Shirt Sewing Series

Part One - Sewing Shirts Skills Kit

The Sewing Shirts Skills Kit covers:

• The tools you need to get the finish you want
• Ideal fabrics for sewing shirts
• Fusing and interfacing
• Grainlines
• Cutting stripes and plaid
• Seam finishes and top-stitching
• A range of sewing tutorials, including cuffs and cuff plackets; collar and stand; button plackets, buttons and buttonholes; yokes; patch pockets; and hemming.

These tutorials have been created so you can use them along with the other resources we are rolling out for this shirt series, but they will also help with any shirt sewing you do in the future! With these resources you will feel confident to sew a range of different shirt styles and have confidence to pick the right technique for the situation.

Difficulty

This project is ideal for the adventurous beginner and beyond. Due to the nature of sewing samplers, you can choose to start with the easier tutorials (like sewing a curved hem) and build yourself up to the trickier ones (like sewing a collar stand or sleeve placket). Because you don’t need to think about whether the shirt will fit you or not, sewing samplers allows you to focus solely on the sewing experience and perfecting the finish. As always we suggest you slow down and enjoy the process!

DIGITAL PRODUCT DETAILS

The Sewing Shirts Skills Kit: 91 pages of sewing tutorials and content. The booklet is suitable for printing on both A4 and US letter sized paper, or can be viewed onscreen using a PDF viewer.

The pattern sampler pieces are suitable for printing on both A4 and US letter sized paper. A copy shop version is also included in the file (A0 or US 36" x 48").

Print at home pattern: 33 pages (A-J size range) / 44 pages (G-P size range)
Print shop version: 2 x A0 pages (A-J size range) / 3 x A0 pages (G-P size range)

Part Two - Marden shirt pattern

Marden is an In the Folds twist on the classic tailored shirt and incorporates everything we love about them (hello, polished style), and nothing we don’t (goodbye, restriction).

Garment details

Boxy with a drop shoulder and side splits, Marden is designed for comfortable movement. A classic collar and stand, the refinement of a concealed button placket and the beauty of French seams give it a professional finish that will be admired by many. With two sleeve options (long or capped), the Marden shirt is a wardrobe staple that will easily take you from cool weather to warm, and its interesting use of panel pieces makes it ideal for experimenting with colour blocking and stripe direction.

Difficulty

The pattern is placed at Level 3.5 on the In the Folds pattern skill scale, and has been designed for intermediate sewists and beyond as it incorporates techniques that require high levels of accuracy. Sewists who are not at this level, but are interested in learning the skills required to sew structured shirts are recommended to begin with the Sewing Shirts Skills Kit.

By working through this pattern, you will gain confidence in: Collars and stands; hidden button plackets, dropped shoulder sleeves; sleeve plackets with cuffs; sewing panel lines; hem facings; French seams and working with interfacing.

DIGITAL PRODUCT DETAILS

The pattern is suitable for printing on both A4 and US letter sized paper. A copy shop version is also included in the file (A0 or US 36" x 48").

SIZE A - J
Print at home pattern: 40 pages (a printing plan is included in the instructions so that you can choose to only print the pages you need for your size or preferred view).
Print shop version: 2 x A0 pages.

SIZE G - P
Print at home pattern: 44 pages (a printing plan is included in the instructions so that you can choose to only print the pages you need for your size or preferred view).
Print shop version: 3 x A0 pages.

The pattern includes embedded layers. This means that you can select only the size/s you would like to print.

If you have any questions please see our FAQ and Digital Product Policy.

Sizing

The pattern is available in both sizes A - J and sizes G - P. Our size charts can be found here.

The Marden shirt is available in two size ranges: sizes A - J and sizes G - P.
There is a 4 size overlap (G - J) so that you can grade between pattern sizes when required.

The size A - J pattern is drafted for a B cup bust (5cm / 2in difference between high bust and full bust measurements).

The size G - P pattern is drafted for a D cup bust (10cm / 4in difference between high bust and full bust measurements). The G - P pattern has a slightly closer fit than the A - J range and features a bust dart to ensure a good fit through the bust.

If your measurements are in the overlap section of our size charts (G - J), we suggest using the G-P range to achieve the best fit.

Fabric requirements and finished garment measurements can be found here.

SUGGESTED FABRIC

The Marden shirt is compatible with light to mid-weight woven fabrics such as: linen, linen blends, cotton shirting, chambray, sateen and lightweight denim.

Keep in mind that the weight of the fabric will determine the amount of structure and drape in the finished garment. Due to the nature of the design, consider colour blocking or playing with stripe direction.

Fabric requirements and finished garment measurements can be found here.

NOTIONS

• Coordinating thread
• 1m (1.1yd) lightweight fusible interfacing
• View A: 9 x ⅜in-½in(1cm - 1.2cm) wide flat buttons
• View B: 7 x ⅜in-½in(1cm - 1.2cm) wide flat buttons

Part Three - Marden shirt Hack Kit

We love helping our subscribers sew a truly unique wardrobe, so we’ve served up a veritable smorgasbord of tutorials to help you reimagine the Marden shirt design.

Love dresses? Hate buttons? Can’t stand collars?
No worries! The Marden shirt Hack Kit is right up your alley.

The designs in this resource have been created so that you can use one tutorial on its own, or play mix and match for a complete pattern overhaul. And, you can apply everything you learn in this Hack Kit to any pattern of a similar style that you may already have in your stash! (Because creating resources you can use over and over is what we’re all about!)

If pattern hacking is new to you, we’ve also included an Introduction to Pattern Making that covers the concepts, techniques and tools to help you get started on your hacking adventure.