How to sew a men’s t-shirt
Hey y’all! Today I have another free pattern for men. I’m sharing a men’s t-shirt pattern.
I know I’ve mentioned before that my husband is a football coach – which means that he tends to hang out more in t-shirts than anything else, even at work. It’s one of the perks of the job – which in the midst of football season I have to make a point to remember. As in, “Even though we only get to see Dad for 5 minutes on Friday nights, at least I don’t have to dry clean suits.”
And even when he’s not coaching at his job, he seems to end up coaching with our kids – like at soccer practice with Bean. Though most of the time I’d just as soon buy him a t-shirt, once in a while it’s nice to sew one too. So I did, and now I’m sharing.
To make your own, you’ll need:
- About 1 yard of 60″ wide knit fabric for the shirt and 1/8 yard of rib knit for the neckband
- A sewing machine that will do a zig-zag stitch. Note: You DON’T need a serger to do this. I sewed t-shirts for years using my 1950s Singer 503 and a zig-zag stitch. Now that I have a serger I prefer it, but again, you don’t have to have one.
- The pattern, see below
How to Get the Free Men’s T-shirt Pattern
The pattern is in a men’s size Medium, which fits chest sizes up to about 38″ with some ease, and up to 40-41″ for men who like fitted t-shirts. If you need to make the pattern bigger or smaller, check out this post. To get this pattern, click your preferred option from the buttons below as a newsletter subscriber or gallery access pass purchaser. Note that the free version of the pattern does not have printable instructions.
Please note that all my free patterns are licensed for personal use only (no selling items made from this unless you purchase it) and by downloading you are agreeing to this license.
The shirt pattern has one piece for the front, back and V neckline variations. Cut your front and back pieces out with the appropriate neckline variation for the t-shirt you want to sew. Below I have instructions for a regular crew neckline, for instructions on a V neckline see this post.
To make a basic t-shirt, start with a front, back, two sleeves and a neckband.
Place the front and the back right sides together and sew one shoulder.
Open up the shirt and pin the neckband in, stretching it from shoulder to shoulder. Be careful not to stretch the t-shirt, just the neckband. Stitch it in.
Sew the other shoulder and neckband together in one seam, making sure to match the neckline seam and to press the neckline seam allowance up.
Pin in the sleeves by placing them right sides together on the shirt. Line up the top center of the sleeve with the shoulder seam, then pin the ends of the sleeve to the end of the armhole, then ease the rest of the sleeve into place. Stitch.
Fold the shirt right sides together and sew the underarm seam and the side seam in one (red line).
Fold the neckband to the inside of the shirt, covering the neckband seam, and pin. Use a zig-zag stitch on the right side of the neckline to stitch in place.
If desired, hem the sleeve edges and bottom edge – though you don’t have to – knits don’t ravel. I prefer to hem with a twin needle; you can find more about that here.
If you want to make a shirt for your little man, I have a free one in this post for children sizes 2-4.
Catherine
It is as if you knew I would be needing this. I was looking for a plain t shirt yesterday day and could not find a decent one. Guess you gave me the answer. Just make it. Thanks ever so much!
Gary
Amen. same here just not sure what kind of fabric to ask for at the store to make it also the fabric that goes around the neck. what is that? I am a novice sewer. Got a new sewing machine and want ot make myself some neat clothes.
Melissa Mora
The fabric at the neck is called rib knit; this post will probably be helpful for you: http://mellysews.com/2014/03/types-knit-fabric.html
Sheryll
My husband is XX and my boys are XL. What suggestions do you have for resizing pattern. Thanks!
Melissa Mora
Google pattern grading – that’s the process of resizing a pattern, though for a XXL you might be better off using an existing t-shirt to make a new pattern like this http://mellysews.com/2011/07/tutorial-making-your-own-patterns-boys.html
JudyB
Thank-you sooooo much! I am definitely ready to try making a tee for Trent! MUCH appreciated! With jumbo-gratitude, JudyB
Cindy DF
Just wanted to say thank you! I downloaded the pattern this morning from the newsletter.
Anna
Oh, cool! I need to try this at some point. My husband is a big guy, so normal XL t-shirts are too short on him (and XXL are too baggy and too short). A while back, my mum found us a couple extra-long XL t-shirts and they fit him really well, but those are surprisingly not easy to track down. Next time he tosses a few t-shirts, I will have to try making him one that’s long enough.
Anne
Thank you for sharing this pattern! I’ve got a Craft Gossip post scheduled for this evening that links to your post:
http://sewing.craftgossip.com/free-pattern-mens-basic-t-shirt/2014/05/06/
–Anne
Emily
Great pattern! Thanks for sharing!
Crystal Shoaf
Where do you purchase ribbing? I haven’t seen it around for years.
Mardee
@Crystal, there are lots of places that sell ribbing. Joann’s carries a decent selection – mostly in neutral colors, although I did find some purple the other day at one of the superstores – but you can also find it online at places like http://www.girlcharlee.com. Most other online fabric stores that sell knits will carry ribbing. If you go to Joann’s, you might have to be persistent – the last time I went to one, the sales clerk, who was new, told me that they didn’t carry them. 🙂 I finally found the manager and he helped me find them. Also, you can always substitute regular knits for ribbing as long as there is enough stretch (50% or more).
Sume
Wow!! Just made my husband one this afternoon….I might have to make ALL his t-shirts now! He HATES shopping, so this is absolutely perfect for him. And he looks amazing in it…THANK YOU!!
(actually also finished the men’s shirt for him ….started it literally a year ago and then didn’t have buttons to finish it….well, it is done…and Yay Me for having a husband the same size as yours)
Audrey
We included your men’s shirt in our round up of things to sew with knit fabric because it’s the opposite of how knit fabric is usually used! (http://skirtfixation.com/2014/06/20-things-sew-knit-fabric/)
Silvia
I just made this tshirt for my boyfriend ( using your other tutorial for tracing a pattern from one old tshirt ) looks pretty! I used bias tape for the neck cause I didn’t have that nice one you use…
I found it really tricky to place the sleeves, the fabric was all waving around.
Page question I have is how to finish the seams with my normal machine? I used a 1.5 cm seams allowances and now they just look to big …
Thank you very much
Silvia
Silvia
Thanks Melissa !!!
Looks very nice anyway…
I ll try to hem the sleeves and the bottom
Here’s a quick pic
http://instagram.com/p/te4RJrMK_P/
Will try to make another one soon I think 😉
Carolin
Thank you from Germany! He loves it! 🙂