How to Make a Button Shirt Out of a Sweatshirt
- 1). Cut off the parts of the sweatshirt that are not suitable for a button shirt, such as the waist band, wrist bands, sleeves and hood. Make the cuts clean and straight with scissors. Any frays will be hemmed for a maintained look.
- 2). Place the sweatshirt on its back, flat on the working surface. Cut the middle of the sweatshirt from the top to the bottom, making sure the vertical line is centered on the sweatshirt. This will be the opening where the shirt gets buttoned.
- 3). Fold back 1/2-inch of fabric everywhere that you cut so far. Hold the fabric back with pins. This will create the 1/2-inch seam allowance when you sew the material to create the hem.
- 4). Set the sewing machine for a 1/2-inch seam allowance. Sew the waist, sleeves, collar and front panel seams into place with a sewing machine. Take out the pins as you come to them in the machine. If you need to make the sweatshirt more fitted, take out fabric from the sweatshirt in the back by cutting out material and sewing it back up with a new seam.
- 5). Use a sewing tape to place the buttons and button holes at equal distances, once you have determined which side of the shirt will have the buttons and which will contain the button holes. Mark the spots where the holes and buttons go with a fabric pen. For a button shirt that fully buttons, make space for eight to ten buttons.
- 6). Snip a 1/4-inch hole with scissors to serve as the button hole. Pull the hole slightly apart with your fingers. Finish off the edges of the hole's inner circle with needle and thread, using a straight stitch so that the hole looks neat. Repeat for all the button holes that you are designing on the shirt.
- 7). Place the button over the pen mark and use a needle and thread to stitch the buttons where they are planned to be. Finish the buttons on the underside of the shirt so that the knots are not visible.
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