How to Design Your Own Shirt

This month I’ve been working on a shirt project inside my Creative Dressmaking membership, and having so much fun. I thought it would be eye opening to show you a little behind the scenes of how to design your own shirt in case it’s something you too would like to have a go at.

Of course, you can see much more detail inside the membership here, but this will give you an idea on how to go about it if you’re not ready to join us just yet.

1. Find Design Inspiration For A Shirt

I started by looking at the FW2025 and SS2026 shows for some design inspiration. Things I noticed were:

• Bib fronts at Dior (ruffled), Jil Sander (half bib of tucks) and TIBI (full length tucks).
• Oversized sleeves at And/Or (bishop), Zimmermann (balloon) and Balenciaga (on jackets).
• Deep collars: Louis Vuitton had some gorgeous collars mixed with interesting front yokes on shirts and Saint Laurent also had some fun takes on shirts with oversized neck ties.

2. Consider Design Principles For Shirts

I then thought about some of the common design principles to consider when designing a making a shirt. Key for this shirt project for me are balance, proportions and scale, but for you it may be different.

If you do not know what these mean, check out my post on fashion design principles, it’s a good overview for those starting out.

3. Starting Pattern Options

I’m not teaching block/sloper drafting inside my membership, so members can start from an existing one that they have or a shirt pattern in their collection. This allows for more flexibility rather than everyone feeling like they have to work on the exact same project.

I checked my sewing pattern stash, and ended up selecting the Phen Shirt as my starting pattern, so that I could show members how this pattern could be used creatively. It is a gorgeous silhouette, and I think it’ll be one I’ll reach for again and again.

Unfortunately the PDF version is no longer available to buy, but it is still possible to get paper copies elsewhere if you wanted to use this pattern too.

4. Design Sketches For Shirts

The next stage for my shirt project was to sketch out some ideas, using the visual research as gentle inspiration. The aim is not to recreate anything I found exactly, but to be inspired by it. This is something I was taught in fashion school.

I started by sketching basic silhouettes from the shirt patterns I was most drawn to, and then using those as a shirt design template. I prefer to do my rough design sketches on layout paper, but for the benefit of members, I did them in Procreate on my old iPad, it’s easier to upload with the blacks being properly black.

I start by sketching out quite obvious iterations which warms me up, and then I focus in on one element and play with that, before moving onto another. This helps me to design in a more natural and intuitive way.

5. Final Shirt Design

Once I have a few pages of design roughs, I narrow down to one or two designs that I like the most. I then set these aside and come back to them the following day.

I’m not certain that I’ll be pin tucking the front bib section – I quite like a more textural feel, but I’ll decide that after the fit test.

6. Creating The Shirt Pattern

The benefit of starting with an existing pattern in your stash is that a lot of it has been worked out in advance. I prefer to work with a self drafted block, but for the benefit of my members, I decided that using an existing pattern would be beneficial for this first project.

My next step is to work out:

• Which existing pattern pieces can be used as is
• Which need to be pattern hacked into new pieces
• Which needs to be drafted completely from scratch.

I have covered that inside the membership, so that members can see how I am approaching this project.

7. The Fit Test

It goes without saying that a new shirt design should be mocked up first and the fit tested, to make sure you’re not wasting your fashion fabric. Once the mock up has been fitted, we can then make modifications to the pattern.

I am making my shirt from a gorgeous red linen as it will be a nice addition to my Christmas day outfit, but will also work as a bright pop of colour throughout the year too.

Taking the pattern pieces created I’m currently mocking the shirt up in calico, and will pop a photo of it here once complete.

If you’d like to follow along in more detail, and make your own shirt as well – with my support and feedback – you can join my Creative Dressmaking membership right here!

I’ll follow up in a week or two with the finished shirt so you can see how it turned out!