I went shopping recently and was thrilled to see Bat Winged shirts in style! I absolutely love these shirts because they have such an effortless ease about them. You can dress it up or down and still be comfortable. As a busy mom, comfort is pretty much what I live for. However, when I saw the price tag, that comfort immediately disappeared. These shirts are so easy to make, I see no reason to dish out hard earned money for one at the department store. You don’t even need a pattern!
To make this shirt, I used some fashion jersey I found on clearance. If you have never worked with knits before, I assure you it is a piece of cake! The trick to jersey is using a ball point needle, lots of pins, and what I like to refer to as the jersey-shake-and-pat. Jersey will cling to itself, making it difficult to lie out and fold. So to get the jersey to match up, matching up two top corners and shake it until the crinkles are out. When you have it lying down on the table and you need to get the bumps and wrinkles out, just pat around on the fabric until it lays flat. Easy as pie.
Supplies
•1 yard of jersey (1 ½ for plus size)
•Tailors chalk or water soluble pen
•Oval bowl
•Trim for collar (optional)
Before you begin, prewash fabric and press
Step 1. Fold fabric right sides together. Find an oval bowl that is about 10 inches long, give or take an inch or two. Place in the middle of fabric at the fold. Trace half of the bowl to make collar. *If you want a smaller collar, use a smaller bowl*
Step 2. Repeat, but about an inch from fold. Cut on this line through both layers of fabric. Cut along the first line, but only through the top layer. It should look like this when finished.
Step 3. Measure across your stomach at the navel, add 2 inches, and mark measurement on fabric as the side seams. So if across your waist you are 18 inches, then the width of your markings should be 20 inches from side seam to side seam. Make sure to line up the middle of your navel (for example at 9 inches) with the middle of the collar. At the side seam, make a straight vertical line (about 14inches), then curve it out to make a bat wing sleeve on both sides. Pin fabric in place. Sew with a straight stitch using a ballpoint needle.
Step 4. Cut off the excess fabric following the side seam.
Step 5. Turn fabric at collar under to make a hem. Sew on trim.
Step 6. You can hem your sleeves and bottom of shirt if you want to. Jersey doesn’t fray, so you can skip this step. I just turned the fabric under about ½ an inch for my hems.
The simplistic shape of a bat winged T gives you the flexibility to dress it up with any kind of embellishment or trim. I used a zipper trim for my collar, but some beaded trim would look awesome at the collar too. Or you could cut up the sleeves into fringe to get a rocker look! Maybe sew on some sequence. Time to get creative!
