The Merry Man Uniform: Official Directions!

For the shirt you’ll need:

· Primary Green T-shirt with NO POCKET! I bought mine at the new Joann fabric in Cosner’s Corner. The shirt should be a couple sizes too big so that it comes down over the bum.

· An old white men’s button down dress shirt. The size doesn’t really matter, just not way too big. You will only need the sleeves without the cuffs.

· One pack of primary green, extra wide, double fold bias tape

· One yard of primary green grosgrain ribbon, ¼” wide

· One package of light weight fusible interfacing. You can find it in the notion aisle.

· A copy of the template for the bottom of the shirt


Please pre-wash your t-shirt and button down shirt. Pre-washing will insure that you’re able to wash the costume later.

I have used PINK fabric in my pictures for the sleeve. It makes it much easier to tell the difference between the inside and the outside. I also used purple bias tape and lime green ribbon.

My original shirt had brown ribbon with the bias tape on the inside. You’ll put your bias tape on the outside.


1. Turn the green shirt inside out. Follow the directions on the package of fusible web and apply to the bottom, lining up the edge of the interfacing with the edge of the shirt. This will help keep the t-shirt from unraveling and curling up when we cut it.

2.On the inside of the shirt, use the template to trace the triangles, then cut them out. Set the green shirt to the side.


3. Cut the sleeves off of the dress shirt at the shoulder seams. Toss the rest of the shirt.

4. Cut the cuff of the sleeves off. Turn the sleeves inside out. On the inside create a hem by folding up a ¼” on the raw edge where the cuff was and press. Fold up another ¼” and press. Topstitch.

5. Turn the sleeve right side out. Measure three inches from the bottom of the sleeve and mark this line all the way around the sleeve. Cut a piece of bias tape the same length as the measurement AROUND the bottom of the sleeve. Bias tape has one long edge a little shorter than the other, that’s the right side. Line the right side of the bias tape up with the markings you just made. Stitch. Stitch again on the left side of the bias tape. This makes a casing to hold the ribbon to create a ruffle at the bottom of the sleeve. We’ll put the ribbon in later.

6. Now we’re going to work on putting the sleeve on the t-shirt. The easiest way to make the sleeve the right length is by putting the t-shirt on your Merry Man and then slipping the sleeve over the hand. Fold the top of the sleeve down until the ruffle at the bottom covers about half the hand. Cut off the excess at the top, straight across the sleeve, adding ½” for seam allowance. Gather the top edge of the sleeve by stitching ½” in using a long basting stitch, then stitching again ¼” from the first stitching.

7. Turn the t-shirt inside out and the sleeve right side out. Feed the sleeve into the t-shirt sleeve right sides together, matching the seams, with the white sleeve end coming out of the t-shirt neck. Stitch, pulling up your gathering stitches as needed to ease fullness. I stitched along the edge of the hem in the green shirt.

8. Feed the ribbon through the casing at the bottom of the sleeve. Tie a knot in each end. Your shirt is done!

After much consideration I’ve decided that it’s much more practical to use a purchased belt. Wal-Mart has them for a pretty reasonable price, or you can use one from the closet. It must be black. It also needs to be pretty wide, at least 2”. A simple buckle is best, something that doesn’t look very modern. Your Merry Man needs to be able to buckle it with enough room left to make it a little loose. If you have trouble finding something, please let me know. I’m happy to help.