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Women’s Corsage Shirt

 

I’ve been drooling over the Jcrew line this fall. And I have seen others make this corsage tee, so I thought I’d try my hand at it.
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I zoomed in really close to this picture (in the lavender shown below) and you can see the shapes that they used to cut out the pieces. More on that later.

 

I bought and used about a yard of knit fabric, which I bought for about $5 at Joann’s. Compare that to the $35 shirt at Jcrew….what a deal.

 

 

And along with showing you the corsage tee, I’m also going to explain in more detail how to construct a new shirt from one of your favorite knit shirts. (someone had a question about attaching the sleeve to the shirt after this tutorial…..so there are more pictures this time.)

 

First, fold your favorite shirt in half and carefully trace out the front of your shirt with the scoop neck and the back of the shirt. Always trace both the front and the back of the shirt on the fold and then cut them out on the fold. It will keep your shirt symmetrical. (and always add more to your pattern piece for a seam allowance or add some as you’re cutting….whichever you’re most comfortable with.)

 

Do the same with the sleeve…..carefully following the curve of sleeve that attaches to the shirt.
(Here is my back piece and my sleeve piece.)

 

Then cut out all of your pieces: a front piece, back pieve, and 2 sleeves. All on the fold.

 

After opening up your pieces, they will look like this. The shirt front.

 

And the sleeve. Just to give you an idea.

 

Then sew your front piece and your back piece together (with right sides together) along the sides and at the shoulders. (I used a zig-zag stitch for everything on the shirt, except around the collar, to give more stretch after it is sewn.)

 

And sew along the long side of the sleeve piece, opposite the fold.

 

Now, place a pin at the folded side of the sleeve opening, opposite the side of the seam.

 

And then attach the sleeve to the main part of the shirt, lining up the pin with the shoulder seam of the shirt (making sure to pin them with the right sides of the fabric together)…..

 

…….and then pin the seam of the sleeve together with the side seam of the main shirt. (Keep the right sides together.)

 

Then pin all the way around the sleeve, making sure that it fits evenly before sewing. (Keep in mind that the sleeve and the shirt are right side out and you have turned the edges just enough to pin the sleeve and the shirt together with right sides together.)

Sew carefully together.

 

Then cut a strip a fabric about 3/4 of an inch thick….long enough to go all the way around the collar.

 

Start at the back and fold it over the raw edge of the neckline and sew it in place. I sew from the outside of the shirt, so that I can see what I’m doing as I go around….making sure that it looks nice as I go.

 

 

Hem under the sleeves and the bottom edge of the shirt, using a zig-zag stitch.

 

 


This is where you can jump in if you already had a shirt for which you’d just like to make the corsage look.

 

 

By looking at the corsage section of the jcrew Tshirt here (if you zoom in really close to the lavendar shirt), you can see that it is made up of heart shapes. Cut plenty of little hearts (I used about 12) from your scraps, not worrying about the exact shape or precision of each one. Most of mine were approximately 3 inches tall and 4 inches wide…..sometimes smaller or bigger.

 

Then I attached the hearts sidewise, placing a needle where I will later make a seam to attach it.

 

Folded over it will look like this.

 

Then I added another heart…….pinning it again where the seam will go and where it will then fold over. (It’s okay to overlap edges of the hearts.)

 

Then folded down, they will look like this.

 

Now, scatter your little hearts, folding them this way and that way, not really following any order. And you don’t have to fold them exactly in half each time. Play around with them to get deisred look. Also, make sure to place your pin in the direction that you’d like your seam to go and right where you’d like the seam to be. So that when the hearts all flop over, it’s just how you’d like it.

 

See all of the pins under there?

 

Now, slide your shirt under the sewing machine. Starting at the top again, start sewing about an inch seam right where your pin is/was, making sure to backstitch a couple of times to secure the heart in place. (Make sure that your shirt underneath isn’t bunching up as you’re doing this. Keep it nice and flat as you go.)

 

Go from one heart to another, taking out your pins one at a time as you go. Then trim your threads and you’re done.

 

Flop the little edges back over and you’re set.

 

 

 

 

Put on your new little creation.

 

 

 

 

Completely satisfying.

 

 

Ashley Johnston

Administrator at Make It & Love It
Ashley Johnston is a professional DIY costume maker, sewist, crafter, and owner of Make It & Love It. She is a mom of 5 and a wife to a very patient (with the craft clutter) husband. In case you’re wondering, she always chooses crafting/sewing/designing over mopping/dusting/wiping base boards……but bathrooms/laundry/full bellies are always attended to. Whew!

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Home » DIY Tutorials » DIY Sewing » Sewing: Clothing » Women's Clothing » Women’s Corsage Shirt

Women’s Shirt: Ruffled Neckline


 

Nope, not another toddler clothing idea.

Shocking.

Hahaha…..I’ve been pumping out a lot of little kiddo clothing lately and my closet was getting a little jealous. (smirk)

So how about making a new shirt for you that you know will fit you just fine. Because it’s patterned after the fit of one of your fave’s.


(Or you can just add the ruffle taught here to a shirt that you already have.)

How?

First, lay one of your favorite comfy knit tees down and trace around it on a piece of paper. (I need to buy some butcher paper…..I’m running out of tape from taping regular ‘ol sheets of paper together!) You’ll have a front piece, and back piece and a sleeve. I created all pattern pieces to be cut out on the fold, so that they are even and symmetrical. (So if you look at my shirt piece, it looks like half of the shirt front.) It will help the whole process work out a little more smoothly.

Then use these pattern pieces to cut out the fabric in your chosen fabric. (If your shirt is knit…..find a similar knit to use.) Make sure to add enough extra for a seam allowance.

Then sew the shirt together at the sides and the shoulders.

Then sew the sleeves together along the bottom side.

Then pin them into the arm hole of the shirt and then sew in place.

Then cut 2 pieces of fabric…..one about 1.5 inches wide and the other about 1 inch wide.

Stack them on top of eachother and sew a wide basting stitch down the center. (I took the picture with the stacked rows upside down. The more narrow piece is attached…..it’s just on the reverse side. Ooops.)

Then pull your top thread to gather and place along the edge of your kneck line.

Evenly gather and pin along the entire neck line. If you need more….make more. I way over estimated and had a long tail to cut off at the end. But it just depends on how full you’d like the ruffle to look.

Then sew along the center of the ruffle, securing it to the neck line. (And tuck under the end of your ruffle and sew it into place…..I know it’s hard to see, but it’s tucked under.)

Then turn your sleeves and bottom edge under 1/4 inch and then another 1/4 inch, and sew into place….creating a nice hem.

Ahhhh…..

And wow, done.

Can you believe you just made your own shirt??
Wonderful feeling.

**While sewing with knit, you may have problems with it stretching. I usually use a medium size zig-zag to hem the sleeves and bottom, to avoid puckering and allow some stretch. FIRST, try it out on some scraps to see how your particular knit will turn out. This pattern covers up the neck-line…..so you don’t even have to worry about a puckered mess around the neck. Perfect. (But I have alot of practicing yet to go with knit…..it’s such a finicky fabric.) One more thing, if you find a knit that’s a blend with something else (microfiber, rayon, etc.), rather than just a ribbed knit, you may have more success…..and less stretching and puckering. But I’m learning right along with you. :)

Ashley Johnston

Administrator at Make It & Love It
Ashley Johnston is a professional DIY costume maker, sewist, crafter, and owner of Make It & Love It. She is a mom of 5 and a wife to a very patient (with the craft clutter) husband. In case you’re wondering, she always chooses crafting/sewing/designing over mopping/dusting/wiping base boards……but bathrooms/laundry/full bellies are always attended to. Whew!

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Hi, I'm Ashley

Hi, I’m Ashley—the DIY-enthusiast behind this crazy blog!

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