
Hey y’all – today I’m taking a page out of my most recent pattern, the Austin Tee, and showing you how you can make any shirt a knot shirt by adding these tie front pieces. You can do this on a woven or knit shirt, and you can place the knot at center front, off over a hip, or anywhere in between.
I made a little video to show you how easy this hack is; read on for the pattern pieces and specific details. And if the one below won’t load for some reason, you can also watch it on YouTube here.
Ok, to do this hack, first you need the pattern, which you can download here. You’ll need to cut out 4 ties and 1 facing piece. You can interface the facing piece if you’d like.
Start by placing two facing pieces right sides together, then sewing around the edges. Clip the curves, turn the tie right side out and press.

Place the facing pattern piece on the unfinished hem of the shirt wherever you want the tie to go (if you’re doing this on a finished shirt,unstitch or cut off the hem first). Cut out the triangle area.
Place the ties on the triangle, lining up the edges. The ties won’t touch the hem edge by design. Then place the facing piece so it’s right sides together with the shirt. Stitch, using the 1/2 inch seam. Clip into the point.

Flip the facing around to the wrong side of the shirt. Trim the seam allowances and then wrap the facing around them and stitch, making sure not to stitch ties in this line.
Finally, fold up the hem and and stitch it to finish the shirt.

Dagmar Schläfke
Vers nice! Greetings from Bavaria!
Cara
So timely! I was just trying to figure out how to execute this on my own. I much prefer the guidance!
Kathy
I love this!!! I did a hack that was much more complicated that this for a center front tie. I like it but can’t be added easily for a side tie. Thank you so much!
Laura
Love this! Have wanted to figure this out and do it to several shirts, and now I know how. Thank you!
Amy Cook
I’m going to use this on the sleeves of a shirt I’m converting from long sleeves to short.
Pam
Brilliant! Just what I was looking for. Thank you.
Ka Bor
Hi! Thank you so much for writing this easy-to-follow tutorial! I used it to create a tie for a swimsuit I made. It was my first swimsuit too. If you’re curious to see, here is the link:
https://sewingunwind.com/2020/05/12/diy-swimsuit-crop-top-bikini/