Teagan T-shirt: Sewing Instructions

Step 1: Close the shoulder seams

• Place the front and back on top of each other with good sides together. Align the shoulder seams.
• Serge the shoulder seams, or stitch them with a narrow (~2 mm) zigzag stitch at the standard seam allowance.

Step 2: Set in the sleeves

• Place your now attached front and back with the good side up.
• Identify the front and back sides of each of your sleeves. (This is how you separate the left sleeve from the right.) On your paper pattern piece, the front side of the sleeve is to the right.
• Place a sleeve on top of the front and back, with the good side down.
• Align the top of the sleevecap with the shoulder seam. Make sure that the front and back of the sleeve are aligned with the front and back pieces of your shirt.
• Pin sleeve in place along the entire armhole. There’s a bit of sleevecap ease, which means that the sleevehead is slightly longer than the armhole. Ease in the top part of the sleeve head while pinning.
• Sew/serge your pinned sleeve in place.
• Repeat for the other sleeve.

Step 3: Sew the neck finish

There are two options for the neck finish on Teagan: a knit band or knit binding. Knit band is what you typically see on store-bought T-shirts, whereas knit binding is the finish you’ll find on the Aaron A-Tank. Directions for both are given here.

Option 1: knit band finish

Place (the start of) your knit band

• Fold your binding in half lengthwise (parallel to the longest side), and press.
• Put your T-shirt down with the back good side up, and place your band strip on top of it, lining up the raw edges of the band with the raw edge of the neck opening.
• Your band should start at the center back of the neck opening.
• Now shift your binding strip 1cm beyond your starting point. This little extra will guarantee we can join the two ends later.

Sew band in place

• Place your presser foot 3 cm along the knit band, so a 4 cm tail will be left unstitched. This will help us join the ends together later. Then, sew around the neck opening, stretching the band gently as you sew.

• Stop sewing 3 cm before the end, leaving a tail like we did at the beginning.

Sew band ends together

Now it’s time to sew the ends of our knit band together.

• Take the end of your knit band, and stretch it along the 3 cm separating it from the start point as you would while sewing. On the band, mark where the band reached the start point, or center back. Do the same for the other end.
• Fold your T-shirt in whatever way makes it more easy for you to place both band ends with good sides together, aligning the marks. Sew them together at the marks.
• You should now have a joined knit band.

• Now that your band ends are joined together, it’s time to finish the last 6 cm, by stretching and sewing down the band as you did for the rest.

Hurray! You’ve finished the trickiest part! Optionally, you can secure the raw edges by stitching them down to the T-shirt fabric, just inside the knit band with a zig-zag or coverlock stitch. This is not required, but it is a detail that you’ll see on many ready-to-wear T-shirts, and it can help your neck band lie flat.

Option 2: knit binding finish

Place (the start of) your binding

• Put your T-shirt down with the back good side up, and place your binding strip on top of it with the good side down (as in, good sides together). Your binding should start at the center back of the neck opening.
• Align the long edge of your strip with the edge of your fabric so the strip lies on top of the fabric (not in the opening). Place the corner on your starting point.
• Now shift your binding strip 1cm beyond your starting point. This little extra will guarantee we can join the two ends later.

Sew binding in place

• Place your presser foot 3 cm along the knit binding, so a 3 cm tail will be left unstitched. This will help us join the ends of the binding later. Then, sew 1.5 cm from the edge around the neck opening, stretching the binding gently as you sew. (Note: this is not the standard seam allowance.)
• Stop sewing 3 cm before the end, leaving a tail like we did at the beginning.

Mark and sew binding ends

• With about 6cm left to go before we complete our circle, it’s time to sew the ends of the binding together.
• Take one of the edges, and stretch it along the 3cm separating it from the start point as you would while sewing. On the binding, mark where the binding reached the start point. Do the same for the other end.
• Fold your T-shirt in whatever way makes it more easy for you to place both binding ends with good sides together, aligning the marks. Sew them together at the marks.

• Now that your binding ends are joined together, it’s time to finish the last 6cm of binding. Sew it down, staying 1.5cm from the edge as you did before.

Fold knit binding to the back and sew down

• Fold your binding fabric around the fabric of your T-shirt to the back. This is how we’ll sew it down.
• While the fabric is folded double at the front (hiding the fabric edge in the process), there’s no need for that at the back. We will merely trim back the edge later, given that knit doesn’t ravel. If we were to fold back the fabric at the back too, it would only add bulk.
• Now you’ll sew the binding down. From the right side of your fabric, sew along the inner edge of your binding (furthest from the edge), making sure to catch the binding at the back in the process.

• You’ll have to, once again, stretch your binding a bit while doing this. But this time, there’s an extra caveat to look out for.

Step 4: Close the side seams and sleeves

• Fold your Teagan T-shirt double at the shoulder seams with good sides together.
• Align the side seams and sleeves and pin them together.
• Serge/sew the side seam and continue sewing to close the arms all the way to the sleeve hem.
• Repeat on the other side.

Step 5: Finish hem and sleeves

• Fold the hem upwards, to the inside, and sew it down. If you have a coverlock, use it. If not, use a twin needle or zig-zag stitch to keep the seam stretchable.
• Repeat for the hem on each sleeve.