Hi lovely people!
How are you staying safe and sane??? For me the only thing that keeps me motivated is my obsession with sewing and crafting, so today I’m bringing to you an idea to hack the Alex shirt pattern by Sew Over It into more relaxed and casual top.
If you are interested and want to read my review of this pattern you can head over to my other post where I’ve made a shirt-dress version.
Before I start with today’s tutorial I would like to mention that I had made a FBA and inserted a bust dart….a little tweak that I needed to do to make this fit me better.
Hacking the pattern
Copy front, yoke and back shirt pattern pieces and leave extra space around armhole.
Using a seam allowance included in the patter pin the Yoke to the Back and the Front pieces.
Measure about 10 cm from the ‘shoulder’ notch.
Tip: The bigger the distance the more dropped shoulder you will have.
At the Back side seam just below the armhole measure 6.5 cm down and mark it. Next, measure from that point 3 cm to the side and 1.5 cm upwards. Join both points in a slight curve and with a broken line draw a temporary line to a ‘shoulder’ point.
Repeat above steps at the side seam on the Front pattern piece.
With a curved ruler smooth and neaten the new armhole edge.
Measure the circumference of the new armhole without the seam allowance.
This measurement will be used to draft a sleeve band.
Extend the seams on of the Back, Yoke and Front pattern pieces until the armhole. The pattern pieces are ready to be cut out.
Drafting a sleeve band
To draft a sleeve band divide in half the new armhole measurement (mine is 22 cm) and draw a rectangle 22 cm by 4 cm.
Tip: The final width of the sleeve band is 2 cm, so if you want yours to be bigger or smaller you can change the width of the rectangle now.
With a broken line mark a middle of the rectangle and on the left side measure and mark 2 cm. Join this point to both corners. The other short edge on the right hand-side is the center of the sleeve band that will be placed on the fabric fold, so make a note on the pattern.
Add a seam allowance all around (except ‘on fold’ site) and cut it out.
That is all for today!!!
Have a lovely Sunday and stay safe!
Monika xxx
