half and cut out a small dip. Make sure the front dips farther than the back. You can use an existing shirt as a guide if you'd like.

Sew the shoulder seams together.

Spread out your shirt, right side facing you, seams facing in.

Take a cuff, fold in half wrong sides together, and pin the raw edges to your sleeve/arm hole, stretching it a little bit. Sew the cuff to your arm hole, pulling the cuff slightly. Go slow while sewing.

After sewing...

Closeup of seam...

Flip the cuff up.

After sewing the cuffs, fold the shirt along the shoulder seams, right sides together, and sew the sides and armpits together. Turn right side out and add a neckband (tutorials here, here, and here, but I don't cut my strip that short in the first tutorial, only a few inches shorter than the neckhole circumference). Done.

The pic below shows that my first neckband was waaay too wide. When I put it on, the neckband was crooked and flopped over, so I turned the edges to the inside and handstitched it so it's more like a bound neckline.

Before:

After:

I love these shirts. Too bad not all shirts I sew turn out nearly as nice. Hope you try this out; it really is super easy, even if my instructions are really bad. If you need help, find someone who knows what they're doing, or just leave a comment below and I'll try to answer as best as I can.

As I said before, this isn't me. It's my older sister, per usual. She loves modeling. And she loves her new Steve Madden boots.

Yesterday I also got some really good hot chocolate.

o(^__^o)