DIY Tutorial: Sewing with Knits: Making a T-Shirt

Sewing with Knits: Making a T-Shirt 

You should now be ready to make your first project: A T-Shirt. I am always hearing from sewists how afraid they are to try sewing anything out of a knit fabric. Well, it’s time to squash those knit fears and sew up a t-shirt.

To begin with…

At its core, a t-shirt has very few pieces. There is a front, a back, two sleeves, and neck binding. For this tutorial I’ve used an interlock fabric {which I recommend for newbies} for the t-shirt and ribbing for the neckline.

Note: In this tutorial I have some photos in a gray fabric and some in a blue fabric. Lighting was an issue when I was preparing this tutorial. Sorry for any confusion this causes.

Laying out the pattern on your fabric is pretty simple. Just like sewing with wovens, you want to pay attention to the selvage and layout your pattern pieces accordingly.

Because knit fabric is wider than woven fabric, you can usually get the front and back on the same width of fabric. One thing to note about laying out your fabric: Never let it hang over the edge because it will stretch out the fabric. Notice how I have the excess fabric folded and the end of the table.

So, below is my basic t-shirt pattern cut out of Interlock and ready to sew.

I set my sewing machine to the default zigzag setting. This will provide stretch for wearing the t-shirt. As I previously discussed, you must use some sort of stretch stitch in order to keep the stitches from popping out.

Step 1:

When sewing a simple t-shirt your first step should be to pin the front to the back at the shoulder seams. Notice how the front neckline is lower than the back neckline.

Because I’m using Interlock, I recommend marking the inside of the fabric with a fabric marking pen of some sort.  

Before you stitch down the seams you may want to stabilize the shoulder seams with something that will also stretch. This will keep the shoulder seams from popping out as the t-shirt goes over the head.

There are a few ways to do this. For the gray t-shirt I cut a 1/2″ strip of Pellon tricot interfacing. (affiliate) It’s inexpensive and can be purchased by the yard at sewing stores.

There’s another product that I really love for stabilizing shoulder seams. It’s calledSewKeysE Stay Tape. It’s a little hard to find, so I usually just order it from the company. One roll will last a long time.

Step 2:

Sew the shoulder seams using a zigzag stitch.

Step 3:

Now it’s time to add the ribbing neckband around the neckline. Don’t have any ribbing? Not a problem. Just cut the neckband from your Interlock fabric. This looks best on a dressier shirt. Ribbing gives it a casual look.

Using a zigzag stitch, sew the ends together using a 1/4″ seam allowance.

Step 4:

Now for the fun and easy part. Attaching the ribbing to the neckline. This method works on any t-shirt size.

Fold your ribbing in half lengthwise with wrong sides together. Press.

Put a pin in the fold (on the left) and a pin in the seam allowance.

Fold in half again, this time matching the other two sides (in this case, the green pins). Place pins on these fold lines (see the black pins).

You should now have four evenly marked places on your ribbing.

Do the same thing on the neckline of the t-shirt. The two seams don’t need pins because they create a mark.

Match up the ribbing pins with the pins/seams of the t-shirt. One thing I like to do is match up the center seam on the ribbing with the pin that marks the back of the shirt. This will let the wearer know the front from the back (remember, the back neckline is higher than the front neckline.

Now matchup the pins on the ribbing with the pins on the t-shirt. They won’t match perfectly because you will be stretching the fabric when you sew. But, you want them pinned in place because this will help the neckline lay flat.

Here’s another photo in the gray fabric where I’ve used the same fabric for the neckband.

Using a zigzag stitch, stretch and sew around the neckline. Notice how it pulls it all in so nicely. Any rippling will disappear when ironed or washed.

Step 5:

Time to add the sleeves. Unlike woven sleeves, knit sleeves go in so easily. I usually mark the top of the sleeve (or not) and pin it in place. Using a zigzag stitch, attach the sleeve to the shirt. You will stretch it a little when you sew. Repeat for the other sleeve.

Step 6:

With your fabric right sides together, pin the side seams, matching up the under-arm seam. Use a zigzag stitch to sew the side seams.

How easy is this. It’s starting to look like a t-shirt that you could wear. All that’s left is to hem the sleeves and shirt.

Step 7:

When hemming knits, you can’t straight stitch around the bottom edge and call it done. Those stitches will pop out. A zigzag stitch will stretch, but really wouldn’t look that great.

The best way to create a hem in knits is to use a twin needle designed for knits. (affiliate)

Fold up your hem 1″ and press to hold. I love using this handy dandy hot hemmer that Kimberly from Fat Quarter Shop gave me. It’s felt-y and makes pressing up a hem super easy.

After you’ve pressed up your hem, pin it to hold.

Using a double needle, stitch approximately 1″ from the hem’s edge. I usually set my stitch length to 3mm.

Notice how there is this nice double switch on top and a zigzag stitch on the bottom. It does this automatically. That slight rippling effect will either press out with an iron or once it is washed.

One way to secure those hem threads and keep them from unraveling is to take a needle and pull the threads to the inside then tie them off. I’ve never had a hem come undone when I take time to do this.

Serging with Knits:

For all of you serger owners, these steps just got easier. Steps 1-7 can be done with a 3-Thread or 4-Thread serger stitch.

If you own a newer serger it may have a Cover Stitch setting. This is what t-shirt manufacturers use to get the double stitch on top and the chain stitch on the inside. Consult your serger manual for specific instructions. It will be well worth your while.

My first knit projects (years ago) were sleep shirts. They weren’t perfect, but I learned how to sew a simple t-shirt. Better yet, after sewing a couple of t-shirts, I really began to understand how simple it is to sew with knits.