The T-Shirt: A Tutorial

Who doesnt love T-shirts?
Want to make your own?
Why not?
OH, you need a pattern...
Well, heres how to make one!

You start with what you see below:
a T-shirt that you already own and love
pencil
scissors
tracing paper (or just some big paper, if you dont happen to have a husband who's a designer and has this kind of stuff laying around anyways)
tracing wheel
and mat
First thing you're going to do is fold your T in half, exposing the back of the shirt, and lay it on your paper. Trace around the back line, side line, and neck line with pencil.
Then taking your tracing wheel, run it along the seam that connects the sleeve and body.
(or more on this technique, see the following post)
This will leave a row of "pin-pricks" on your paper that you can then trace over with your pencil to finish the body of your shirt.


Use this same method to trace the sleeve, using the tracing wheel at the seam that connects the body ans sleeve, and repeat all steps (after folding the shirt to expose the front) to create the template for the front of the shirt.
At this point you can make whatever neckline you would like on the shirt, but to copy the your model exactly, use the tracing wheel over the paper, just under the model's neckline.
When finished, you should end up with one front, one back and one sleeve.
Important notes: unless you have taken the time to add in seam allowance to your pattern as you traced, mark and make a reminder to add a 1/2 inch to all open (not on the fold) sides. And also mark your pieces by name ie: front vs. back, as to not be confused. and also mark fold lines for placement.
Also, when choosing a fabric to make your new T out of, try and choose one that has the same amount of stretch as the one you drafted from.

Sew there you go -a very versatile pattern to have in your stash, and you can customize it however you please.

Stay tuned for how I used this, and variations of this pattern for every thing from Pj's to Cardis (Yes! more Cardis!)