Pattern Hacking: Butterick 6214

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One of my favorite patterns of all time is Butterick 6214. It’s an oversized tunic-like shirt with various options for making a tank top or t-shirt in different lengths. I love the fit so much that I’ve made probably 8 shirts from this pattern.

Thanks to pattern hacking, each shirt is completely different and you probably wouldn’t realize they came from this pattern at all. Today I’m going to show you my favorite pattern hack — making Butterick 6214 into a long sleeved, cropped sweater with a neck band.

Pattern Hacking 101

Pattern hacking is when you take a sewing pattern and adapt it into a different style. The pattern acts merely as your template instead of a rule book. Common sewing pattern hacks are:

• Removing sleeves to make a sleeveless top.
• Lengthening a t-shirt into a tunic or dress.
• Adding or removing a neck band.
• Turning a short sleeve top into a long sleeve one.
• Cropping a shirt or turning pants into shorts.
• Adjusting the length of a dress.
• Using a different style of sleeve (fitted or loose).
• Adding embellishments like pockets or ruffles.

To hack a pattern, you usually want to have a little experience following patterns first. It helps to know how patterns line up and fit together so you can understand what changes will work best.

Once you find a pattern you love, it can become a template for making all kinds of different garments.

Cropping My Sweater

The easiest part of hacking this pattern was making it into a cropped shirt. All I did was fold the original pattern to a length I liked, being sure to take seam allowance into account. To determine the length, I laid one of my favorite cropped sweaters over the pattern piece.

I wanted to be able to make the long version of this shirt again, so I didn’t cut off the excess. Instead, I folded it so that all the excess was neatly tucked under the pattern.

Making the Neckline Smaller

When making this pattern as a t-shirt, I like the boat neck design it has. However, this is a little too open for a sweater and I wanted the back to come up higher. The easiest fix was to cut less of a scoop from the back fabric. I cut about 1.5″ above the pattern and tapered it to meet the shoulder of the original pattern.

Turning a T-Shirt Pattern into a Long Sleeve Sweater

I had to draft a new pattern piece to make my sweater with long sleeves. I wanted my sleeves to be fitted through the arm but not constricting at the shoulder.

To make sure it lined up with the body of the shirt, I laid a piece of pattern paper over the original shirt sleeve and traced the outline of the sleeve cap. I knew that the width of the sleeve needed to be the same at the underarm so the pieces would all line up properly. In order to make it a fitted sleeve, though, I also knew the pattern would need to start tapering pretty dramatically.

It helped to look at the pattern from a different shirt with sleeves similar to the ones I wanted for my sweater. After I had the sleeve cap traced, I placed this long sleeve template over my new pattern piece and traced its width and length. Finally, I smoothed the curve of my new sleeve so it matched up with the sleeve cap nicely.

When drafting new pattern pieces, you also want to transfer markings from the original pattern piece. For example, the original sleeve for this pattern has triangles for making the front and the back of the sleeve. Simply sketch these onto your new pattern piece and you’re done.

Tip: Patterns usually have excess paper because of how they’re printed. I always save this extra pattern paper and use it when drafting my own pieces. I usually don’t even need to buy pattern paper because there tends to be a lot of excess with most commercial patterns!

Drafting a Neckband for a Shirt that Doesn’t Have One

The hardest part of hacking this pattern was figuring out how long to make the neck band. I started by sewing the shirt at the shoulder seams so I had a better idea of the actual size of the neck opening. I laid the shirt out so the neck opening was flat on the table. Then I used a fabric tape measure to measure the circumference of the opening.

Because knit fabrics are somewhat forgiving, I didn’t worry too much about my measurement being exact. Once I had the size of the opening (22″) I simply subtracted 1″ from this to make a neck band 21″ long. You want the neck band to be slightly smaller so that it doesn’t gape out after being sewn onto the shirt.

I wanted the neck band to be about 3/4″ wide after being sewn on the shirt. To achieve this, I cut the neck band 2″ wide by 21″ long. When folded in half, the neck band measured 1″. With the 1/4″ seam allowance I was using, I got my 3/4″ wide neck band.

Sewing a Pattern You Hacked

Sewing a hacked pattern is basically the same as sewing the original version. I followed all of the instructions I did for the original shirt. The only exception was attaching the neckband. I did this after sewing the sleeves and side seams, but the order really doesn’t matter.

Hacking a sewing pattern might seem intimidating, but it’s a really great way to get a custom wardrobe. I love following patterns to teach me new things and give me inspiration. But once you get familiar enough with sewing patterns, you can begin seeing them as templates for designing your own fashion pieces.

If you’ve ever dreamed of drafting your own patterns from scratch, learning how to hack patterns is a great stepping stone!

Watch me sew my sweater!

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