DIY Button Down Shirt

Transform a simple, loose-fitting top into a button-down essential.

Transform any shirt in your closet into a button-up shirt, from a simple loose T-shirt to a sheer lace dress top. You can cut the shirt from neckline to hemline to add a full row of buttons, or put a little bit of detail on a plain shirt by adding the buttons a few inches from the top of the shirt. The process is simple, requiring very little sewing experience and just a basic knowledge of a few easy stitches.

Things You'll Need

• Shirt
• Iron
• Soft tape measure
• Fabric pen or pencil
• Rotary cutter
• Sharp pair of scissors
• Sewing machine (or sewing needle)
• Thread
• Buttons (one for every inch of the shirt's length)

Instructions

1. Lay the shirt on your work table with the front facing upward and smooth or iron out any wrinkles.

2. Find the center of the shirt from side seam to side seam with a soft tape measure. Make a dotted line down the length, along the center of the shirt, with a fabric pen or pencil. Connect the dots with a straight edge.

3. Cut open the shirt along the line with a rotary cutter or a sharp pair of scissors.

4. Fold under 1/2-inch of fabric on either side of the cut to prepare the shirt for buttons. Hand or machine-sew the folded fabric with a straight stitch along the cut edge. To hand sew a straight stitch, insert the needle from the fabric’s underside, move forward about 1/8-inch. Insert the needle through the top side to the underside. Move over 1/8-inch and repeat the process all the way along the cut edge.

5. Iron the new folded edges to make them lay flat.

6. Lay the tape measure along one side of the cut. Mark every 1 inch from the top to the bottom hem. Repeat on the other side.

7. Make a 1/2-inch slit at each mark on one side of the cut with a pair of scissors. Sew a buttonhole stitch around each slit. To do this, insert the needle about 1/8-inch away from the slit and wrap the thread around the slit and back into the fabric. Repeat all the way around each slit to make the buttonholes.

8. Place a button over top of one of the marks on the other side of the cut. Sew through the underside of the fabric and into the holes in the button to attach the button. Repeat for each mark along the shirt.

Tips & Warnings

• When adding the buttons to a lace or other thin fabric, cut 1/2-inch-wide strips of interfacing, lay one in between each fold along the cut edge and iron to fuse the interfacing to the shirt. This provides a sturdier fabric to add the buttons and buttonholes.

References

• "ReSew: Turn Thrift-Store Finds into Fabulous Designs"; Jenny Wilding Cardon; 2011

Resources

• Perestroika Designs: Hand Stitching