4.7 how can I make a poet/pirate shirt?

From: Trystan L. Bass
What most goths are looking for when they want That Big Ruffled Shirt (often called a Poet Shirt or Pirate Shirt) is a 17th century men's shirt. Anything from the Renaissance to late Victorian era will do, but the 17th century shirt is the epitome of the style. And yes, it's what Tom Cruise (and all the other men) wore in Interview With the Vampire.

Description
The shirt's shape is the same as that of a modern men's dress shirt. But instead of a button front, the ruffled shirt is sewn up the middle (or is one solid piece in the middle) and has some kind of slit or V-shaped neck opening so it can be pulled on over the head. The collar can be either wide and pointed or banded and can lace up the chest with any collar style. The sleeves and body of the shirt are more full and blousy than a modern dress shirt, and sometimes the fabric fullness in the back is gathered into a yoke. Very full sleeves give a dramatic effect. The sleeve cuffs are often edged with long ruffles, as is the collar and neckline. The ruffles can be either the same fabric as the shirt or of lace.

Historical Options
For an authentic 17th century men's shirt, my favorite pattern is Eagle's View American Shirt #PM/64 (available by mail-order online from Jas. Townsend and Son or AlterYears or Amazon Dry Goods in section 4.3). Sizes small (36) through extra-large (50) are included in the same envelope. This is an easy pattern to use, and it includes three different neckline options, including jabots, ruffles, and a simple banded collar. The resulting shirt is lovely, and the pattern works equally well for women or men.

Another authentic historical pattern is the men's and women's Nordic Style outfits from Olde Country Costumes (also available from AlterYears and Amazon Dry Goods). These are patterns for a complete costume, including either a blouse, bodice, and skirt for women or a shirt and breeches for men. If you're looking for additional patterns to make historically-inspired gothic clothing, these packages could be useful. The men's and women's shirts are both very similar to the Eagle's View shirt, except with only a banded neckline.

Modern Options
Look through the women's blouse section in commercial pattern books. Frequently, you can find poet shirt styles (particularly in spring when ruffly things are "in"). You can pretty much make the pattern as it is. You might want to add some fullness to the sleeves or the body of the blouse (as described below). And you can always make the ruffles longer or fuller or of your favorite lace.

Another option is to look through the costume section in commercial pattern books. McCalls 6689 is a Zorro costume pattern that includes pants, cape (another good pattern -- the cape is lined and very full), mask, hat, and a Big Ruffled Shirt. The shirt has a lace-up neckline with ruffles, and you could add some fullness to the sleeves or the body of the shirt (as described below) to give it an even more romantic look.

Even if you can't find a ruffled shirt pattern, with a little modification, you can turn a modern men's dress shirt pattern into a Big Ruffled Shirt.

First you need to add fullness into the regular dress shirt pattern. Add anywhere between two to six inches to the width of the body pattern pieces. Do this by cutting the front and back body pattern pieces lengthwise (neck to waist) and spread them out about one to four inches (either mark directly on the fabric or tape paper to the pattern pieces to widen them). How wide you make the body pieces will depend on how wide the original pattern is and how wide you want the body of your shirt to be. Also, if you are using a women's shirt pattern to make a man's shirt, you may want to add more width accordingly.

Cut the sleeve pattern pieces lengthwise (shoulder to wrist) and spread them out at least four inches (again, mark the fabric or tape paper to the pattern). The wider the sleeve, the more dramatic the look.

You will need to gather the neck edges to fit into the collar and gather the shoulder edges to fit into the sleeve holes.

You should sew up the front seam instead of making it button down the front. Make sure to leave enough room open at the neck so you can get your head through. You can even make small holes (with grommets, eyelets, or buttonholes) on both sides of the opening and lace it closed with ribbon. Or you can just sew ribbons on each collar edge and tie it closed.

For the collar, you could leave off the fold-over collar to create a banded collar. You can leave that plain or add a big fat lace ruffle. Or you could leave on the fold-over collar and edge it in lace. Or you can use this collar pattern to draw an exaggerated pointed or jagged collar.

At the cuffs, add ruffles -- as big, floppy, and lacy as you like.

Make-Over Option
As you can see from the modern dress shirt to Big Ruffled Shirt instructions, there are some similarities between the two. You can even make a readymade modern shirt into a reasonable facsimile of a Big Ruffled Shirt.

Start with a modern dress shirt, a few sizes larger than you'd normally wear (this might be easier for women than men). Silk is nice, especially since a lot of the discount clothing stores (Mervyns, Ross, Marshalls, etc.) have silk shirts for less than $20. You can also get shirts from second-hand stores. The fabric should be light and drapey (no stiff, starched things).

Carefully snip off the fold-over collar. This isn't totally necessary, but it makes the shirt look less like a plain dress shirt. Sew ruffles to the banded collar. You can even sew ruffles all the way down the front edge of the shirt (the edge with the buttonholes). Sew ruffles to the sleeve cuffs also.

That's it. Not terribly dramatic, but it looks nice with a vest or a jacket (especially a leather motorcycle jacket!). It's also very cheap to put together. If you get white shirts, you can dye them to your favorite colors too.

From: Valeskah
the pattern i use for The Ruffled Shirt is Butterick 3210... i got it a couple of years ago but i'd say it's still around... the thingy's got "classics" written on it, so i'd presume so... ;) they're pretty easy to make... the first one i made was about the third or fourth thing i'd sewn, and it was pretty easy...

back to 4.6 make a cape/cloak or
on to 4.8 make a fishnet shirt or gloves

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