A button-up shirt is a woven shirt that opens all the way down the front, with a collar sewn to a stand, a yoke across the shoulders and long sleeves finished with buttoned cuffs. Depending on the fabric and a few details, it is the oxford, the flannel shirt, the denim shirt or the dress shirt. Sewly drafts it from your bust or chest, neck, shoulders and arm length, so the collar sits at your neck and the cuffs end at your wrist.
Button-up shirt options
Every option redraws the pattern instantly, without using any AI:
- Collar: a shirt collar on a stand, with classic (the default), spread, long, rounded or button-down points and a collar size from 70 to 150 %. A band (mandarin) or camp collar are options too.
- Front: a box placket (default), a plain folded front or hidden buttons. The buttons are spaced for you at 11 mm (7/16 in), or you set their number and size.
- Back: a straight yoke with a small pleat on each side (default), a box or inverted pleat at the center back, or no pleat. The yoke can be curved or pointed for a western shirt, and a front yoke can be added.
- Sleeves: long with tower plackets and buttoned cuffs (default), or short, elbow or three-quarter, with a sleeve length adjustment and optional roll-up tabs.
- Fit: fitted, regular (default), relaxed or oversized, plus extra chest ease from 6 cm (2 3/8 in) closer to 30 cm (12 in) roomier.
- Length and hem: below the seat with a curved shirttail hem by default, from cropped to knee length, curved or straight.
- Pockets: one chest patch pocket with angled corners (default), two, or none, with or without a buttoned flap.
- Topstitching: automatic, gold contrast, matching thread or none.
Made to measure or a standard size
Use your own measurements or a standard size: women's EU 32–54 (US 0–22, UK 4–26), men's XS to 3XL, or children's 2 to 14 years. Women's shirts get bust darts; men's and children's are shaped without them. The buttonholes go on the right front for women and on the left front for men, as worn. Your neck, shoulder width and arm length refine the collar and sleeves.
Best fabrics for a button-up shirt
Crisp, light to medium wovens: cotton poplin, oxford cloth, chambray, flannel, linen, cotton lawn, seersucker or denim shirting. Poplin and oxford press well and hold a sharp collar, which makes them the easiest to start with. Plaid flannel needs pattern matching across the fronts and the pocket, so buy a little extra.
How hard is it to sew?
A project for confident sewists. No single step is hard, but there are many precise ones: flat-felled seams, a double yoke sewn with the burrito method, a collar on a stand, two tower plackets, cuffs and a row of buttonholes. Allow 10 to 12 hours for a first shirt.
What's in the pattern
- Two fronts with the placket folds cut on, and a back cut on the fold
- Back yoke, cut twice: the outer yoke and the inner yoke that hides the seams
- Collar and collar stand, each cut twice, with their interfacing
- Two sleeves, each with a tower placket and an underlap
- Four cuff pieces: two outer, interfaced, and two inner
- Chest pocket
Notions: 11 mm (7/16 in) buttons, about nine for an adult shirt (front, collar stand and cuffs), light shirt-weight fusible interfacing and two spools of topstitching thread. The guide lists every piece with its cut count, the notions with their quantities, the fabric quantity for 110, 140 and 150 cm (45, 55 and 60 in) wide fabric, and a cutting layout.
How to sew a button-up shirt
- Fuse the interfacing, set the machine up for topstitching and practice a flat-felled seam on scraps.
- Staystitch the neckline and, on a women's shirt, sew the bust darts.
- Fold and edgestitch the box placket, then sew on the chest pocket.
- Fold the back pleats and attach the double yoke, enclosing the shoulder seams.
- Make the collar, sew it between the two stand pieces and attach the stand to the neckline.
- Sew the tower plackets, set the sleeves in flat and sew each side and sleeve seam in one pass.
- Make and attach the cuffs, then sew a narrow 1 cm (3/8 in) hem around the shirttail.
- Make the buttonholes, sew on the buttons and press.
Our posts on sewing a tower placket, the burrito yoke and flat-felled seams cover the techniques that make a shirt look finished.
Frequently asked questions
How much fabric do I need for a button-up shirt?
A long-sleeved adult shirt usually takes 1.5 to 2.1 m (1 3/4 to 2 3/8 yd) of 140 to 150 cm (55 to 60 in) wide fabric, depending on the size, and about 2.1 to 2.5 m (2 3/8 to 2 3/4 yd) of 110 cm (45 in) wide fabric. A child's shirt needs much less. Sewly computes the exact quantity for your size and fabric width, with a cutting layout.
Can I make an oxford, western or work shirt with it?
Yes. Choose button-down collar points for an oxford; pointed front and back yokes with long collar points for a western shirt, with snaps instead of buttons if you like; or two chest pockets with buttoned flaps for a work shirt.
Is there a short-sleeved version?
Yes, set the sleeves to short. For a relaxed short-sleeved shirt with an open collar, the camp shirt starts with the right defaults.
Is this shirt pattern free?
Making the pattern, changing every option and measurement, the 3D preview and the sewing guide on screen are free. Printing the PDF needs a Maker plan ($7.99 a month or $59 a year) or an Atelier plan.
