Women’s Short Sleeve T-Shirt Free Pattern

It’s Free Pattern Day!!  I’m so excited to share this summery t-shirt. Since I released my long sleeve shirt earlier this year, I’ve had plans for a short sleeve version. I sewed up two variations of this short sleeve t-shirt free pattern last week and I’m loving them both. Perfect for Me Made May if you are participating!  As this pattern is an adaptation of the long sleeve version the sizing is the same – xs-xl.. I promise to add more sizes in the future.

Join the LifeSewSavory Pattern Group for support on this pattern! Make sure to check out all my Free sewing patterns here.

 I’ve added a bit more room in the body and sleeves from the long sleeve version. I’m modeling the small in these photos. The pattern comes with directions for a normal hem on the sleeve and bottom or cuffs. I must say I’m partial to the cuff version! Cuffs are on the right below.

  

And a look at the back…

I used a very thin eyelet knit from Fabric.com for this project. You can also see that I’m wearing a light tank under one version and a dark tank under the other. I think I like it both ways. I LOVE thin knits… but don’t love when I get holes in it… which seems to happen with this type of knit. We will see if these can last me the summer.

 You can see the fabric well in this shot… So pretty right? This also shows that I choose not to top-stitch around the neckline or cuffs. It seems to lay just fine without, and I didn’t want to stretch out my shirt. You can top-stitch if you want though… and I’ll mention that in the tutorial below.

let me just say that my belly button is NOT popping out in these photos.. not sure what was going on with these shorts.. but I was going through the photos and I don’t love how they look in the front… so ignore the bump!

 Okay.. Here’s the size chart for the short sleeve t-shirt free pattern.. You can go download and print it here from Craftsy.

Tape your pieces together. The pages should go together like this.  The optional cuff pieces are on pgs 19 &20, so you don’t have to print those two if you aren’t using cuffs. If you are using cuffs cut the main body pieces and sleeve at the dotted bottom line so shorten.

Pattern details… you will need 1 to 1 1/2 yards of knit fabric for this t-shirt. The small 1 yard of 60″ wide fabric.  You can use ribbing for the neck or just the shirt fabric. I just used the same fabric.. it’s up to you. I don’t have a huge stash of ribbing so matching is tricky for me.

let’s dive in!!

1. With right sides together sew the shoulder seams together.

2. Fold the neck ribbing wrong sides together and pin to the right side of your shirt. Start and end at the back middle or one of the shoulder seams. Pin around the neckline.

3. When you get all the way around, unfold the ends of the ribbing and place right sides together. Mark  the length, cut and sew. The smaller sizes with have more left over.

4. Sew around the neckline and finish with a serger or zig zag.

5. If you are adding cuffs to the sleeve skip ahead to step 11.

 with right side up, open up the shoulder. Find the center of the sleeve and pin to the shoulder seam.

6. pin on either side of the center, sew.

7. it should now look like this.

8. If not, sew up the side seam now, matching the under arm seam.

9. Fold the sleeve under 1/2 inch and sew with a knit stitch or double needle… I’ve found the best is to use Woolly Nylon thread in the bobbin with either option. I’ve started using it with almost all my knit projects. It’s an easy change that makes a big difference.

10. Hem the bottom as well turning up 1/2 t0 3/4 inch and sewing.

11.  Cuffs: fold the cuff wrong side together and then pin the raw edges to the right side of the sleeve bottom. Do this to both sleeves.

12. Sew the sleeves to the body following steps 5 and 6.  With right sides together, sew the side seams.

13. Add the bottom cuff band. Measure the bottom of your shirt and match the band length. Sew the short sides right sides together. Then fold over and match up the long side. Line up the seam of the band with one side and then match the other side seam with the 1/2 way mark of the band.

14. Pin around and sew.

You did it… LOVE the bottom band!

Ok, that’s a wrap for today! Can’t wait to see what you make with this pattern. I’d love to see photos… e-mail or tag me in them on social media.. I’ll reshare!

One more link to grab your short sleeve t-shirt free pattern HERE.