Making a Men's Shirt: Basic Sewing Tools

Series Summary

Sewing is an ancient craft that still has remarkable relevance in today's modern world. The art of stitching and assembling pieces of fabric together, either by hand or with the use of a modern sewing machine, is still a valuable skill: it is the backbone of the textile industry; it comes in handy for clothing repair; fashion and design find it indispensable; and homemade clothing wouldn’t exist without it. Whether you use a sewing machine or a needle and thread, the techniques involved in constructing a well-fitting garment are very specific and involved. Becoming skilled at the craft is a lifelong pursuit.

In this free, step-by-step sewing project video series, learn how to make a men’s shirt from scratch. Our expert seamstress will guide you from pattern to finished product with detailed tips and techniques along the way. In sixty individual steps, learn how to choose and cut your fabric, lay out your garment pattern, sew perfect seams, attach collar, cuffs, and sleeves to the shirt placket, and more. Also get important sewing techniques like topstitching and staystitching. This project may take some effort and planning, but it’s worth it to see the finished product: a garment you made on your very own…stitched together with a few bits of cloth, thread, and inspiration.

Video Transcript

" Hi! I’m Stephany from Stephany’s Simply Sewing on behalf of expertvillage.com. Today, I’d like to show you a few simple tools that you will need to begin sewing. First, you would like to have 3 pairs of sheers. You will have a set of scissors to do your cutting out of your pattern, a set of smaller sheers for trimming seams and cutting into seam allowances, and a pair thread snips. The other thing that you would like to have is a seam ripper--mistakes do happen to the best of us--a tape measure; please be sure that your tape measure is vinyl not cloth, because they will stretch. This is seam gage, which will enable you to measure hems and buttons holes; a ruler; you will also want to have some pins and a pincushion. I like to have a longer glass head pin because they don’t get lost in the fabric. You’ll want some hand sewing needles and a needle threader for your aged eyes; something to mark your fabrics with, this is chalk and this is a marker that erases with water. You’ll want to have a pen and a set of scratch paper to keep notes on, a good iron, a spray bottle. You’ll also want to have a press cloth, this one is a cotton dish cloth that is used only for pressing; a couple of towels that you can use for in place of a pressing ham. Another thing that will be handy to have is your sewing machine manual, as well as a basic sewing book. These are the items that you’ll want to have to begin sewing a simple garment."