A Front-Opening Men’s Tee and how it Came About

Jalie’s Mens Tee 2918 is a “basic” in my world.  I’ve made a number of them, both as teaching samples and ones to wear.  When a family member told me that her hubby got very chilled when having chemo due to the fact that he had to remove his tee-shirt to access the port in his chest, I thought, “you’ve reached out to the right person”.  

This is the first one I made, the fabric was from Fabricland.  It’s a heather green, and just happens to be his favourite colour!

My Front-Opening Men’s Tee Adapting Steps

Adapting the Front-Opening

His wife send me his measurements, and I made a straight AA with 1 inch added to the long sleeve length.  The back was cut on the fold as directed.  The sleeves were cut normally as was the neckband.  The fronts were NOT cut on the fold.  I cut 2 fronts with 2 inches added at the center front for a 1 1/2-inch self-faced opening. There is a 1-inch overlap.   Notice that the top of the facing is shaped to copy the shape of the original neckline.  The red arrows in my diagram indicate where I folded the facing to the inside. It’s 1/2-inch from the original center front and/or 1 1/2-inches from the cut edge.  Mark the center fronts at the neck edge to aid in placing the collar/neckband.

Adapting the Neckband for a Front-Opening

After cutting out the neckband, fold in half longways with wrong sides together. Trim the raw edge ends through both layers to form curves as shown.  Baste the raw edges together with a zig-zag stitch.  Mark the center at the basted edge to later match it to the center back.

Fuse on the Interfacing

I like to use a fusible knit interfacing cut on-the-grain (so not the stretchy way.)  Fuse 1 1/2-inch wide strips onto the wrong side of each front along the center front.(shown in black) and 1/2-inch wide strips to the seam allowance of the front shoulders. 

Then planning ahead, I cut strips of Heat n Bond Featherlite and fuse them to the hem allowance of both fronts, the back and the sleeve hems.  (shown in green in the diagram above) Leave the paper on for now.

Assembling the Front-Opening Men’s Tee

With right sides together join the shoulders, then press the seam allowance toward the back.  (The fused on interfacing makes it easy.)  Pin the collar (neck-band) to the right side of the neckline, matching the center back.  Stretch the neckband to fit the neckline, ending the points at the original center fronts.  The front extension is not included yet.  With the collar/neckband on top, sew it to the neckline, stretching it slightly.  

Fold the extension to the right side along the edge of the fusible interfacing enclosing the ends of the collar/neckband.  Sew through all the layers.

At the bottom of the fronts, fold the extension to the right side and sew it in place along the edge of the Heat n Bond.  Trim the hem of the extension and the corner as shown. Turn right side out and press to make a neat corner.

Insert the sleeves, then sew the sleeve/underarm seams.  Peel the paper of the Heat n Bond, fuse up the hems and stitch them using a twin needle, cover-stitch or a hem stitch.

Press the fronts, then top-stitch.  I started at the hem with the good side facing up, stitched 1-inch away from the front fold to the neckband/collar,  then pivoted and stitched close to the collar, then back down the other side of the front.

To close the front either make buttonholes and sew on buttons, or use plastic snaps like I did.  For guys the left side laps over the right side.  I used 6 snaps.

This was a true labour of love for me and I’m so glad I to have the skill set.  I hope that this post helps someone else adapt to a front-opening tee for someone they love.  If there’s something that needs clarification, please email me at yvettechilcott@yahoo.ca