Sparrow Shirt Sew Along

Square title page 2 pre pressing

1 — Block Fusing and Pre-Pressing

Posted
09—December 2021

Before we start sewing we will first block fuse select pieces, and do some pre-pressing steps.

Sparrow Shirt Sew Along — 1 — Block Fusing and Pre-Pressing
Dec 9 2021

We are making the long sleeve shirt in this sew along, but the steps are the same if you are sewing the short sleeve shirt.

1 block fused fabric
10 collar and placket

Depending on your fabric you may choose to interface the collar, upper placket and under placket pieces.

This can be done by block fusing or piece fusing.

Block fusing is a fusing technique whereby you apply your interfacing to a section of fabric prior to cutting out the pattern pieces. It helps avoid interfacing slippage and stops your pattern pieces from stretching out of shape, and therefore ensures accuracy. It also means you only need to cut your pieces out once. Block fusing does require you to group all the pattern pieces requiring interfacing together when you cut out your pattern however, so you may require additional fabric.

If you do not wish to block fuse, you can piece fuse these pattern pieces. This means cutting out each pattern piece in both interfacing and your main fabric and then applying the interfacing to each piece separately. If you choose to piece fuse keep your pattern pieces close by for reference and make sure they don’t stretch out of shape.

12 pressing collar

Fold the collar piece in half with the wrong sides together at the notch and press.

8 sleeve 1cm press
9 sleeve hem press

Take the sleeves and fold the cuff edge over 1cm to the wrong side and press. Fold the cuff edge over another 6cm to the wrong side as indicated by the notches, and press. The finished cuff depth is 6cm.

6 pressing 1cm front body
7 pressing hem front body

Fold the hem of the front over 1cm to the wrong side and press. Then, as indicated by the notches, fold the hem up another 6cm to the wrong side and press. The finished hem depth is 6cm.

4 pressing 1cm back body
5 pressing hem back body

Fold the hem of the back over 1cm to the wrong side and press. Then, as indicated by the notches, fold the hem up another 6cm to the wrong side and press. The finished hem depth is 6cm.

2 pocket pressing
3 pocket pressing 3cm

Fold the top of the pocket over 1cm to the wrong side and press. Then, as indicated by the notches, fold the hem up another 3cm to the wrong side and press. The finished depth will measure 3cm.

Next up, we will sew the shirt front, including the placket and the pocket.

Check out the Sparrow Shirt pattern in our Online Store here. We also have the Sparrow Pant + Short pattern so you can sew the Sparrow Set!

Don't forget you can always email us via [email protected] if you need advice!

Sparrow makes from our wonderful community are also popping up over on Instagram, follow @makebytfs and use #TFSSparrowShirt so others can check out your creations!

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Location — New Zealand