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free sewing patterns sewing sewing for women
June 23, 2016

the classic tee | free pattern in women size L

I’ve been meaning to put together a pattern for a basic, classic tee shirt for a long time, and I’ve finally gotten around to it. I know, it might seem like a waste of time to sew your own tees when they’re not that expensive to buy, but I hey, I like sewing, so I might as well, right? Now that I’ve finally created a pattern I can make one in less than an hour with one yard of fabric, which makes it a nice quick project.

woman wearing floral t-shirt and the classic tee free sewing pattern

 

This free pattern is available in women’s size large. It’s is an easy to sew tee shirt with a scoop neck and two different sleeve lengths (short and elbow). It’s not too tight and not too loose – just a really classic t-shirt with a slightly curved hemline.

A woman wearing a floral t-shirt with a striped skirt, and with jeans

Before we get to the free pattern download and tutorial, I want to tell you about the fabric I used, because I love it. It’s a gorgeous jersey knit from Raspberry Creek Fabric, an etsy shop. It’s one of their Club fabrics, which is their in house jersey knit line. The knits are a really beautiful quality with a little more weight than you may be used to from other knits you’ve ordered online. (I can’t tell you how much I HATE ordering knit fabric only to realize it’s so thin I won’t be able to use it.) The Club knits really are the perfect knit fabric: the prints are on trend, the weight is just right, and they have great stretch and recovery. And the very best part? This white floral isn’t see through! I ordered another Club fabric to use for the next fit & flare dress I have planned, so you’ll be seeing more here soon.

Raspberry Creek Fabric also carries other high quality knit fabrics, as well as woven apparel fabrics, flannel, quilting cottons, and more. Shipping is super fast and the owner is very responsive to questions, so go check out the selection!

Alright…back to the tee shirt.

A woman wearing a floral t-shirt made from a free pdf sewing pattern

Click here to download the free Classic Tee Pattern in size large. The pattern prints on 8 sheets of 8.5×11 paper. Be sure to print it out at 100% or full size. The test box on page 8 should measure exactly 1 inch square. Butt the pages up against one another and tape them together (no overlapping). This is what the pattern looks like:

The classic tee pdf sewing pattern

You’ll need to cut two bodice pieces on the fold, one with a front neckline and one with a back neckline. You can choose to use the slightly shorter hemline on the front and the longer one on the back, or use the longer one for both. (This shirt is not cut super long, so you may want to compare it to your favorite tee and add length if needed.) You also need two sleeve pieces, but on the fold. Finally, you’ll also want a neckbinding piece which is 1.75 inches tall and about 26 inches long (you can sew together two pieces to make this if needed.) If you’re careful with how you lay out your pieces, you should be able to squeeze all the pieces out of one yard of knit fabric.

Classic tee pattern pieces: front and back bodice, sleeves, neckbinding

Sewing the shirt together is simple. Start by placing the front on top of the back, right sides together, and sew across the shoulders as shown below.

Shirt front piece laid over shirt back piece with shoulder seams marked

Next, open up the shirt and lay it down flat (1st photo below). Grab one of the sleeves and line the middle of the top curve of the sleeve up with the one of the shoulder seams (2nd photo below). Pin.

Shirt opened at the shoulder seam, with sleeve laid over and pinned to shoulder seam

Pin the rest of the sleeve onto the shirt, working from the middle out as shown below. Continue to pin the other side of the sleeve to the shirt as well. Sew.

Sleeve pinned into armscye

Repeat with the other sleeve.

Place the front and back of the shirt right sides together again, and sew the side seams, starting under the arm and going all the way down the side. I like to give the shirt a bit of a stretch as I sew the curve under the arm just to make sure the seam won’t pop when the shirt is worn.

Classic t-shirt inside out with side seams marked

Now it’s time to bind the neckline. You can measure the neckline and multiply that number by .85 to get a length for your neckbinding (this is the “best guess” measurement that usually works pretty well). Sew the short ends of the binding together and then fold it in half lengthwise. Pin it to the neckline, stretching the binding to fit as you pin.

shirt and neckbinding, neckbinding pinned into neckline

Because the binding is shorter than the neckline, the shirt will bunch up a bit when the binding is pinned in (1st photo below). As you sew the binding on, stretch the shirt until it lays flat (2nd photo below).

Sewing the neckbinding in on a sewing machine, stretching the neckbinding to fit

The neckline can look a little wonky after you’ve seen the binding on, but press the it with lots of steam and it’ll look great.

A close up of a girl in a floral shirt

The last step is to hem the sleeves and bottom edge of the shirt. I just turned both up about half an inch and hemmed with a double needle. (Double needles are GREAT for working with knits and are very easy to use – just google it if you’ve never used one.)

A girl wearing a floral t-shirt with short sleeves

I’ll be showing you another classic tee with an elbow length sleeve soon – see you then!

Thanks you to Raspberry Creek Fabric for providing free product in exchange for this honest review. All opinions are my own.

You may also like:

the breezy tee free pattern:

A woman wearing a relaxed fit t-shirt with a pocket on the chest

 

the easy tee free pattern:

A person standing posing for the camera, wearing the EASY TEE pattern

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Home » sewing » the classic tee | free pattern in women size L


63 Comments

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Comments

  1. Kristie says

    June 23, 2016 at 10:39 pm

    I usually make me dolman sleeve shirts. But I was just telling my sister that I needed a pattern with set in sleeves. So thank you so much! I can’t wait to print it tomorrow and get started!
    Your fabric choice is gorgeous. I will be doing some shopping online now. 🙂

    Reply
  2. Dianne whiTe says

    June 25, 2016 at 8:48 am

    It looks quite easy to make but I would like to know what are the body measurement for size large.
    Thanks Dianne.

    Reply
    • Julie says

      October 6, 2016 at 7:39 am

      Hi Dianne – My measurements are about 38-30-40 and it fits great. I just made the front neckline about an inch higher but didn’t do any other adjustments. It’s a relaxed/comfy fit on me. Hope that helps.

      Reply
  3. Astrid says

    June 25, 2016 at 12:58 pm

    Love this pattern, as I find bought T’s don’t fit my body shape plus more often than not the cheaper fabric ones go all out of shape after you wash them so making your own ‘easy make’ one makes sense. Thanks.

    Reply
  4. Teresa says

    June 25, 2016 at 8:37 pm

    Thank you for this free pattern and for making it in a large size! I especially appreciate the longer sleeve option. I’m sure I’m not the only woman who prefers a sleeve length option!

    Reply
    • Muffy Halewood says

      February 1, 2017 at 1:04 pm

      Once your past 50 the sleeve length option is greatly appreciated.
      Thanks

      Reply
  5. gail says

    June 29, 2016 at 12:10 pm

    Thank you for the free pattern and great tutorial on sewing a knit tee….I know now I really feel confident in sewing with knits..please keep sharing your gifts..:)

    Reply
  6. JULIA MCDONOUGH says

    June 30, 2016 at 1:56 am

    Is there a way to increase the size? I am a plus sized woman & love the simplicity of your pattern.

    Reply
    • Anne says

      March 11, 2017 at 12:41 pm

      Usually each size I see an additional 2 inches to the pattern, so 1/2 inch per side seam. You should look at her raglan sleeve shirt pattern tutorial and trace in the sleeves as well, might work?

      Reply
  7. Barbara Klink says

    June 30, 2016 at 10:17 am

    Thank you.

    Reply
    • Barbara Klink says

      January 22, 2018 at 11:57 am

      We are in January of 2018. I still appreciate your pattern and plan to use it today. I will tip it out at the bottom and make the sleeves 3/4 length. I think I am going to make a woven version. I suspect I will need to adjust the entire pattern for more ease. Happy new year and thank you.

      Reply
  8. Brandi Pitts says

    July 1, 2016 at 4:30 am

    Thank you so much for so generously sharing your great ideas and patterns for free. You have helped me develop a love of sewing.

    Reply
  9. Danielle says

    July 2, 2016 at 10:28 am

    Thank You for another great tee shirt.
    Love all your patterns.Your patterns and photos are always nice and not complicated..
    I Wear clothes that i made thanks to You, plus i feel confident wearing them.
    Danielle

    Reply
  10. Mary says

    July 5, 2016 at 8:12 am

    How would I make the shirt a medium or a small? Love the tutorial!

    Reply
  11. Donna Owens says

    July 6, 2016 at 1:13 am

    Looks really easy to make. I can’t wait to get started making one. thank you for the free pattern and also in a size large.

    Reply
  12. Georgina Blanco says

    July 9, 2016 at 8:18 pm

    Gracias. Hermosas las camisetas…. 🙂

    Reply
  13. Patricia Elliott says

    July 10, 2016 at 1:51 am

    Great pattern, so simple yet so effective. Thank you.

    Reply
  14. Cyndi Carter-Sweatt says

    July 14, 2016 at 8:40 am

    Love your pattern for t-shirt, but I want to print just copy of directions for the different styles without all the other ads. How can I print or get the directions for making the t-shirt.

    Thanks advance
    Cyndi

    Reply
    • Phyllis Smith says

      September 4, 2020 at 4:27 pm

      I do that all the time, when it’s not available in a printable copy. Just go slow in reading the instructions. Just hold down your right mouse button and drag across a paragraph to highlight it. Then hit your control and C at the same time to COPY it. Next, leaving your browser still open, go to your word processing program, like WORD or OPEN OFFICE, etc., and open a new file, then PASTE what you copied. Then go back to your browser and continue on to the next step in the instructions. What take so long is that you can only copy the instruction text in between the advertisements that are scattered throughout the page.

      Reply
      • Phyllis Smith says

        September 4, 2020 at 4:30 pm

        OOOps….I meant hold down your LEFT mouse button to drag across the text. Then RIGHT click on it to COPY

        Reply
  15. anne paterson says

    July 16, 2016 at 8:02 pm

    I live in the UK and our standard paper size is A4 which is a slightly different size to your paper but enough of a problem that it misses bits when printed. Please could you put the one inch square box on EVERY sheet so I can resize for UK printer paper.
    Thank you for your ease pattern tutorials, but mostly for your very clever use of fabrics to fit and flatter those of us in a L size who only wear sleeves in everything.

    Reply
    • Sandra says

      April 21, 2017 at 5:39 am

      I was wondering that too as over here in Australia it is A4 paper too., so your question helped me. Thank you. Also when I printed my pattern it has the 1″ square on it which isn’t an inch when printed but it may help to work it out to my size.

      Reply
  16. Fofo agha says

    July 20, 2016 at 12:33 pm

    I used to sew using burda pattern..justttt.my dauter in low wants me to sew for her young but modern garments..thank you very much.you tought me how to do so very easily..

    Reply
  17. ronda says

    August 9, 2016 at 12:48 pm

    Am I missing it, or is there really no indication of how much fabric this takes? I’m not sure how much to buy!

    Reply
    • TinaD says

      August 10, 2016 at 6:44 am

      Ronda–you are missing it. It says if you lay out carefully, you can get the whole pattern on a yard of fabric.

      Reply
  18. Keri says

    August 23, 2016 at 10:31 am

    My machine doesn’t have the double needle option…is this pattern still a good choice for me? Not sure how to address the raw edges…any recommendations?

    Reply
    • autumn says

      August 24, 2016 at 10:36 am

      Sure, it will still work. You can just zigzag the hem and the sleeves. I like the look of a double needle better, but if you’re using matching thread you’re hardly going to notice the stitching anyway. Good luck!

      Reply
      • Silvia Beier says

        November 15, 2017 at 1:03 pm

        Hi there, did you use an overlock machine to sew the seams on this T-Shirt? Is it possible to do it with a regular sewing machine? I have zig-zag and a triple stitch for stretchy fabric.

        Reply
        • autumn says

          November 17, 2017 at 10:11 am

          Hi Silvia! Yes, I used a serger, but you can make this t-shirt with a standard sewing machine. I’d use a narrow zigzag or your triple stitch for any seams that will get stretched when worn (so especially neckline, hems, etc). Good luck!

          Reply
    • Linda C. in AZ says

      June 14, 2017 at 12:17 pm

      Schmetz double needles or other brands (be sure you buy stretch version!) have one needle head to insert into your machine like a regular machine single needle, so should work in most machines that have a wide needle plate for zig zag and other wider stitches. I use a spool of thread and a winded bobbin on top. Hope this helps!

      Reply
  19. Eli says

    September 6, 2016 at 4:26 pm

    Can you tell me what the bust measurement on this shirt is? I would love to make it but I don’t want to be disappointed if it won’t fit when I am done. Thanks!

    Reply
    • Julie says

      October 6, 2016 at 7:46 am

      Hi Eli. I’m about 38″ and it fits great. Not too tight and not too loose. Hope that helps. (before I cut out my fabric, I measured the front pattern piece against a t-shirt in my cupboard to make sure)

      Reply
      • Sandra says

        April 21, 2017 at 5:42 am

        Thanks Julie that is a great idea about measuring it against one of my t-shirts!

        Reply
  20. Julie says

    October 6, 2016 at 7:43 am

    Thank you so much! Was so thrilled that this fit me straight out of the machine with no size adjusting 🙂 I made it out of ‘cutesy’ fabric that I really should’ve used for something for my goddaughter but, shhh! When I started cutting it out, I just thought ‘If the fit is bad, I’ll sleep it in” but it’s great. Now kicking myself for not spending more time getting my stitching tension perfect. 🙂 Will definitely be trying a couple more.

    Reply
  21. Lisa says

    November 17, 2016 at 6:04 pm

    Great patterns as usual. I am confused by the sleep part though, is the shorter line that extends further out for the short sleeve and the inner line just for a longer sleeve?

    Reply
    • autumn says

      November 18, 2016 at 1:43 pm

      Yes, you’re correct!

      Reply
  22. Courtney says

    February 15, 2017 at 8:01 am

    I can never get a neck with a binding to lay this flat!! I’ve made a couple shirts and dresses attempting it but I always end up unpicking and making a facing for it. Any other tips on sewing the neck for this?

    Reply
  23. Ann says

    April 30, 2017 at 8:32 pm

    Awe, You are so sweet to share this pattern. I am a quilter ( and a longarmer) so sewing I can do, but haven’t made a lot of clothes. Cant wait to make this. I have a lot of knit fabrics.

    Reply
  24. Jane says

    July 3, 2017 at 6:38 am

    How do I translate the pattern for a size x- small?

    Reply
  25. Billie Jo Matthews says

    July 11, 2017 at 11:36 am

    I love your patterns but, I am a 2x size on top. How much do I add to your patterns. Keep up the good work.

    Reply
  26. Carol says

    July 13, 2017 at 11:21 am

    I love your patterns AND your explanations/tips. I’ve never been so glad to wear a size Large! Thanks.

    Reply
  27. Julie-Anne says

    October 10, 2017 at 4:48 am

    Just made this and I love it!! I used the longer sleeve option and it’s great as I feel it’s not as casual looking. After 3 babies I no longer seem to fit clothes well off the rack so to be able to make them and have them fit well is amazing! Thank you and God bless you for providing it for all to enjoy x

    Reply
  28. Lyann says

    October 10, 2017 at 5:46 am

    Thank you excited to try this pattern

    Reply
  29. Jeanne says

    July 12, 2018 at 2:16 pm

    This is my second of your t-shirt patterns and I just love them! They fit me perfect and are so easy to sew up. Thanks so much for your patterns 🙂 Can’t wait to see what else you come up with!

    Reply
  30. Brooke says

    March 17, 2019 at 10:19 pm

    I’m not sure if you read these anymore since the post is so old, but figured I’d comment anyway.
    Thank you for this. I used your pattern to make myself a base pattern for other shirt styles that do not need darts, mostly knits. I did have to enlarge the pattern quite a bit, but ended up taking a lot back out. Shows me not to add too much ease, something I don’t like about standard patterns.
    This was the perfect base pattern. The first one I made I turned into a sleep shirt and it’s so comfy. My next project is to turn I into something much more complicated.
    Thanks again.

    Reply
  31. Carolyn says

    March 26, 2019 at 10:03 pm

    Hello, thanks so very much for your patterns. I have several. But this one. I have eight sheets and is printing on 100%. There are pieces missing. The sleeve top does not line up. Seems like there is a 2 inch middle piece missing. The side of the top is missing. and the back neck cut out does not line up to front cutout. I wish I could send you an attachment. Please help is you can.

    Reply

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I'm Autumn, a mom of five who loves ice cream, Masterpiece Theatre, and clothes that hide the fact that I eat so much ice cream. When I was 18 I got a job at a craft store and told everyone (regularly) how much I hated crafts. Well, things change! Read More…

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