Sew the Tony Shirt with Tony Rea Finalist of GBSB Series 9

We are so excited to be welcoming Tony Rea from 2023 GBSB to Make Fabric Boutique to possibly teach you how to sew his fantastic Shirt pattern. 

The Tony is a loose fitting shirt, with an open collar and front facings. It comes with optional breast pockets and sleeve cuffs, to add interest and a more relaxed feel. An ideal pattern for anyone wanting to get into men's sewing, this pattern is an advanced beginner. Make it from cotton for an easy sew and be adventurous with your print like Tony! You can also make it from linen and linen blends, cotton lawn and other light to medium weight wovens, making it perfect for both hot holiday shirts, and layering in colder weather. 

On this one day workshop you’ll not only learn how to sew all the techniques of the Tony shirt but you will get all the opportunity to ask all the burning questions you have about the Great British Sewing bee and get all the inside gossip from Tony himself. 

What you will learn:

Sewing Seams: Stitching clean and durable straight seams with finished edges.
Collar Construction: Master the process of sewing a Cuban/camp collar, including techniques like turning sharp corners and achieving symmetry.
Inserting Sleeves: Sewing and attaching sleeves using the flat method, a fundamental skill for many garments.
How to attach Facings: Sewing and under stitching facings.
Buttonholes & Buttons: Learn how to sew buttonholes neatly and attach buttons securely
Topstitching: Refine your topstitching technique for decorative and structural purposes, especially on cuffs, collars, and seams.
Hemming: Practice creating neat, even hems for a polished look on sleeves and the shirt’s body.

What you will need:

A Sewing machine (if you require to use one of our machines you will to advise us during booking as we have a limited amount of machines available)

Sewing kit – pins, scissors, seam rippers etc (we also have a large selection of this for you to borrow)

Fabric Light to medium weight woven fabrics e.g. Cotton poplin, quilting cotton, cotton lawn, linen, linen blends

Fabric requirements - 150 wide:
Sizes 36"-44" - 1.8m
Sizes 46"-56" - 2.8m

The Emporia Tony shirt pattern comes in sizes 36" to 56" chest.
Finished garment measurements:
Size Chest Back length to hem Sleeve (at narrowest point)
36” 91.5cm/39.5” 75.6cm 40.2cm
38” 105.5cm/41.5” 76.2cm 41.4cm
40” 110.5cm/43.5” 76.8cm 42.6cm
42” 115.5cm/45.5” 77.4cm 43.8cm
44” 120.5cm/47.5” 78cm 45cm
46” 126cm/49.5” 78.6cm 46.2cm
48” 131cm/51.5” 79.2cm 47.4cm
50” 136cm/53.5” 79.8cm 48.6cm
52” 141cm/55.5” 80.4cm 49.8cm
54” 146cm/57.5” 81cm 51cm
56” 151cm/59.5” 81.6cm 52.2cm

What we provide-

The Tony pattern will be given to you two weeks before the class so that you can prepare the pattern, either trace & cut out the size you’d like to sew or cut straight out so that we have a smooth running class.

A large light workshop space with irons, sewing kit and teas and coffees on demand.

Tony Rea! So you can pick his brains about the GBSB behind the scenes gossip.

Level – Next stage improver, perfect for people who would like to advance their sewing skills and have sewn one or two garments before.

Duration – 6.5 hrs

Tutor – Toney Rea

Tony is a maker and content creator from Bude, North Cornwall. But you may know him better as being a finalist on Series 9 of The Great British Sewing Bee.

Before entering the Sewing Bee, he had only made men’s clothes for himself. Everything he had made on the show he had never made before. Tony took this as an opportunity to grow

as a sewist and learn to explore new techniques. At that time, he really didn’t know what he couldn’t make and Tony takes this ethos through into his teaching to attempt to demystify techniques which are sometimes considered challenging.

Tony, now having built upon his time on the Sewing Bee; is passionate about getting more people making and improving their own making repertoires.

In addition to teaching, Tony is also very active in Pattern Testing for numerous patterns houses and he has also had a men’s shirt pattern released in his name.

Tony lives with his wife and two teenage daughters in Bude. He also has an older daughter.

Please read our workshop cancellation policy before booking your class

Make Workshop Cancellation Policy 

Please note we try to calculate how long a workshop will be and plan to finish each garment in the allocated time but this isn’t always possible, If you are unable to finish in the workshop time we will make sure you are confident with your garment to be finished at home.