Adapted from Issue 14 of Cloth magazine (out of print)
You will need:
- Large shirt, ideally with double cuff - I used my dad's which is from M&S and size 41cm 16in
- Buttons of various colours that are the same shape as the ones on the shirt
- Elastic
- Unpicker
- Sewing machine
- Matching thread
- Pins
- Hand needle
How to:
(1) Remove the pocket from the shirt if it has one (mine did not) with the unpicker
(2) Place on a tailor's dummy or a helpful friend and button up
(3) Mark the start and end of five to seven pin tucks (depending on the size of shirt) either side of the front using pins. Make them 1cm apart and 25cm long from the shoulder seam.
(4) Press so that the start and end line up and pin in place. Sew 0.5cm from the fold.
(5) Repeat until all tucks are sewn.
(6) Press towards sleeves on both sides.
(7) Top stitch up the centre front of the shirt from the hemline (for about 10cm) to close up the bottom of the shirt.
(8) Lay flat and cut the back level with the front (men's shirts are longer at the back).
(9) Unpick the rest of the hem at the bottom and even out the cutting out. Cut a few small notches along the bottom.
(10) Fold a 2cm double hem and press. Sew closely to the folded over edge.
(11) Measure the hem, divide by four, and cut two pieces of elastic this length.
(12) Pin the centre of one piece of elastic over one side seam (on the inside)
(13) Stretch to middle of the front and zigzag stitch in place. This is quite difficult, so if you find that it helps you can add some tacking to the original pin, then tack the end in place. Then you can half the rest, and tack half way along, and keep halving the sections until most of it is laid out.
(14) Stretch the other side to the middle of the back and repeat the sewing
(15) Repeat these stages with the other piece of elastic on the other side seam.
(16) Unpick every other button. Replace with the buttons that you picked. I personally loved the yellow colour contrasting with the blue of my shirt.
(17) Cut the cuffs off of the sleeves
(18) Sew a narrow double hem at the bottom of the sleeves, so that the sleeves could still be worn down.
(19) Cut one cuff in half lengthways. Turn under the raw edges, press, and top stitch all around. If a single cuff, then allocate one cuff per tab instead of half.
(20) Turn sleeves inside out. Machine one 'tab' to each arm, about halfway down.
(21) Turn right way around. Roll sleeves up to required depth and add a button to the outer sleeve. Repeat for other sleeve. Therefore the button hole from the cuff (now a tab) can be used to roll up the sleeves!
