Last week I showed you how to make a sewing pattern out of a worn out shirt by cutting it up, which is a bit easier than this method. You can check that out HERE. But sometimes you don’t want to cut apart your perfectly good shirt just to make a sewing pattern out of it! That’s why I’m bringing you this week’s tutorial – I’ll show you how to trace the different parts of a shirt to make a pattern without cutting it up.

Tracing my clothing to make sewing patterns is something I do pretty often. It’s a nice way to make more of some basics that you love and that you know fit. I wanted to make a pattern from this orange t shirt, which is one of my absolute favorite t shirts. I don’t know exactly why, but there’s something about the fit that I just love!

Carmen wearing an orange t shirt and jeans with hair in a ponytail

I’m so excited to sew up another version of this shirt now that I have a pattern! But for today, I’m just showing you how to make the pattern. If you want help sewing up your new t shirt pattern, you can watch the last half of my video from last week (HERE) where I go through the whole process of how I sew my t shirts. The one I sewed in that video was long sleeved, but the basic process would be the same!

Now let’s get into the tutorial!

What you need

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Tutorial

Here’s the video tutorial that will walk you through the whole process of folding the shirt to trace each piece, smoothing out your pattern pieces, and adding seam allowance!

 

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and were able to make a sewing pattern from your favorite shirt! If you want more sewing and DIY tips, tricks, and tutorials, I would love to have you join my email newsletter. I’ll even send you my Quickstart Guide to Sewing Swimwear as a thank you for signing up!