For today’s tee, I took my easy tee pattern and modified it to include raglan (baseball tee style) sleeves. This is a really fun modification for two reasons: 1) adding a raglan sleeve the right way eliminates some of the bunching you see near the underarm in the original easy tee, which is a dolman sleeve shirt, and 2) raglan sleeves open up a lot of options for color and pattern mixing. Today’s post will show you how to create your own raglan sleeve pattern the right way. If you don’t want to make your own pattern and you happen to wear a size L, click through to this post for a free PDF pattern!
FYI: I used this fabric from Girl Charlee.
I’ve seen tutorials on blogs before that show how to add a raglan sleeve, but they always skip the step that gives a raglan sleeve shirt a better fit than a dolman sleeve top (where the sleeves are just part of the shirt, not their own piece). To do it right, follow these easy steps.
Start with a dolman sleeve top pattern, or make your own by tracing around a fitted cap sleeve tee as shown:
To add raglan sleeves, follow these steps:
Cutting the curve in your pieces will make the shirt lay flat across your chest/underarm area for a better fit. Cut your bodice pieces on the fold, as seen below. Cut 4 of your sleeve piece, turning it 90 degrees before laying down on your fabric (this makes sure the sleeve will stretch across your arm).
You’ll end up with these pieces:
And here’s how you put the shirt together. (In this first photo please pretend two sleeve pieces have not already been sewn together – that was a mistake.)
Me and my dirty mirror showing you what your shirt looks like now:
I used strips of knit to bias bind the neckline (like I did in the colorblocked version) and the armholes.
Turn it up and hem (use a double needle like I did on the peter pan version or a single row of zigzag stitching to make sure the hem stretches).
Done!
Check out the other easy tee variations (click photo to go to post):
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Claudia says
Thank you for this helpful tutorial. The shirt fits great.
Question: How much fabric, measured at its widest, do you cut away when you curve the line for the raglan seam? 1/2 inch on each piece, more, less? Thank you.
Anita o. says
Thanks for the great tutorial! I’ve been looking for a way to improve the fit of a tight raglan sleeve and I think I finally found the answer. By the way, my Stretch and Sew book recommends making the neckband 3/4 the length of the neck seamline (plus the seam allowances for joining it into a band) to make it lie flat, I hope this tip helps other sewers.
maricarmen clarke says
me encantan sus tutorials, y sus instrucciones muy claras y precisas. muchas gracias
Veronica says
Very useful post, Thank you very much!!