Resizing a Long-Sleeved Shirt Sewing Tutorial

Happy Spring everyone! I’m here, feeling idle, and decided to finally resize a shirt that I salvaged from my husband’s clothes donation pile. I’m not going to add anything fancy, but simply resize the shirt.

Read on for the full tutorial!

The skinny:

Today, I am going to essentially dismantle the shirt and resize each piece to my own dimensions. I am going to try and salvage the cuffs of the shirt, but that’s about it.

Materials:

• long-sleeved shirt to resize
• matching thread
• long-sleeved shirt to use as a guide

Step by Step:

1. Turn the long-sleeved shirt that you are going to alter inside out. Cut off the neckline, the sleeves, and the seam on the sides of the shirt.

2. First we are going to edit the bodice piece. Lay out a long-sleeved shirt that fits you well over the bodice of the old shirt. Tuck in the arms and draw around it using chalk. Add roughly a seam allowance of 3/8″ around the sides and sleeve opening. I’m going to reuse a few seams, including the top of the shoulders and the bottom of the shirt, so I’m keeping that intact. I’m also going to add a 1″ hem allowance along the bottom because I want the hem to be about 1/2″ wide. Cut this out.

3. Next, the sleeves. First, I’m going to tuck one of the sleeves I cut off under the new bodice so I can cut around the opening of the sleeve to match the sleeve hole.

Then, place a long sleeve from your guide shirt over one of the sleeves you cut off. Match the top of the sleeves together, then trace along the bottom of the sleeve guide using chalk. Add a seam allowance of 3/8″ along the bottom of the sleeves. I’m going to reuse the sleeve opening on the shirt. Cut this out. Use it as a guide to edit the other long sleeve you had cut off, so they match.

4. Now we’re going to put the shirt back to together. Right side to right side, pin and sew the sleeves to the bodice.

5. Now, right sides together, pin and sew up along the sides of the shirt, around the armpits, and to the ends of the sleeves. Sew this in one continuous line.

6. For the neckline lining, I’m going to reuse the neckline I initially cut off from the shirt. First, I’m going to cut lengthwise up the middle of the old neckline so that I have two.

Use the shirt as a guide to get the length of the neckline linings. Cut and sew accordingly. Since we want the neckline lining to be slightly taught so that it can create a nice and firm neckline, I’m going to sew each end in 1/2″ shorter. This will give you a neckline circle. * I should have made my neckline lining even shorter. The neckline was not taught enough in the end.

Turn the shirt right side out. Pin the neckline lining to the neckline. Try and pin as evenly as possible. Sew this together about 1/4″ from the edge. Now, tuck the lining inside the shirt. Pin and sew this in place.

7. The last thing I’m going to do is shorten the shirt a bit by folding the bottom shirt hem inside. Turn your shirt inside out. Fold up the bottom of the shirt your desired amount. Pin and sew in place.

Done! Hope you enjoyed this little sewing tutorial!