Cider Sippin’ Flannel Shirt

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I am so excited for today’s project because it is a classic piece for men and women that is suitable for many different kinds of fabrics, and if made properly can be happily enjoyed for many years. The classic, button-up, collared shirt.

This piece of clothing is a personal favorite of mine, and almost exclusively in flannel. I wear them with jeans, layered over henley t-shirts, and tucked into skirts. If I could wear a flannel shirt every day of my life I just might! Well maybe not, but you get the point. My love for them runs deep.

Because of this. I am always on the lookout for good quality flannel, and I recently came across this fall-toned, heavy-weight flannel made up of shades of mustard, olive green and burgundy. I loved the color combination as soon as I saw it, but then I saw that the color was called cider…CIDER. Is there anything more fall than apple cider?! Needless to say I was sold!

I decided to use the fabric to make a classic flannel shirt, using a favorite pattern of mine that I purchased over 15 years ago, and have used dozens of times. The pattern is technically for men/boys (as you’ll see below), but I would never let that technicality stop me from using a pattern for myself. It just takes a few careful tweaks to make sure it still fits correctly, which we’ll look at together.

Unfortunately, it looks like this exact pattern is no longer available directly from the Simplicity pattern company. However, it does seem to be available on eBay and Etsy from private sellers, so if you are interested in this exact pattern you may still be able to find it. That being said, any classic button-up, collared shirt pattern would be similar, so feel free to use whatever pattern you can find.

This pattern is so versatile. It could be used to make shirts made out of silk, satin, or sheer chiffon for a dressy vibe, lightweight denim for a casual/western feel, a lightweight wool or canvas for a practical work shirt, or make it oversized and line it with sherpa fabric to make it more of a jacket. I have even swapped out the classic collar for a hood! The point is that with adjustments, it could easily be made to suit anyone’s personal style.

Since I knew from past experience that I would have to make some alterations to the original pattern to fit me, I decided to use this opportunity to take the original pattern and use it to draw out a new pattern fit to my specifications. You can do this for yourself with any pattern, but no matter what the garment is you have to start with your measurements.

I’ve included a little drawing below of the basic measurements that I usually use for any item, along with a brief description explaining each measurement. If you take these measurements for yourself and make sure they are as accurate as possible, you can keep them on hand for you to reference whenever you need them.

In a case like this shirt, I also take some secondary measurements that are specific to the pattern I’m working with at the time. For example, one of my secondary measurements would be where I want the hem of the shirt to fall, and how snug/loose I want the shirt to fit across the chest. Both my body measurements, and the ‘ideal’ measurements of the garment, help me to adjust the pattern pieces to fit me perfectly.

When I am making a pattern, I use pattern paper that I bought in a large role, which is similar in thickness and texture to the paper that is used by sewing pattern companies. However, I’ve also seen people use plain tissue paper, or plain brown paper from the craft store, and both also seem to work fine. So feel free to use whatever you have on hand.

To draw out this pattern, I started with the back of the shirt. I laid the original pattern on top of my pattern paper, and based on my measurements, adjusted it where necessary before tracing the adjusted shape on to the paper. In this case (as you’ll see by my tracing lines in the image below) the length of the shirt was fine, but I needed to add some width in the torso in order to accommodate my chest and hip measurements. Men’s patterns aren’t usually designed to accommodate a curvy shape in either of these areas, so when converting a similar pattern watch out for this.

I then did the same for the front of the shirt, as seen in the image directly above. Again, the torso had to be adjusted similarly.

It’s important to note that with all of the required pattern pieces, I was very careful to copy all of the same information that is on the original pattern pieces, on to my new pattern. This information can include the identification of the piece, seam allowances, fold lines, grain lines, location of buttons/pockets, and how many pieces to cut. You can see these details more clearly in the image below of the yoke (or top-back of the shirt’s pattern piece). I had to adjust this pattern piece according to my shoulder measurements, which were slighter smaller than the original pattern. This is another common adjustment that is required when using a men’s pattern on a woman’s frame.

In the other image below you’ll see all of my final, new pattern pieces. It is always very satisfying to look into my pattern drawers and see the patterns I’ve made especially for myself, and know that I can pull them out and rely on them to fit me perfectly every time.

After washing and drying my fabric, I used this new pattern to cut out the flannel in all of the required pieces (if you want an example of what this looks like you can reference my last post, where I show exactly how I traced and cut out fabric for a simple skirt).

Since this shirt has a two-piece collar, and cuffs that require stiffening before sewing, I also had to cut out some interfacing. For these pieces you want to cut out the interfacing to match the pattern pieces exactly, as seen below. The interfacing I used is a medium weight, which is plenty of stiffness for this fabric, which on its own is heavyweight.

Before we get to the sewing, I want to mention that this garment requires many, many steps to put it together. In other words, this is a piece that I usually sew over several days, rather than rushing through it. I also rely on coffee to get me through. Lots of coffee.

The very first time I used this pattern, I had never made a garment with so many pieces, and was unfamiliar with many of the techniques, so I followed the pattern instructions exactly as directed. I won’t tell you how many seams I had to rip out that first time and try again, but I did eventually get it all right, and that first shirt still exists.

Unlike some patterns where I deviate from the instructions, I have continued to follow this pattern’s instructions the exact same way, time after time, to the point that I have them memorized. The results have always been successful, so I haven’t felt the need to experiment. Lets get started!

According to the directions, I start with the back of the shirt. The very first step is sewing in 2 simple pleats on either side of the top, which are there to allow some freedom of movement across the back and shoulder blades. Once done, the yoke is attached, which is made up of two, identical pieces. One goes on the back of the fabric, and one on the front, and they are pinned into place before stitching across the straight edge.

Both pieces are then flipped up to cover the rough edge of the seam, and a line of top stitching is put in place for strength. You’ll notice that I cut my yoke pieces so that the pattern is angled instead of straight up and down. This is partially because I like the look of doing this, and partially because I find that when cut on an angle, this piece provides even more flexibility across the back and shoulders. You don’t have to do this though, that’s just my preference.

The yoke then forms the shoulder seams, where the shirt front pieces need to be attached. This is done by first stitching the shoulder seams to the inside yoke piece, and then top stitching the outside yoke piece to the same seams.

Next are the sleeves. I carefully pinned them in place along the arm holes, as shown below, being sure to follow the curves of the sleeve tops exactly. Then I stitched them in place.

At this point in the project the side seams and sleeve seams are stitched together, by putting the right sides of the shirt together and lining up the back with the front. This is then sewn from sleeve and to hem in one lone seam, on each side.

The image above is of the shirt after that last step. It doesn’t look like much yet does it? That is because all of the more difficult sewing has yet to come!

One of the most complicated parts is the cuffs. I’ve done my best to show detailed images of each step below. Here are the descriptions that correspond to the images:

1 - Sew in pleats at sleeve ends.

2/3 - Pin bias tape binding to slit in sleeves, on the wrong side of the fabric, and sew in place.

4 - Roll over bias tape binding to right side of fabric, and sew in place.

5 /6/ - Pin and sew cuff edge to sleeve ends, leaving sleeve slits open.

8/9 - Fold the cuff down in half, with the right sides of the fabric together. Fold up a small edge along the length of the cuff, before sewing the side seams of the cuff together.

The final step is flipping the cuffs right side out, and pinning the cuff down on the right side of the fabric, covering the exposed seam (as seen below).

The cuffs are done! Still with me? I know, there are soooo many steps to this project but it’s time for the last really finicky part of this piece, which is sewing and attaching the neckband and collar. I have to admit that this section is the type of sewing that I would like to spend some time learning about at some point. For example, how was a collar like this done by traditional tailors in the past? What form of stiffening material did they use? Did they use different stitching techniques? Many interesting questions that I would like to do more research on, but that is for another day. For now, I’ll stick with what I know.

I started with the collar, which required pinning the two pattern pieces with right sides together, with interfacing on one side. Three seams were then sewn - the two short ends of the collar, and the longer of the two sides. Then I turned the piece right side out, and top stitched along the same 3 sides. At the end there should be one raw edge that is not stitched, as seen below.

I then sewed on the neckband. This was also made up of pinning two pieces of fabric, right sides together, with one piece of interfacing on one side. Before sewing these together though, the collar piece that I put together is tucked between the neckband pieces (raw edge first). It’s important to make sure these pieces are centered together perfectly.

Once I ensured that the pieces were properly pinned in place, I sewed along the curved seam, through all pieces of fabric, leaving the straighter seam open.

At this point I turned the neckband right side out, and top stitched the same seam again.

The final step of the collar is pinning the neck edge of the shirt inside the neck band. I like to take my time with this step, so I can be sure that everything is pinned very evenly and securely, with all raw neck edges covered, and all raw neck band edges tucked in. Any flaws in this step could cause the collar to sit poorly on the finished shirt, which of course you don’t want.

It’s always a huge relief when this step is done! Now for the finishing touches.

This is usually when I like to put on the front pocket. I wait until this point so that I can put the shirt on and really get a feel for where everything sits, before deciding exactly where I want the pocket to be. I like to make sure that it’s easy to reach into, so for me that is what decides the placement. I also usually cut the pocket piece so that the pattern is on an angle, like the yoke. This is just a design choice to shake things up!

While I’m trying the shirt on, I check the shirt length one more time before hemming. In this case I decided to take 2 inches off the length before finishing.

I have always finished these shirt hems with bias tape. Bias tape is easy to make with any fabric, and you can make as much as you need for any project. You simple lay out whatever scraps of fabric you have, determine the direction of the straight grain of the fabric (which is usually parallel with the fabric’s factory edge), and then determine the 45 degree angle off of the grain line. Then cut as many 1 inch (or whatever width you need) strips of fabric on that angle that you need. You can see my strips in the image above. The strip ends just get sewn together to make one long strip of bias tape.

You might be wondering why these strips get cut on this angle, or in other words, on the bias. This is because most fabric has much more stretch across the grain at this angle, which will make your bias tape easier to manipulate with the shape of your piece.

I pinned my strip onto the wrong side of the fabric of my shirt, all along the hem. I left extra on the ends for folding over, and sewed this in place. Then I rolled the bias tape to the right side of the fabric, so that the raw edge was covered, and the hem looked finished. I sewed this in place, being careful to tuck in the end pieces as well.

After sewing on buttons, and sewing in button holes, the shirt was done!

I love how this turned out. It’s so cozy and versatile, and while the plaid is colorful, I found that it paired well with a lot of things from my closet that I already own. I threw together some ideas below, but I swear I could have done 20 of these! You’ll notice that I paired it with the skirt from my last post, as well as a knitted cowl I made last winter. Hint: this was not an accident! I’ll be doing a future post on planning multiple projects, and building a functional wardrobe with what you make.

I hope you enjoyed seeing this project come together, and that it got you thinking about using your imagination when it comes to using sewing patterns. You don’t need to be limited to the style, sizes or uses of original patterns. Simply use them as guides for your own creative purposes. Whatever your project or pattern though, just be sure to measure, measure, measure!

As for me, I’m going to put on my new shirt, pour myself some apple cider, and live out all my best fall fantasies.

Happy sewing!

~Amanda

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