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Choosing the perfect fabric is the most difficult aspect of sewing a men’s t-shirt!  This guide will help to demystify menswear appropriate knits so that you can start the sewing confident that you will end up with a classic and flattering T-shirt.

What makes a t-shirt knit masculine?

To many people, the answer to the above question would be easy – they would say that the knit must be 100% cotton and of medium weight.  As you may have already discovered, it can be very difficult to find such a fabric at your local fabric store!  I am here to argue that you can make a very manly t-shirt with all manner of knits.  Let me prove this to you by showing you some big brand store-bought examples ranging from basic cotton interlock to blended fabrics completely void of cotton!

100% Combed Cotton Interlock T-Shirt from Nordstrom – this is a classic choice of fabric that will create a great ‘basic tee’.

100% Washed/Broken-In Cotton Jersey T-Shirt from J. Crew – this is a very modern and comfortable choice of fabric that will result in a very casual, drapey t-shirt.

99% Cotton, 1% Polyester Jersey T-Shirt from H&M – polyester blends are very commonly found in graphic tees or event tees.  A blended fabric can include a far higher percentage of poly than this example but it is important to keep in mind that this will result in a ‘sportier’ shirt, sweat wicking shirt best suited for the gym.  A small polyester content will often result in a t-shirt that doesn’t wrinkle when it comes out of the dryer or out of the dresser drawer!

95% Cotton, 5% Spandex (i.e. Elastane) Jersey T-Shirt from H&M – a fabric with spandex content is best suited for tight fitting shirts that feature areas of negative ease (notice how the shoulders, chest and sleeves in the above example are skin tight).  Spandex content will often result in a heavier and more drapey fabric so it will cling to the body in an unflattering way if it is used with a loose fitting t-shirt design.

85% Viscose (i.e. Rayon), 15% Wool Jersey T-Shirt from H&M – this example illustrates how fun it can be to experiment with fiber content when sewing t-shirts!  If you are into hiking and camping you might be interested to make a t-shirt ‘base layer’ out of Merino wool.  It isn’t difficult to find Merino wool yardage and the resulting t-shirt will cost FAR less than fancy base layer garments from outdoor stores!

100% Slub Cotton Jersey T-shirt from J.Crew – It can be fund to experiment with textures when choosing t-shirt knits.  A slubbed knit can look very rugged and masculine.  I find that if a fabric is slubbed and heathered and fairly light weight, it will result in a t-shirt that looks attractively reminiscent of a cowboy’s undershirt.

85% Cotton, 15% Linen Jersey T-Shirt from H&M – this is another great example of a creative blend of fibres.  You can also look for Cotton/Rayon knits (quite drapey) and Cotton/Bamboo knits (very soft and smooth) when choosing menswear t-shirt fabrics!

As you can see, most of these shirts feature medium weight fabrics with little drape and minimal stretch.  It is interesting to note that the only shirt containing spandex content features a much tighter fit than the other shirts.  Since spandex content is becoming an increasingly common element in knit fabrics, it is good to know that a masculine t-shirt can still be produced with the spandex-laden fabrics found all throughout fabric stores.

Aside from fabric content, it is important to note the style of knit.  An interlock knit is stiffer and has less drape than a jersey knit.  I find that if I am in doubt about the suitability of a fabric for menswear (especially if I am choosing a printed fabric), I will err on the side of caution by using an interlock rather than a jersey.

Check your closet!

So now that we’ve determined that there is a surprisingly large range of acceptable fabric types, we must narrow things down by keeping the prospective wearer’s preferences in mind!  The easiest way to do this is to open up the recipient’s closet and look at the t-shirts that are already there.  Are they mostly of medium weight?  What do the fabric content labels say?  Do many feature unusual textures and graphics?  Are there a broad selection of styles or does the person favor one type of fit?

Here are Matt’s favorite t-shirts as an example along with why they are his favorite:

He has had this free event t-shirt for MANY years and it is only just now beginning to show wear.  He loves that the hems do not fold up and wrinkle as many of his t-shirts with less polyester content tend to do.  The weight is quite heavy compared to some of his more ‘fashionable’ t-shirts but the polyester adds a bit of fluidity to the fabric so it doesn’t look too crisp and so that it forms to his body just enough to be flattering.

He wears these v-neck H&M t-shirts often because he likes the fit of the sleeves and the v-neck (and the selection of bright colors).  He wishes that the fabric were slightly heavier because they tend to show a bit of nipple!

While he wears these Armani t-shirts often, their tendency to wrinkle bothers Matt.  The sleeves are always folding up and the narrow neck binding makes them look a bit misshapen.  These shirts were designed as undershirts rather than t-shirts and the fabric is even more light weight than the H&M t-shirts due to this.  Matt requires all of his clothes to be suitable for mulitple purposes so a thin t-shirt meant ONLY for use under button-ups does not suit his wardrobe.

This is Matt’s favorite Strath Tee!  It is made using a Girl Charlee knit that is no longer available.  I think it may be a blended cotton/poly knit.  It doesn’t contain very much stretch and it is of light to medium weight (a touch heavier than the H&M tees).  Matt gets compliments on the print CONSTANTLY and he feels really confident in this shirt.  I shortened the sleeve length considerably to be the most flattering length for Matt (I will talk about this more in the next sew-along post!).  I think that the print suits the crew neck style and might be a touch more wild than Matt prefers if it were on a v-neck shirt.

How thick? How stretchy?

I like to err on the side of thick and not very stretchy but picking fabrics with different properties (thick and quite stretchy, thin and not very stretchy) is still a possibility as we saw in the ready to wear shirts above!  Here are the fabrics that I picked for the Strath Tee sew-along.  They include:

A 100% Cotton Interlock of medium weight with matching 1X1 ribbing…

A 100% Cotton Interlock of medium weight without ribbing…

A 100% Cotton Jersey of light weight (note that there is no spandex content so this fabric does not contain too much drape)…

A cotton/bamboo blend jersey of light to medium weight (sorry, I don’t know the percentages!)…