And rounding out our Halloween theme this year is Westley, or, as Tater prefers to say, The Dread Pirate Roberts. And today I’m sharing the free pattern for the pirate costume shirt. This could also totally work for a ninja costume. The rest of this costume was suuuuper easy – as in, I was able to recycle pretty much all of it from other costumes.
See that mask? It’s terribly comfortable, and I think everyone will be wearing them in the future. Or past – it’s just the same mask that Bean wore for his Robin costume last year. And the pants? Those were also Batman’s last year. In fact, there’s a free pattern to make them at that link.
The scarf is just 1/4 yard of knit fabric that I tied around Tater’s head. If I was doing it again, I’d look for 1/3 yard – the 1/4 yard is just barely enough to cover his head, and he has a small head.
And then I made the pirate shirt new, and I’ve got the pattern and tutorial for you. To make your own, you’ll need:
- 1 yard of 58/60″ wide fabric; if you’re using 44 inch wide you probably need 1 1/2 yards.
- 1 yard of black ribbon
- 1/2 yard 3/8 wide elastic for the sleeve cuffs
- The Pirate Shirt pattern.
This free pattern is in boys size 6. 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) and by downloading you are agreeing to this license.
Print and cut out the pattern pieces. You’ll need to cut 1 front, 1 back, 2 sleeves, a front facing and a back facing.
Mark the center front of the facing and the shirt front. Finish the bottom edge of the facing with an overlock or faux overlock stitch.
Mark the center front of the facing in a line to just above the edge of the facing. Then mark a line 1/4″ to either side of the center line, and connect these two lines at the bottom. Place the front facing right sides together with the front of the shirt. Sew along the neckline and the marks you just made (yellow line below).
Cut through the facing and the shirt front along the center front line (white line in the top photo).
Notch the curves of the neckline and clip the corners from the facing. Then turn the facing to the inside of the shirt and press the seam, so the neckline looks like the photo below.
Sew the back facing to the shirt back, right sides together, matching the neckline. Clip curves, turn and press. Then place the shirt front and back right sides together, unfolding the facings. Match the facing seams and shoulder seams, then sew each side. Press the facings to the inside again.
Open the shirt flat and pin the sleeves to the armscyes, then stitch. Fold the shirt right sides together and sew the side seams and underarm seams in one seam on each side. (I forgot to take a pick of these two steps, but the work the same way as this shirt below)
Pin ribbon across the shirt opening as shown below, folding the ribbon each time it crosses to the other side. Stitch the ribbon to the shirt at the folds. (Note – if you wanted to make these functioning, you could install grommets or sew buttonholes to lace the ribbon through).
Finally, turn the cuffs of the sleeves 1/4″ to the wrong side, then 1/2″ to the wrong side and press. Sew cuff casings, leaving an opening to insert elastic. Insert 7 inches of elastic through each cuff, being careful not to twist. Overlap the ends of the elastic and stitch them together, then sew the opening in the sleeve closed. (Again, forgot to take picture, but it’s the same idea as the pic below).
And voila – a pirate!
Anne
Great pirate costume!!! I’ve got a post scheduled for tomorrow morning that links to your pattern: http://mellysews.com/2015/10/pirate-costume-with-free-pattern.html –Anne
Sheila
Hi, Mel, this is a great shirt, thank you! Not ready to use it yet, as I’m making for 3 girls under 2, but I’m sure it will come into its own in time.
I would suggest it is a better idea to sew on some loops (if you have time) for the front ribbon, to be sure you can get it over a squirming child’s head. Oh I forgot – maybe they’ve stopped squirming by age six! But will still be easier to get on if you make the ribbon into an actual tie.
You might like to see the pirate costume I made for our (much younger) grand-daughter.
http://newgrandmawantstosew.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/a-pirate-costume.html#more