Stripe Matching
How to match stripes on a classic t-shirt pattern - Yay!
I love wearing stripes and if you do too then knowing how to sew them is definitely a skill worth having in your sewing tool kit! Striped clothing seems to be timeless and while sewing them may take a little more time and patience, you’ll be rewarded with a garment which will never go out of style.
In this post I’ll walk you through how to match stripes on a classic t-shirt pattern, but you can use the tips and principles to help you make any stripy garment!
As with any pattern matching, one of my biggest tips is to only do it if you’re going to enjoy it. Sewing should be fun, so you want to make sure you’re going to enjoy the process. If you think that it might not be for you then you could stick to other fabric designs, or simply embrace having un-matched stripes!
It can be helpful to look at how stripes are sewn on shop bought clothes to get ideas on where to match stripes and also to set realistic expectations for your stripe matching. You might find that some of your ready to wear stripes are not all that perfectly matched! Try to be kind to yourself here and remember that no one else will be examining your seams so closely.
You can also try to minimise matching stripes where possible by cutting details like neckbands, cuffs, collars and pockets with stripes in the opposite direction to on your main garment. If you’re making a dress, you could cut the bodice with the stripes running in one direction (for example, with the grainline) and then have them running in the opposite direction on the skirt (with the cross grain). For woven fabrics you can also cut elements on the bias for a fun contrast - just bear in mind that these pieces might need stabilising afterwards.
Types of stripy fabric
Stripes can be seen on many different fabrics, though you do tend to find them a lot on knitted bases. They come in all sort of thicknesses and designs, and in general the wider your stripe is then the more important it is visually to get it to match. Very fine stripes can be almost impossible to match and will also be much less obvious if they don’t match.
In this blog post I’ll be using a fabric with horizontal stripes on it, but if you’re using a fabric with vertical stripes then you might also find some of the tips in my check matching blog useful.
How much fabric to buy?
When buying fabric, get more than you usually would to give yourself wiggle room. This will vary a bit from fabric to fabric, but I’d go with around 50cm. If you have an uneven stripe or a large scale repeat then you might want a little more, say 80cm - 1m.
How to match stripes
Using the True Bias Rio Ringer Tee as an example
Preparing your pattern
To prep your pattern pieces first it’s helpful to draw lines across them in the same direction as the stripes. I’m using a horizontal stripe here so I’ve drawn lines at 90 degrees to the grainline. They don’t need to be the same distance apart as the stripes on your fabric - we’ll just use them as a general guide. A quilting ruler can be really helpful when drawing on these lines.
Preparing your fabric and cutting out
- You will be cutting the fabric on the single layer so make sure it is pressed/ironed completely flat with no creases in it.
- I prefer to cut with the right side or outer side of the fabric facing up - if the stripes in your fabric are woven into them, there may not be an obvious right or wrong side, in which case just pick a side and be consistent.
- It’s best to cut the front of the garment first as it is visually the most important. You might notice I started with the back in this example, but as the front and back are almost identical on this pattern it had no impact on the stripe matching.
- For any square/rectangular pieces, it might be easier to not use the pattern pieces and instead cut along the stripes and measure the width/length you need
Cutting the front pattern piece
Start near to the selvedge so you have enough room to flip the pattern piece (if it needs to be cut on the fold). Place the bottom corner of the side seam on a dominant line. Make sure that the centre front of the pattern piece is at a right angle to the stripes. You can then use your drawn guide lines to check that the stripes are straight across the pattern piece - they should be hitting the same point of your stripe on either side of the piece.
If the bottom of your pattern piece is straight then it should sit flat on a stripe, but otherwise it will dip down a little. Have a think about what the finished hem will look like when you sew it and therefore where you want the stripes.
Pin your pattern piece in place. You could put pins across the fold line to remind yourself not to cut down here. I also like to put a pin at the centre front at the top and bottom of the pattern piece, so I know where to flip it over in the next step.
...
Cut around the perimeter of the pattern piece but not down the centre front. Take off the pattern piece and flip the cut fabric over. You want to roll it down onto the uncut fabric to match the stripes.
If your pattern has a centre front seam instead then you’ll first cut all the way around your pattern piece before flipping the cut piece over. You’ll then end up with two separate pieces.
When you flip your fabric over you can double check the shaping is right by putting the original pattern piece back on. You should find your cut piece disappears into the fabric when you flip!
Cut the second half out, remembering not to cut down the fold line. At this point make sure any notches are marked on both sides.
Cutting out the back piece
For the back, we’ll cut out flat and flip the fabric piece over, as we did on the front. Here though we want to make sure that the stripes are matching up across the side seam so positioning is important.
When placing the back piece onto the fabric, align the bottom side seam corner with the same dominant seam as the front. If your side seams are exactly the same length (there are no darts and no easing in the front) then the stripes should match all the way up to the armhole. If there’s a dart on the front at the bust then just match the stripes below it and down to the hem.
Again, make sure that your centre line is perpendicular to a stripe and pin all the way round as you did before, marking the top and bottom of the centre fold line with pins.
As with your front piece, cut around your pattern piece, but don’t cut down the centre back if it’s meant to be cut on the fold.
Again, you’ll then remove your pattern piece and flip the fabric over to cut the second side out. Remember to mark those notches again!
Cutting out the sleeves
Due to the shaping of the sleeve, it can be very difficult to get any stripes to match here. Sometimes you might find you can get one to match, but I prefer to make sure that the stripes on the main piece of the sleeve match with the bodice when I put my arms down.
To do this, line up the underarm with the same point as on the front bodice. You might also find that the lower notches on the sleeve match with the one on the bodice now too. If the sleeve hem is straight then make sure this is level with the stripes
Pin into position and then check that any guide lines on the pattern are straight horizontally before pinning in place and cutting out.
Once you’ve cut out one sleeve, remove the pattern piece and flip the cut sleeve over to cut the second side out (so you’re cutting a mirrored pair). Again, the first sleeve should pretty much disappear into the fabric here! Remember to mark all your notches again.
Cutting the neckband or other bands
When you’re cutting your neckband, first work out what you want to be in the middle of your neckband after you’ve sewn it. Your neckband will get folded in half along the length once sewn, so you could fold the paper pattern piece in half to find the middle if this helps. In this example I was aiming to get a white stripe running along the middle of the neckband once sewn.
I like to use the stripes to cut along to get my neckband nice and straight. Start off cutting with the pattern piece but then continue cutting along the stripes until it’s the length you want. This piece is often designed to be cut on the fold, so remember to take account of this when measuring your length.
Cutting other elements
If you have a detail like a pocket you can lay the pattern piece at the marks on your bodice to see what stripes it lines up with. The Rio Tee doesn’t have a pocket but I borrowed one from another pattern and used the markings from that one to work out the position.
To match the stripes on the pocket I folded the top hemmed edge back towards myself and drew the seam allowance on the back. I then matched up these with the positioning markings on the bodice and folded the top hem flat again. Then draw the stripes onto the pattern piece or take a photo to use as reference.
You can then use this marked pattern piece to line up with your fabric stripes when cutting out the pocket.
Sewing a striped garment
Cutting out the fabric is where most of the work is done when stripe matching. You should find it then sews together pretty easily!
To help keep the stripes aligned when you sew it helps to use a walking foot if you have one. This makes sure the top and bottom layers of the fabric are fed through at the same time and the stripes don’t shift.
For most accuracy, pin each or every other stripe. Double check that your pins are in the same position on both sides (so here, my pins are right on the edge of the stripe on both the front and back of the seam). Sew right up to each pin before taking them out
Take your time when pinning and sewing and you’ll soon find yourself with a beautifully matched stripy garment! Hooray!