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DIY Crush

Free DIY Patterns & Tutorials

How To Sew A T-Shirt Without A Pattern

May 23, 2017 by Denise Leave a Comment

How to sew a t-shirt without a pattern? If you plan to recreate a simple t-shirt then it’s actually super simple. Let me show how I recreated my daughter’s favorite shirt by using it as a guide. 

How To Sew A T-Shirt Without A Pattern

Summer is for t-shirts, right? I love t-shirts and could live in them forever. My daughter does too. She loves the comfort of a soft tee over a blouse or other shirt. I don’t blame her. If you have the perfect t-shirt pattern already, then go for it! If not, it’s easy peasy to use a t-shirt as a pattern, a template actually. For this post I am snapping a few pictures along the way for you. Give it a try yourself!

How to sew a t-shirt without a pattern DIY Crush

*This is a sponsored post by Organic Cotton Plus. They provided the shown fabric to me but my opinions are all mine. Please see full disclosure here.

I am thrilled to be working with one of my favorite fabric companies again, Organic Cotton Plus. They sell amazing organic knit fabric among other materials. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE their knits! These two I picked for making the t-shirt recreation. The navy/natural stripe is a rib knit and measures 56″ wide and it comes as a tubular fabric. It’s so soft!! And a bright pink rib knit which also measures 56″ wide. This color appears a bit more on the purple side to me than a bright pink. I love it though!

How to sew a t-shirt without a pattern DIY Crush

I decided to recreate this shirt a bit differently as the original t-shirt looks. I love the look of sleeves that are not sewn in. Basically, just extending the shirt a bit where the sleeves should go.

Check out where else I have used Organic Cotton Fabric on HERE (includes free pattern!)

Here is what I did:

  1. After I washed and dried the knit fabric, I folded the striped fabric over sideways and placed the t-shirt which I folded in half, onto the fold.
  2. I folded up the bottom hem of the t-shirt one inch because I wanted to add a waist band.
  3. I cut around the t-shirt with a 3/8″ seam allowance, except on the neckline. That is where I also want to add a band and since the t-shirt had a band on it, I had to calculate that into my cutting.

How to sew a t-shirt without a pattern DIY Crush

Next, I folded the striped fabric in half again and placed the first cut shirt piece onto the folded to mark the front neckline cut. Where I placed my scissors, I cut a slit into the fabric so I had a guide of where to keep cutting for the front neckline.

How to sew a t-shirt without a pattern DIY Crush

This is how my front neckline is cut out now. As you can see, it is a bit lower than the original neckline on the t-shirt. That is intentional because once I add the neckline band, it make up for the difference.

How to sew a t-shirt without a pattern DIY Crush

Here is my front shirt piece.

How to sew a t-shirt without a pattern DIY Crush

And here is my back shirt piece.

How to sew a t-shirt without a pattern DIY Crush

Next step is to sew one shoulder seam. I placed the two shirt pieces (with right sides together) and pinned, then sewed the right shoulder seam. I actually used my serger and sewed/overcasted in one step. I love that!

How to sew a t-shirt without a pattern DIY Crush

Then I spread out the shirt and measured the neckline with this handy bendable ruler. I only needed the approximate measurement as I always gauge the length of the neckband according to the material I’m using. The rib knit fabric is very stretchy so I knew I needed much less to sew the neck band on since stretch the fabric along the shirt neck line.

How to sew a t-shirt without a pattern DIY Crush

Here is my rib knit neck band which I cut to two inches wide.

How to sew a t-shirt without a pattern DIY Crush

I folded it in half lengthwise and gave it a quick press with a hot iron.

How to sew a t-shirt without a pattern DIY Crush

To sew the neck band to the neckline of the shirt, I placed it onto the left open shoulder area with the cut edges along the neckline edge. I omitted pinning because I took it straight to my serger.

How to sew a t-shirt without a pattern DIY Crush

I set my serger to a slightly pulling setting as opposed to a stretching setting because necklines would appear bulky when set to stretch. While serging, I pulled the rib knit band a good bit over the shirt neckline without pulling the shirt! Rib knit fabric is awesome to use for neck bands and other bands on knit clothing.

How to sew a t-shirt without a pattern DIY Crush

This is now my sewn on neck band. I love it already!

How to sew a t-shirt without a pattern DIY Crush

Now I was able to sew the second shoulder seam.

How to sew a t-shirt without a pattern DIY Crush

This is what my shirt looks like so far.

How to sew a t-shirt without a pattern DIY Crush

For the bottom edge bands I also measured across the width and cut my bands to a width of five inches and about two inches shorter than the shirt measured.

How to sew a t-shirt without a pattern DIY Crush

For sewing the bottom band on, I pinned it to the bottom edge and made sure the center of the band matched the center of the shirt. I only needed to slightly stretch the band over the shirt.

How to sew a t-shirt without a pattern DIY Crush

I serged the bands on and did the same with the sleeve edges. I cut the sleeve bands to a two inch width to make it the same as the neck band. Last step was to sew the sides and my shirt was done!

How to sew a t-shirt without a pattern DIY Crush

To finish the threads on the sides, sleeves and neck band, I hand stitched those in place. You can also use your sewing machine but I found that knit fabric becomes tricky to sew when it is for finishing those seam threads. I added a size tag to the back center of the shirt to make it look professional 🙂

How to sew a t-shirt without a pattern DIY Crush

Related tutorials: how to sew a dolman shirt without a pattern (with video!) and how to sew a top without a pattern.

My daughter was happy she got a new shirt and I just love seeing this shirt on her! Here she is with her tom-boyish look! What do you think? How to make a t-shirt without a pattern DIY Crush

If you liked this tutorial on how to sew a t-shirt without a pattern, please subscribe to my newsletter through the sign up box on the sidebar!

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Denise
Hi! I'm a craft & sewing loving mom of 2 (+ 1 dog). When I am not crafting or sewing, you can find me playing with my kids and dogs! I am a slow cooker & coffee addict. My favorite color is any color and I have a degree in business management. Hope to inspire you to DIY with me!
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