hacking guide: simple button up box top
Hi friends! Here’s a very handy new hack for the All Well Box Top sewing pattern, our best-selling and already super-versatile sewing pattern, to make it be able to transform into even more garments to fill holes in your closet! This hack is for the very simplest button-up shirt with sleeves that are slightly gathered at the wrist and a banded collar. It takes just a little bit of self-drafting and a few new skills and you’ll be able to make it in no time! A few thoughts and tips before we start!
To sew this pattern, you’ll need the base pattern and instructions for the All Well Box Top — you can buy it here, and we promise it’s a super versatile pattern that you’ll get lots of use out of! We recommend that you sew the basic version of the box top first before you try this hack.
This hack isn’t written with super-detailed instructions — it is a hack after all — so you will need some basic sewing knowledge to begin with. Lots of additional instructions and more detailed hacks are available in the original All Well Box Top pattern!
If you’re looking for a perfectly tailored button-up with buttoned cuffs and a traditional collar, then you may want to look for a full pattern. We went with the very simplest version of a button up shirt that you can draft at home without any steps that are too detailed or complicated.
This tutorial shows you how to make a slightly gathered sleeve, though you could also use the normal sleeve!
First, you’ll have to do some light self-drafting, so grab some big pieces of paper, a pencil, and your original Box Top pattern pieces in your size. You’ll need the mid-length body pieces and the long sleeve piece.
On the front pattern piece, you’ll trace the pattern, raising and adjusting the neckline as pictured, and extending the fabric beyond the fold-line to provide fabric to make your button bands!
You can cut along the front fold now (adjusted!) to make two pieces instead of one!
On the back pattern piece, adjust the neckline as pictured, and trace the rest.
The gathered sleeve is the most significant drafting you’ll have to do. Follow the steps in the image — first trace the stop shoulder seam edge, then pivot the top left corner down 1/2” and trace the foldline and draw the seamline straight down, parallel from the foldline. Then connect the foldline and seamline to make the wrist line! Look at the images for this one, they’ll help you a lot!
A little more light drafting — you’ll need to make some strips that are 2.5” wide for the neckline band and the wrist cuffs. You’ll want the strips for the wrists to be the same length of the original pattern’s wrists plus 1/4” of seam allowance. For the neckline, just make sure you have a pretty long strip.
Sew the front and back body pieces and the sleeves normally, according to the pattern instructions. Make sure you cut along the front fold to make the opening for the button up.
Along each front opening, make a double fold toward the wrong side by folding and pressing 1/2”, then 1”, then edgestitch along the fold to form simple button bands.
Grab your neckline band 2.5” strip and line it up with the raw neckline edge so that it is centered and there’s at least 1/2” of extra fabric hanging off each edge. Sew the band to the neckline using a 1/4” seam allowance.
Press the top edge of the neckline band 1/4” down toward the wrong side, then press that edge down again to meet the seamline. Fold the side edges in to tuck them in, and press. Sew along that bottom edge to attach and close the neckline band, then sew along the sides and top edge to make things even more secure.
Sew your wrist cuff strips into a circle with right sides together, using a 1/4” seam allowance. Then, gather the raw wrist edges to the same size as the wrist cuff using two lines of loose basting stitches (more gathering instructions in the All Well Box Top Hacking Guide!). With right sides together, sew the wrist cuff to the gathered edge with a 1/4” seam allowance. Then, press the top edge of the wrist cuff toward the wrong side 1/4”, then press that edge down to the seamline to close the cuff. Edgestitch along the bottom edge and then the top edge. Repeat for other wrist.
Finishing touches! Hem the bottom edge using a double fold — 1/2” first, then 1” toward the wrong side, then edgestitch along the fold. After the hem, all you have to do is add your buttons and buttonholes. The amount of buttons and how you place them is entirely up to you, but I recommend you use at least 5 buttons to prevent gaping.
Hooray! You did it! Share what you made on instagram using the hashtag #allwellboxtophack! We can’t wait to see what you make! Feel free to tweak it to make it your own — that’s the spirit of hacking!