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June 6, 2026 – June 7, 2026
My goal is to assist those people who are unfamiliar with sewing with knits to make a simple t-shirt. If you are confident making t-shirts already, feel free to bring something more complicated. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Susan
Prep work – before May 2
1. Pick a pattern – something with no darts, just a front, a back, sleeves and a neckband. Either a round/scoop neck or a V-neck is fine.
2. Pick your size – use your high bust measurement to pick the size on the pattern. If your full bust measurement is more than 4 inches bigger than your upper bust, you will want to add a full bust adjustment (FBA). If it’s less than 4”, don’t worry about alterations.
3. Pick your fabric – something with at least 10% stretch, and ideally between 25%-50%. Cotton jersey, rayon jersey, lycra blends are all good
4. Cut out your pattern – don’t forget to mark the front and back sleeve notches, as well as the notches on the front and back.
For our meeting on May 2
I will bring an iron and ironing board, some notions, and my serger (which at the moment has white thread)
1. Bring a sewing machine or serger, an extension cord, pins or clips, ballpoint or stretch needle, and thread and scissors. You can do most construction with a serger, or you can do the whole project with just a zig-zag stitch. (You can’t do hems and topstitching with the serger.)
2. We will
a. Sew the shoulder seams
b. insert the sleeves
c. Sew the side seams
For our meeting June 6
1. Bring your same sewing supplies, plus a twin needle if you want to use one for hems
2. We will
a. Sew the neckband (round or v-neck)
b. Hem the sleeves and bottom
Resources:
If you want to do an FBA, I recommend this video -
https://youtu.be/P8_C9-vNnYU?si=F9HyvKf8iKpmWAJf
or for a super simple pattern alteration, see
https://blog.cashmerette.com/2020/10/how-to-do-a-knit-fba.html
Here are some independent pattern suggestions. For these, you’ll have to either print out the pages and tape them together, or send the file out to be printed on A0 (33”x47”) paper. For that, I recommend pdfplotting.com. Be sure to choose their cheapest newsprint paper. If you choose to print the pattern, there’s no need to print the instructions. You can follow the steps along on a tablet or your phone
Love Notions Classic Tee
https://www.lovenotions.com/product/easy-classic-tee-pattern
$5, but if you join their Facebook page, they have a discount code to make it free. Also comes with an option for a FBA already included, and a video guide on how to sew it
Cashmerette Concord T shirt
https://www.cashmerette.com/products/concord-tshirt-pdf-pattern
$18 Cashmerette is designed for large busts and includes sizes for C-cup to H-cup
Patterns for Pirates Judy Tee
https://www.patternsforpirates.com/product/judy-tee/
$12
Closet Core - Core tee
https://closetcorepatterns.com/products/core-t-shirt-free-pattern
free