How-to-Sew: Chill Shirt for Articulated Ken Dolls

Welcome to another how-to post, my dollings!

This time we are making our dearest Ken his CHILL SHIRT.

I call this Chill Shirt because it's meant to be a relaxed piece in our Ken's wardrobe.

It is also super simple to make, compared to our long-sleeved formal shirt version.

Okay, if you are ready to craft, let's get started!

Tools and Materials

Woven fabric (light to medium weight)

Hand sewing needle or machine

Matching thread

Basting thread (contrasting color)

Fabric scissors

Pinking shears (optional)

Thread cutter or small scissors

Tweezer

Seam ripper

Interfacing (optional)

Snaps/ Hook and Eye / Velcro or any closure material

Sewing Pattern (I used my own here, available at my Etsy shop)

Note the notches along the neckline - that's where your collar ends.

Alright! Let's get to sewing!

Step 1 

Trace your pattern pieces on the wrong side of your chosen fabric, apply an anti-fray product (optional), decide on the seam allowance to be added and cut.

Notes

* It helps that you mark the back or front part of the sleeve pieces so you don't get confused later.

* Also mark the two front panels' neckline notch, which is where your collar piece should end. 

Step 2 

Take your two collar pieces, let them face each other, and sew the edges except for the bottom part, which you will attach to the bodice.

Step 3 

Trim off extra seam allowance to reduce bulk. Cut slits or use pinking shears on the curvy edges like the top part.

Step 4 

Using a tweezer, flip your collar piece to its right side and press to flatten the seam edges.

Step 5 

Take your sleeve fabric pieces and hem the edges.

Step 6 

Cut slits along the curvy edges of the sleeve pieces.

Step 7

Take your two front panels and the back panel, and join the shoulder seams.

Step 8

Cut slits along the curvy edges of the neckline and armscyes.

Step 9

Take your two sleeve pieces, and align the back or front part of each sleeve to the back or front parts of the front and back shirt panels. 

Step 10

Just before joining the sleeve seams, I like to baste around the actual seams so they don't move around while I sew.

Step 11

Carefully sew the sleeve seams.

Step 12

Take your collar piece and pin-baste to the neckline of the shirt.

Step 13

Find the front panel's centerfold mark, and fold the fabric so that the rest of it will join the collar at the neckline. 

Pin-baste to secure.

Note. The front panel folds and ends at the shoulder seams.

Step 14

Fold and pin the hem corners as well.

Step 15

Sew on the actual neckline seam.

Step 16

Trim off extra neck seam allowance to reduce bulk.

Step 17

Stitch on the corner hems horizontally.

Step 18

Using a tweezer, flip your hem corner to its right side.

Step 19

Stitch the upper edges of the front shirt panels to the shoulder seam allowance to secure.

Step 20

Align your side seams and pin to secure.

Step 21

Sew the actual side seams.

Step 22

Press open the underarm seam allowance and stitch to secure.

Step 23

Hem the bottom of your shirt.

Step 24

Sew in your metal snap or hook-and-eye sets to give the garment a closure system.

And you're done!

Here goes Hans wearing this Chill Shirt.

It may not look like it, but he likes it a lot!

I hope this tutorial inspires you to make your Ken doll more shirts in the future, dollings!

You can also tweak some of the measurements to give this pattern a new twist!

I'll probably try this on my gal dolls and maybe they'd like one, too!

In the meantime, I'm gonna go ahead and continue developing another pattern for our dolls, okay?

I hope you had a wonderful time!

By the way, the Youtube version of this tutorial is also now up HERE.

I hope you can check it out, too!

Thank you again, loves and much love from the Philippine islands!

Shasha