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Make by TFS

Sparrow Shirt — Sew Along

Sparrow Shirt — Sew Along

1 — Block Fusing and Pre-Pressing

Before we start sewing we will first block fuse select pieces, and do some pre-pressing steps.

We are making the long sleeve shirt in this sew along, but the steps are the same if you are sewing the short sleeve shirt.

1 block fused fabric
10 collar and placket

Depending on your fabric you may choose to interface the collar, upper placket and under placket pieces.

This can be done by block fusing or piece fusing.

Block fusing is a fusing technique whereby you apply your interfacing to a section of fabric prior to cutting out the pattern pieces. It helps avoid interfacing slippage and stops your pattern pieces from stretching out of shape, and therefore ensures accuracy. It also means you only need to cut your pieces out once. Block fusing does require you to group all the pattern pieces requiring interfacing together when you cut out your pattern however, so you may require additional fabric.

If you do not wish to block fuse, you can piece fuse these pattern pieces. This means cutting out each pattern piece in both interfacing and your main fabric and then applying the interfacing to each piece separately. If you choose to piece fuse keep your pattern pieces close by for reference and make sure they don’t stretch out of shape.

12 pressing collar

Fold the collar piece in half with the wrong sides together at the notch and press.

8 sleeve 1cm press
9 sleeve hem press

Take the sleeves and fold the cuff edge over 1cm to the wrong side and press. Fold the cuff edge over another 6cm to the wrong side as indicated by the notches, and press. The finished cuff depth is 6cm.

6 pressing 1cm front body
7 pressing hem front body

Fold the hem of the front over 1cm to the wrong side and press. Then, as indicated by the notches, fold the hem up another 6cm to the wrong side and press. The finished hem depth is 6cm.

4 pressing 1cm back body
5 pressing hem back body

Fold the hem of the back over 1cm to the wrong side and press. Then, as indicated by the notches, fold the hem up another 6cm to the wrong side and press. The finished hem depth is 6cm.

2 pocket pressing
3 pocket pressing 3cm

Fold the top of the pocket over 1cm to the wrong side and press. Then, as indicated by the notches, fold the hem up another 3cm to the wrong side and press. The finished depth will measure 3cm.

2 — Sew Front

In this post, we sew the front pocket and take you through sewing the placket step by step.

1 pocket right side
Pocket

Fold the top of the pocket towards the wrong side 1cm, then again 3cm as indicated by the notches. Your pre-pressing steps will help with this. Edge stitch closed and press.

2 pocket wrongside
3 pocket pressed wrongside

Sew a line of machine basting stitching around the remaining three raw edges of the pocket piece at 1cm.

Then, fold back and press the edges using the stitching to help guide you.

44 front with pocket marking close
6 pocket stitched

Transfer the pocket markings from the pattern piece to the left front (as you are wearing it) of your shirt.

Pin the pocket aligning it to the markings you have just made and then edge stitch the pocket in place.

7 placket
8 placket
Placket

On the upper placket, sew a line of machine basting stitches at 1cm along the left, long side. Fold back and press this edge to the wrong side using the stitching to guide you.

Upperplacket with red line

We will now mark in some stitching and slash lines using a fabric pen, or tailor’s chalk.

On the upper placket, mark in the stitching line on the wrong side.

This runs 1.2cm from the edge, starting at the neck and finishes at the notch near the bottom of the placket.

11 under placket

On the under placket, mark in the stitching line on the wrong side.

This runs 1.2cm from the edge, starting at the neck and finishes 4.5cm from the bottom of the placket.

12 front placket line marking
13 front placket line marking wrongside

Now, mark the centre front slash line on both the right and wrong sides of the front. This line starts at the neck edge and finishes about midway down the front of the shirt.

14 placket pinned on closeup
15 placket inside

With the front of the shirt wrong side up, place the upper placket right side down, matching the neck edge notches, and the edge of the upper placket to the slash line. The bottom notch of the upper placket will meet the end of the slash line. Pin in place.

Now sew the two pieces together along the stitching you marked on the upper placket, stopping at the notch near the bottom.

19 close up under placket pinned
21 under placket turnup

Flip the shirt front over so the right side is facing up. Place the under placket right side down, matching the neck edge notches, and the edge of the under placket to the slash line. The bottom notch of the under placket will meet the end of the slash line. Pin in place.

Now sew the two pieces together along the stitching you marked on the under placket, stopping at the 4.5cm from the bottom of the placket.

22 cutting the placket
23 cutting angle on placket front

With the shirt front face up, cut carefully along the slash line, stopping 1cm before the end. Clip in at an angle to the end of the upper placket seam. Get as close to the stitching as you can without cutting through it.

Cut through the shirt front only. Do not cut the upper placket.

24 cutting angle on placket front wrong side

Turn the shirt front wrong side up. On the under placket, about 1cm up from the end of the stitch line, clip in at an angle to the end of the under placket stitching. Get as close to the stitching as you can without cutting through it.

Cut through the shirt front only. Do not cut the under placket.

25 pressing placket
New pressing intogther placket
New folding the under placket

Fold the under placket out, and then press the seam allowance towards the under placket.

Fold the free edge of the under placket under 1cm, towards the raw edge of the seam allowance and press.

Fold the bottom of the under placket up 2cm and press. This is just above the notch.

29 pinned placket

Fold the entire under placket to the wrong side, enclosing the raw edges and pin in place.

30 sewing placket
33 sewing placket

Starting at the top of the short, vertical side, edge stitch the under placket closed around three folded edges.

34 underplacket stiched

Give your under placket a press.

35 placket from front

Now it is time to sew the upper placket.

Have the shirt wrong side up in front of you. Fold the bottom of the upper placket up 1cm and press. This is just below the notch.

36 pressing back plackt

Fold the upper placket out so the right side is up and press.

37 placket pinned

Turn the shirt front right side up and pul the placket through so the right side is up. Press along the centre front seam and then pin in place.

39 cutting corner

Trim the triangle that remains in the centre of the opening.

Shirt pleat folding

Now we will create the centre front pleat.

Bring the folded centre front edge of the upper placket to meet the stitched edge of the under placket. Pin it in place, ensuring all the raw edges are tucked under. Make sure you check both the right and wrong sides!

38 marking placket

At this point, you can mark in your top stitching line on your placket to help with accuracy when sewing. This line is 3.5cm up from the bottom of the placket. Make sure you use a pen or tailor's chalk that doesn't leave a mark on your fabric.

New machine placket step3

Starting 3.5cm up from the bottom of the placket, at the open edge, stitch across to the folded edge of the placket. Stop with your needle down, pivot 90 degrees and edge stitch down to the bottom of the placket.

Stop with your needle down, pivot 90 degrees and edge stitch back to the open edge of the placket. Pivot 90 degrees once more and edge stitch the length of the upper placket to close it.

When you are sewing this final step, take care not to catch the under placket with your stitches.

41 placket sewen

Give your placket a press!

3 — Assemble Shirt and Sew Collar

1 pinning shoulder
2 shoulder seams
Collar

With the right sides together, pin the front to the back at the shoulders.

Sew each shoulder with a 1cm seam. Neaten and then press the seams towards the back

3 pressed collar 1cm

At one neck edge, sew a line of machine basting at 1cm. Fold back and press the neck edge to the wrong side, using the stitching to guide you.

3 pinning collar
4 collar stitched

Fold the collar in half at the notches with the right sides together. This is opposite to your pressing steps at the beginning. Pin each end to hold it in place. Keeping one neck edge folded up, and with a 1cm seam allowance, sew each end closed.

5 cutting collar
6 collar cutting seam allowance

Clip into the point where the collar meets the collar stand. Take care not to cut through your stitching.

Trim the curved edge of the grown-on collar stand, taking care not to get too close to your stitching.

7 collar turned through

Turn your collar right side out, using a point turner to help you with the corners. Give your collar a press.

8 pinning collar to shirt
New 9 inside collar

Next, we will attach the collar to the shirt.

With the right sides together, pin the raw edge of the collar to the shirt body at the neck edge, matching the notches and seams. Sew together with a 1cm seam.

Press the seam up into the collar.

10 pinning collar
11 finished collar

Pin the collar closed at the neck edge, and then edge stitch from the inside of the shirt.

12 pinning sleeve
13 sleeve stiched
Sleeves and Side Seams

With the right sides together, pin the sleeve to the body matching the notches.

Sew the sleeve to the body with a 1cm seam and then neaten.

Repeat for the other sleeve. Press the seams towards the sleeve.

New sleeve side seam

Pin the side seams together matching the notches and sleeve seam.

Sew together at 1cm and then neaten.

Repeat for the other side. Press both seams towards the back.

4 — Hem and Finishing Touches

10 pinning sleeve hem
11 finished sleeve hem

Now we will hem the sleeves.

Turn back the 1cm seam allowance and then turn back the hem at the notch and edge stitch the sleeve hem closed. The finished depth of the sleeve hem is 6cm.

13 pinning hem body
12 hem body pressed

Turn back the 1cm seam allowance and press. Then turn back the hem at the notch and press.

Edge stitch the hem closed. The finished depth of the hem is 6cm.

Shirt template buttonhole
1 buttonhole markings

Mark the buttonholes on the right centre front using the button and buttonhole markings on the template as a guide. There are x4 buttons on the shirt placket and x1 button on the collar stand. The collar stand buttonhole is 1.5cm from bottom edge of collar stand and is 1cm in from the curved edge (refer to template included with your pattern). The first buttonhole on the placket sits 2.5cm down from the edge where the collar stand meets the upper placket. The last buttonhole sits 3.5cm from the placket end. The remaining two buttons are 8.5cm apart.

We would recommend you mark these and check that you are happy with the placement before you sew them. You may wish to increase or decrease their spacing, or even add more buttons, depending on your personal preference.

2 sewing button holes
4 cutting buttonholes

Once you are happy with the placement, sew your buttonholes according to your machine’s manual. Carefully cut your buttonholes open.

5 sewing buttons

Sew the buttons to the front left, opposite the buttonholes.

7 pressing collar
6 pressing pleat

Fold your collar down and give it a press.

Give the front pleat a gentle press and clip any loose threads.

Hangshot

Your Sparrow Shirt is complete!

Check out the Sparrow Shirt pattern in our Online Store here. We also have the Sparrow Pant + Short pattern so you can sew the Sparrow Set!

Don't forget you can always email us via patterns@thefabricstore.co.nz if you need advice!

Sparrow makes from our wonderful community are also popping up over on Instagram, follow @makebytfs and use #TFSSparrowShirt so others can check out your creations!