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Sew-Alongs
Sombrio Polo Sew-Along: Day 1 - Brief History of the Polo Shirt & what you need to make your own!
Have you ever wondered about the history behind the classic polo shirt? The polo shirt, also known as a tennis shirt or golf shirt, has a rich history that dates back to the early 20th century.
Origins in India
The polo shirt goes back to the sport of polo, which originated in India in the 19th century. British soldiers in India, during the colonial period, were introduced to the game of polo by the locals. The soldiers adopted the sport and its attire, including the comfortable and breathable polo shirt and brought the polo shirt back home.
Rise to Popularity
As the sport of polo gained popularity in England and other parts of the world, so did the polo shirt. Famous French tennis player René Lacoste popularized the polo shirt in the 1920s. Lacoste, known for his style and innovative approach to sportswear, created a short-sleeved, piqué cotton shirt with a buttoned placket and a soft collar. This design was a departure from the traditional long-sleeved, button-up shirts worn by tennis players at the time.
Since then, the polo shirt has become a versatile and essential piece of clothing for men and women outside of the sporting world. Its timeless design, comfortable fit, and sporty aesthetic make it a go-to option for casual and semi-formal occasions. Whether you're hitting the golf course, heading to a casual Friday at the office, or simply running errands on the weekend, the polo shirt is a classic choice that never goes out of style.
What you need to make your own Polo Shirt
The characteristics of a Polo shirt come down to just a few things. Fit, a short front placket, collar, and specific fabrics. We've got the fit and constructions details for you with the Sombrio pattern, but here is some information on the other items you'll need!
Cotton Pique
Pique is a style of weaving fabric with a subtle texture. The construction of the weave can resemble different patterns, such as waffle, honeycomb, birds-eye, and bullseye. The texture and pattern can best be seen up close.
This is the most classic style of fabric to use for a casual Polo shirt. Pique can be made out of cotton or synthetic fabrics, woven or knit. For my Dad's Polo I used a stretch Pique cotton fabric from Mood Fabrics.
French Terry
Our Sombrio pattern has a short sleeve and long sleeve option. For our long sleeve version you can use a French terry, or similar sweater knit, for a classic rugby style Polo shirt. The collar can be made out of self fabric, but if that creates too much bulk, use a rib knit in a similar or contrasting color. We suggest using a rib knit for the long sleeve cuffs as self fabric may not stretch enough. Here are some examples from Blackbird Fabrics, they have an excellent selection of coordinating or matching knits and ribbing fabrics.
Athletic Knits
For a sporty style golf, or tennis shirt use a synthetic athletic wear specific knit, such as this Performance Spandex with moisture wicking and antimicrobial properties from Mood Fabrics.
Collar
A knit shirt without a collar is not a Polo! A collar is what defines the traditional Polo shirt and is the area on the shirt that can be most playful. Most ready to wear companies have the ability to knit their own collars to match the exact color of the shirt fabric. They can also knit their own contrast collars, or create collars with stripes as shown below. Nowadays it is a little harder to purchase premade collars in the correct size and color of fabric you are using to sew your own Polo. I was able to find some businesses on Etsy that sell premade knit collars, but they are a bit pricey and can take a while to ship. The colors are also limited. For the home sewist, the easiest way to create a Polo collar is with rib knit fabrics. If you are using a lighter weight knit fabric, you could use the self fabric for the collar.
Notions
To get a professional look on the front placket, I suggest using knit interfacing to help reinforce the fabric. If you are using a more stable knit fabric you might not need to use knit interfacing. Knit interfacing is very lightweight and stretches easily to match the stretch of your knit fabric. It can be helpful for the front placket to keep the edges and corners nice and straight.
Twill tape is used to reinforce the collar seam and hide the seam allowance.
Buttons can be another fun way to add a pop of detail to your Polo. Use contrast color buttons that stand out, or use clear, or similar colored buttons to your fabric for a more subtle look.
Now let's get to sewing!
Sombrio Polo Sew-Along: Day 2 - Front Placket & Back Yoke
Placket
Constructing a placket can often feel a little daunting. Not only does it contain buttons, it is one of the first things you notice when looking at a Polo shirt. Don't worry though, if you approach this portion of construction slowly, read through the instructions before you begin, and mark the details on your fabric carefully, you will be surprised how quickly it comes together! I'll walk you through some tricks to get a perfectly straight, even, and professional looking placket.
If you are using a lighter weight knit fabric I would highly advise using knit interfacing to reinforce your placket pieces. If you are using a more stable knit or thicker knit, like French Terry, you don't need to interface the placket pieces.
Transfer the rectangle sew line markings from the pattern to the wrong side of your fabric. I prefer to use chalk for this process but pencil or a fabric marking pen or even basting stitches can do the job! Include a line that goes down the center of the rectangle. Baste along the rectangle using a straight stitch. This will help keep your fabric from stretching or warping as you attach the placket pieces.
On the wrong side of your placket pieces, draw your 1/2" seam allowance from the top to the bottom of the placket, ending 1/2" from the bottom of the placket.
Flip your shirt so the fabric is right side up. Match the placket pieces to the center front, right sides together, aligning the drawn seam allowances with the edges of the basted rectangle. The bottom of the placket pieces will extend past the baste lines 1/2".
Using a regular stitch length and straight stitch, sew the placket to the front. Press the long edges of each placket piece to the wrong side at 1/2".
Cut along the center front line of the front from the neckline to 1/2" before the bottom of the rectangle. Clip from the center line to each corner at an angle. Make sure to clip as close as you can to the corners but be careful to not clip through!
We will finish the placket after attaching the collar in later steps.
Back Facing
Baste along the curved edge of the back facing at 5/8". Clip triangle notches into the seam allowance to the basting line. Press the seam allowance toward the wrong side.
Now would be a great time to add a decorative square or label to your shirt! You can see some great examples of how to decorate a back neckline facing in our Finlayson Sweater sew-along.
With wrong sides together, match the back facing to the back neckline. Edgestitch along the curved edge of the facing to attach to the shirt. Baste along the neckline and shoulders.
Are you happy with how your Polo is coming along? Come back tomorrow for the next sewing steps!
Sombrio Polo Sew Along: Day 3 - Sew Shoulders, Assemble & Attach Collar
Today's sew along is going to cover a lot! We are going to attach the collar and finish the front placket.
Sew Shoulders
Match the front and back together at the shoulders, right sides together, and stitch together at 5/8". For added reinforcement, you could sew a strip of twill tape to the shoulder seam allowance. Simply cut a strip of twill tape the length of the shoulder, match it to the shoulder and stitch the twill tape to the shoulder at the same time you are sewing the shoulder seam.
Assemble Collar
Fold the collar in half, right sides together, matching the notched edges. Stitch the short angled edges together using a straight or serge stitch. Trim and grade the seam allowances and clip the corners if you used a straight stitch.
Turn the collar right side out and neatly press. If desired, you can edge stitch and topstitch along the outer edges for a decorative detail.
Attach Collar
Match the collar to the neckline with right sides together. Align the notches at center back and shoulders. At the center front neckline, the raw edge of the collar will extend 1/2" past the placket seam. Make sure the placket and front seam allowance are facing toward center front. This construction is so that when finished, the collar edges will meet at center front rather than having a 1" gap between them.
Fold the placket pieces right sides together, matching the folded edge to the seam line, sandwiching the collar. Stitch around the neckline and placket with a straight stitch or serge at 5/8".
Eventually the placket pieces will be turned right side out and will enclose part of the collar seam line. This would be a good time to double check that the collar and placket pieces are positioned and overlap correctly before moving on to the next steps. The folded edge of the placket should match to the placket seam line and there should be 1/2" of the placket extending past the collar. Adjust the pieces accordingly if needed.
Now we will attach twill tape to the neckline seam allowance. Cut a strip of twill tape the length of the entire neckline edge, including the placket. Match the top edge of the twill tape to the stitch line along the neckline. The ends of the twill tape will stop just before the center fold of the placket pieces. This will help keep a nice corner at the top of the placket. Pin or use wash away tape to keep the twill tape in place.
Using a straight stitch, edgestitch along the top edge of the twill tape. It is very important that you are stitching the twill tape to the seam allowance only.
Turn the placket pieces right side out. Press the twill tape and seam allowance towards the front along the seam line. The twill tape will cover the raw edges of the seam allowance.
To stop the seam allowances from slipping upwards, using a straight stitch, edgestitch along the bottom edge of the twill tape. I started my stitching just after the placket seam line so my stitches would not be visible. You could start your stitches across the top of the placket if you want visible stitching. If you want to do this, make sure the placket pieces are positioned correctly, with the pressed edge of each placket matching the stitch line.
This is when I decided to add my Thread Theory tag so that it was at the neckline. If you didn't add a tag or decorative square to your back facing piece you could add it at this step!
With the front right side up, fold the placket pieces away from center front to reveal the triangle cut out at the bottom of the placket. Neatly press the triangle flap to the wrong side of the front, making sure to create a straight folded line.
Fold the placket pieces towards center front. Push the bottom edges of the placket to the wrong side of the front through the opening. Position the placket pieces so that the left front placket is overlapping the right front placket.
Fold the placket pieces towards center front. Push the bottom edges of the placket to the wrong side of the front through the opening. Position the placket pieces so that the left front placket is overlapping the right front placket.
Fold the front away from the placket pieces to reveal the narrow edges and triangle cut out. Using a straight stitch, stitch through all layers as close to the base of the triangle as possible. Be very careful to not stitch through the front fabric.
Finish the edges together using a zig-zag or serge stitch.
Flip the front right side up. Edgestitch along the seam lines of both placket pieces, making sure to catch the pressed edges of the placket underneath.
At the bottom of the placket, use a straight stitch to stitch either a small rectangle or square and decorative “X” through all layers.
At the bottom of the placket, use a straight stitch to stitch either a small rectangle or square and decorative “X” through all layers.
Wow, we are on the home stretch now! Your Polo will be completed in the next post.
Sombrio Polo Sew Along: Day 4 - Sleeves + Hem
Attach Sleeves and Sew Side seams (All Variations)
This is my favorite way to attach sleeves and can be done with almost every kind of sleeve (even a woven set in sleeve!)
Open up one armhole edge of the shirt with the right side facing up. With right sides together and notches aligned, match the corresponding sleeve to the armhole. Stitch the sleeve to the armhole at 5/8" using a zig-zag, stretch stitch or serge.
Now, match the entire front and back side seam and underarm edges together. In one long seam, stitch the underarm and side seams together at 5/8" using a zig-zag, stretch stitch, or serge.
Variation 1 Finish Sleeve
Since I am using a thicker and sturdier knit for my polo shirt, I decided to use ribbing for my sleeve cuffs. If you are using a lighter weight or very stretchy knit fabric you could use self fabric for your sleeve cuff.
Fold the sleeve cuff right sides together matching the short edges. Stitch the short edges together at 5/8" using a straight stitch or serge.
Turn the sleeve cuff right side out. Now, fold the cuff in half matching the long edges, with wrong sides together.
With right sides together match the sleeve cuff to the sleeve opening, aligning the underarm and cuff seams. Stretch the cuff to fit the sleeve opening.
Stitch together at 5/8" using a zig-zag, stretch stitch or serge.
All Variations: Hem
We are now at the final step to complete your Polo shirt!
Once again, due to my sturdy and thick knit fabric, I decided to do a single fold and stitch method for finishing my hem.
First, I serged around the entire bottom of my hem
Next, I pressed my hem to the wrong side at 1" and pinned in place.
From the right side of my fabric I stitched a single straight stitch 3/4" up from the folded edge of my hem. If you have a twin needle, you could stitch this part with your twin needle for a more ready to wear look! Be careful to not pull or stretch your fabric as you are stitching the hem in place.
Another method for finishing the hem is a double fold method. First, fold the raw edge to the wrong side at 3/8". Then, fold again up at 5/8". Give the hem a good press and pin in place. To finish the hem, use a zig-zag or stretch stitch to edgestitch along the top folded edge.
Your Sombrio Polo is now ready to be worn! Congrats! Feel free to share your photos on social media using #sombriopolo or email us at info@threadtheory.ca. We would love to see what you've made!
