How-To: Making pullover-type shirts in 1:6

This is probably one of the EASIEST garments to make in 1:6, for those flexing their tailoring skills for the first time. We can always cover a button-front shirt another time.

WARNING:
DO TRY THIS AT HOME!!
YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE A PROFESSIONAL TO GET GOOD RESULTS! (Given the overall skill level of the members here, your results will be better than mine!)
THE ONLY THING YOU NEED TO FEAR IS: forgetting the name of the guy whose famous quote began with those same words.

TO BEGIN WITH:
A wide selection of materials is available in “fat quarters” bins in the quilting section of most fabric stores. I like to choose THIN fabrics with a small pattern (the smaller, the more in-scale it appears).
If you can’t find any, ASK the sales ladies, they know what is in their store far better than you. (that’s how I came across this item, and it was on sale to boot - thanks, Tanya!)!
https://www.onesixthwarriors.com/photo/data/513/1312004-05-30_100_.jpg
NOTE: If in doubt about the scale, and measure out six cycles of the pattern - you'll have a better idea how big it would be in 1:1.

(A brief word about patterns: a generic, “How to make patterns for 1:6 uniforms” could be a tutorial in itself, and beyond the scope of this article. One quick and easy way to make a pattern is to “deconstruct/disassemble” an existing garment, utilizing those pieces for your pattern. However for argument’s sake, let’s presume a pattern already exists… Much like a Tarantino movie let’s just jump right into the action…)


1. Begin at the beginning:
If you’re going to cut one shirt, you might as well cut for two:
* If a cut piece is lost, you have a replacement ready
* You can discolor or re-dye the second garment for variety
* There’s not much else you can do with a piece of fabric this size, so you might as well…
Fold the cloth in half. Cut the front, back and sleeves along the grain of the fabric. Cut the collar, cuffs & plackets (or any other sections that will be stressed) against the grain.
(TIP: One easy way to tell the direction of the grain of a cloth: take a cut edge and pull on the threads. If it comes apart easily, then those threads run the length of the grain; if it doesn’t, then it’s running against the grain.)
With this fabric, I use the squares on the cloth like a grid – it will help out as a guide while cutting. I make all my cuts at this point, including shirt front cutout for plackets (the fold of fabric along the opening at the neck where the buttons/buttonholes overlap).
(TIP: Label all pieces on the back in pencil because small parts ARE easy to mix-up.)
https://www.onesixthwarriors.com/photo/data/513/1312004-05-30_101_.jpg
https://www.onesixthwarriors.com/photo/data/513/1312004-05-30_102_.jpg
https://www.onesixthwarriors.com/photo/data/513/1312004-05-30_103_.jpg

2. Start with the most difficult section – Shirt front:
Run a stitch line along the length of the placket (keeps it from shifting later)
https://www.onesixthwarriors.com/photo/data/513/1312004-05-30_104_.jpg
Shift the placket slightly up or down, so that the squares match. Then run another stitch line to sew it in place (REM: use the grid to keep the seams straight)
https://www.onesixthwarriors.com/photo/data/513/1312004-05-30_105_.jpg
This picture shows the right placket in place; it gets folded over towards the left, and tucked inside. The left placket is next and gets folded over towards the right. The excess gets folded under/trimmed, and (either by hand or machine) tacked in place with an “X”
https://www.onesixthwarriors.com/photo/data/513/1312004-05-30_106_.jpg
(NOTE: If the finished plackets are left-side over the right-side you’re over the biggest hurdle; if it’s right-side over the left-side, finish it anyway – you can always use it for your “Rosengirlte Baumgartner action figure (not doll).”)

3. Sleeves:
Take the long strip that will become the cuffs and fold it in half lengthwise. Match up and pin it to the sleeves. Pinch off ¼ inch total for pleats (NOTE: Pleats on these old-style men’s pullover shirts ALWAYS goes to the back. The pleat also helps you distinguish R sleeve from L.)
https://www.onesixthwarriors.com/photo/data/513/1312004-05-30_112_.jpg
https://www.onesixthwarriors.com/photo/data/513/1312004-05-30_113_.jpg
Run a stitch line across the edge, using the grid to keep the seam straight.
https://www.onesixthwarriors.com/photo/data/513/1312004-05-30_114_.jpg
https://www.onesixthwarriors.com/photo/data/513/1312004-05-30_115_.jpg
Now is a good time to iron the pleats and cuffs flat
https://www.onesixthwarriors.com/photo/data/513/1312004-05-30_117_.jpg
(TIP: cuffs come out neater that way; looks more to scale when finished)
https://www.onesixthwarriors.com/photo/data/513/1312004-05-30_116_.jpg

4. Pocket:
Cut an oversized square for the pocket; fold it and trim to shape. Since for this exercise I chose to match up the pattern for an angled pocket, it’s time to bring out the “Fray-check (or any brand of colorless fabric adhesive – NOT “Fabri-tac”),” and tack the top and bottom in place. Iron it flat, then run a seam across the top of the pocket
https://www.onesixthwarriors.com/photo/data/513/1312004-05-30_107_.jpg
https://www.onesixthwarriors.com/photo/data/513/1312004-05-30_108_.jpg
Fold, trim, and iron it flat.
https://www.onesixthwarriors.com/photo/data/513/1312004-05-30_109_.jpg
Pin the pocket in place, so that it matches up.
https://www.onesixthwarriors.com/photo/data/513/1312004-05-30_110_.jpg
Hand- or machine-stitch the pocket in place.
https://www.onesixthwarriors.com/photo/data/513/1312004-05-30_111_.jpg
(WHOOPS!!! That picture was supposed to be in focus folks, sorry!)

5. Stitch Front & Back Together:
Place the front and back together (with the insides facing out), and run a seam along the TOP of the shoulders.
https://www.onesixthwarriors.com/photo/data/513/1312004-05-30_118_.jpg
https://www.onesixthwarriors.com/photo/data/513/1312004-05-30_119_.jpg
https://www.onesixthwarriors.com/photo/data/513/1312004-05-30_120_.jpg
At this stage the shirt seems to be HUGE; if it does, then that is a GOOD sign that it will fit when done.

6. Collar:
On the reverse side of the fabric – fold the collar in half and run a stitch line lengthwise along the TOP seam of the collar as you did for the plackets. Turn it inside out and place it, bottom-end-up, along the collar edge. Run a seam along the edge to keep it in place; the top shoulder seams go towards the back..
https://www.onesixthwarriors.com/photo/data/513/1312004-05-30_122_.jpg
https://www.onesixthwarriors.com/photo/data/513/1312004-05-30_121_.jpg

7. Sleeves (again):
Sew the sleeves along the shoulder curve (REM: the pleats face towards the back on this one)
https://www.onesixthwarriors.com/photo/data/513/1312004-05-30_123_.jpg
https://www.onesixthwarriors.com/photo/data/513/1312004-05-30_125_.jpg
[I]TIP: After this step, you can touch-up the shoulder seams if you’d like, with a steam iron.[I]

8. APPROACHING THE FINISH LINE:
Fold the item in half (outsides facing in); sew the side seams beginning at the cuffs, and going towards the shirt bottom.
https://www.onesixthwarriors.com/photo/data/513/1312004-05-30_126_.jpg
https://www.onesixthwarriors.com/photo/data/513/1312004-05-30_127_.jpg
Turn the shirt inside out:
https://www.onesixthwarriors.com/photo/data/513/1312004-05-30_128_.jpg
https://www.onesixthwarriors.com/photo/data/513/1312004-05-30_129_.jpg
A final seam along the bottom to hem the shirt – AND YOU’RE DONE!!!
https://www.onesixthwarriors.com/photo/data/513/1312004-05-30_130_.jpg

A couple of final images:
https://www.onesixthwarriors.com/photo/data/513/1312004-05-30_132_.jpg
https://www.onesixthwarriors.com/photo/data/513/1312004-05-30_133_.jpg

At this stage, there are a couple of adjustments I’ll make note of for future production:
* Decrease the height of the collar by 1/16th to 1/8th of an inch before sewing it in place.
* Hand-sew to pocket slightly more towards the midline (even though there were variations in pocket placement, I just think it looks neater that way)

Finally, the buttons and buttonholes will be hand-made to 1:6 scale; But as the narrator said at the end of the Conan movie, “That is another story…(or another article)”

Just a brief historical note about this style of garment:
During the American Civil War, the individual states provided the uniforms, but the soldiers (especially in the Southern States) often wore homemade checkered shirts.
When fabric was scarce, they were made from blankets, or whatever material was at hand. There’s certain poignancy about the fact that these shirts were made by mothers for their sons, by daughters for their fathers, by sisters for their brothers, and by wives and sweethearts for their beloved, to wear into battle.
Rarely, were any two shirts exactly alike in pattern, and in some cases, it was the only way to identify a fallen soldier.
For the soldier, it was perhaps his only memento from home; a connection with his loved ones. An interesting fact is that I’ve read many different accounts where the dead were scavenged for weapons, ammunition, shoes, and pants, but NEVER for shirts.

I am one of those folks who prefers to display ACW figures “in battle-line” formation, and one of the shortcomings of the uniforms sets for this purpose is the ironic uniformity of the checkered shirt!! That’s what prompted me initially to re-create 1:6 scale models of this item, in a variety of cloth (NOT doll clothing). Since the “pullover” style was very popular at the time, as well as easy to make, I initially focused on the construction of this type.

Hope you guys enjoyed this, esp. my fellow ACW collectors/customizers. (Yes that was a custom-made wool Union sack coat). For those of you seeking to make WW2 Soviet “gymnastroika” tunics, the construction is almost identical (2 vertical pockets instead of 1 angled pocket)

If this article was useful to you, let me know.

NumberSix: That is an awesome tutorial!!! I could not have done better myself!! Thanks so much, now you just added something else for me to do. I already have boots (I am obssessed and work on new boots almost daily), and I am have been trying my hand at weathering as of late (wasted a few figures, believe me). am wanting to try and add working buttons to things, now this!!! I need to take my meds :grinroll. On a more serious note, I think these would be very cool, to add some working buttons to (please see previously obssessed item adding working buttons), thanks very much for sharing this,

Excellent man
well done

Outstanding! Thanks for taking the time to put that together for us,I really appreciate it.

I sincerely appreciate all of the work you put into making this tutorial and developing the method. I plan to make a few shirts for some of my modern soldiers. I think all I will need to change is the pocket placement and maybe add a longer placket to make it look like a complete button up shirt.

Thank you again very much!!!

wow what great skills.... with that you can do wonders in the 1.6 world man!

What is really at issue here, I think, is not this awesome and to the point tutorial, but the fact that some members of this board (not I) know what a placket is :grinroll

pla...cket? *duhhhh*
:)

THANK you for this tutorial. wow, it's amazing how something inside out looks so ugly compared to it's proper outside-in form, eh?
lovely work, and i will definitely be utilizing this for my own projects. thank you for all the work you put into it!

if you're not going to do a button tutorial, i should be putting one up soon (right Brett? ;)).
it'll be absolutely nothing compared to this, though!

Thanks, numbrsix !

Great job, Numbersix. I think that will help alot of people.

CC

OSW Administrator;

ARCHIVE THIS! :thumb

That's an insane level of skill right there.

you're the man!!!

Nice tutoral, now all I have to do is learn how to sew..

super tutorial, #6
You have shared a lot of very useful information.
It is going to take my brain a while to digest this.
please archive!

And what were you saying about a custom wool sack coat?

AWE SOME.

Thanks for such a wonderful resource.

Oh, and...it's President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, I believe. ;)

Thanks.
Thanks.
Thanks.
Thanks...

Will do, basx. I think that was a forgone conclusion, given the amazing job Numbrsix has done here. This looks rife with possibilities.

Numbrsix, you are most definitely Da Man.

simply amazing...! give that man a beer!!!

Folks:

Thanks for the kind words! Just glad some of you found it useful.
I've been working on a couple of new items, and I'm looking forward to getting some more time to write another "chapter."

Thanks for the encouragement. I hope more folks will give 1:6 tailoring a serious try - it's not that hard and I'm sure your finished efforts will probably be better than mine. :)

This is an outstanding tuitorial.

Clear and easy to follow. Numbersix, you have done an increadable job in showing how to sew a complex garment. I thought that this was archived somewhere but belive it isn't. If not could I urge the admins to please, please archive this beautiful work straight away. I just recieved a 1925 Singer and have been looking for this post for ages tonight to break the old dear in.

Thanks again Numbersix for your efforts.

Dan

now that's neat. I think I might have to give it a shot some day.