Tutorial

So after trying to make it all pretty, I've pretty much given up. I despise GIMP with a burning passion of a thousand suns and hope it burns in hell.

So I guess I'll just post the photo's and what I usually do underneath it.

What you'll need:

• measuring tape
• scissors
• thread (preferably one that matches your shirt) 
• old shirt/fabric (I enjoy slightly stretchy material but your mileage may very)

First measure from his shoulder to wherever you want his shirt to end. I like mine a little long so I went with 5 1/2 inches. This will be smaller if you're adding a hem but since I was using the hem of the shirt I didn't need to compensate.

Next measure around his waist/chest. I measured this at 3.6 inches wide, but the shirt I ended up making was really tight so I'd suggest going with 4.5/4.6 inches so it can easily slide over pants.

Then I just like to drape it over the doll to get a feel for where it's going to sit.

I usually both pieces together so I can gauge where the arm holes are going to be and I cut a little notch out.

From the bottom of the arm hole to the hem is about 4.6 inches. Once I have the arm hole notches, I sew up the sides with the 'good side' facing each other. I tend to keep my thumb right next to where I want the next stitch to go to get small stitches. It doesn't really matter how neat your stitching is because chances are you're not going to see it anyway, it's just that close stitches gives you a tighter stitch so there aren't any gaps between the fabric.

Once that's done it's time to cut out a neck hole. I usually take my guys' head's off to get shirts on because I think it just looks nicer but if you wanted to you could make the back piece just an inch bigger and cut it down the middle to sew on some velcro. I usually use my thumb as a reference but you could always put the shirt on your doll and snip a little bit where the neck hole is for a better fit.

Once you've got the hole cut out, fold the edge over and hem it. This is where the small stitches really comes in handy if you're using a different thread than that of your fabric. It's time consuming but really worth it.

Once I finish hemming the neck hole, I sew up the top of the arm holes and pop it on whichever doll I'm sewing for so I can see how it looks while it's on.

Then I start on the sleeves and measure from the shoulder down to his wrist/wherever I want the sleeve to end and around his bicep. So it would be 6 inches long and 2.6 wide. If you wanted to be able to fit other shirts under this one, just at and inch or two around.

Once they're cut out, I sew them up. Make sure to leave a little space at the top so you can make a little angled cut so the sleeves fit better into the arm holes. Then I put the arms on to see how they fall and if I need to cut any excess off.

I usually put my arm pieces over my shirt piece and cut the angle that way so it matches each side.

After I cut the angles off I match the sides I've sew with the arm and the sides I've sew with the body and sew up the arm holes. Makes sure you're always checking to see that your fabric stretches right and that it matches up with the point being at the top.

And viola! You've just sewed your very first shirt!