It's a Wrap Top... and a tutorial!

About a year ago I was introduced to a friend of a friend. She had on this really, REALLY cool wrap top. I mean it was REALLY cool. I didn't want to seem all creeper-ish or anything... so I refrained from taking pictures or feeling the material, but I did ask her about it.

Turns out she was a dancer and she said that she was wearing a ballerina wrap top. I had never heard of them, but when I saw it I knew I could try to make one.

A little over a year later and I have finally gotten around to it. I looked at some ballet style wrap shirts online, and also found a tutorial here at Creative Spaces that was very similar to what I had in mind. I started with her tutorial and changed it up a bit.

The project was fairly simple and the shirt is a keeper! So here is my very unprofessional tutorial:


For this project I used a medium weight double knit fabric.  I purchased a yard and 3/4.  I probably would have bough less, but the 3/4 yard was in the scrap bin.  I think 1 and 1/2 would have been fine, and my shirt size is a small. I also used a well-fitting v-neck tee as a base for my pattern.  I ended up cutting this shirt up. So, if you have one that is stained or something that would be perfect.

Yes, I hate ironing :(

Fold shirt in half with the front sides facing. Lay fold along fold of fabric. Cut just outside of the edge of shirt - for seam allowance. I also extended the length of my shirt because I like long shirts. If I could go back in time I would have cut the arms out first to make it easier to cut around the arm-holes.

Now you will have this:







Okey Dokey. So far so good. Now for the front pieces.

Here is what I did to make the pattern pieces for the front. I placed a yard stick along the neck-line and cut straight down that path to the bottom of the shirt. Notice I cut the arms out and the side. I should have done that before step one.

Fold the fabric when cutting out the front pieces. That way you will have two pieces that are the same shape, and they will be mirror images of each other. Because I chose to make my shirt a tad longer, I lined the back piece next to the front piece and used a yardstick to mark the bottom edge. I cut as far as I could at the bottom. Starting at the bottom of the angled edge, I marked a line that was paralleled to the bottom edge. I also extend this as far as possible. This became the ties.

With the fabric folded, cut out two arm pieces. Leave room for seam allowance and edge finishing.

Sew the two front pieces to the back piece at the shoulders. Sew with the right sides together. Make sure that the angles are facing inwards (towards each other).

Pin the sleeves to the shoulders. Sew the sleeve in with the right side of the sleeve facing the right side of the shirt.

Now it looks like this. The sleeves are in at the shoulders, but they are open along the seam. The sides of the shirt are open.

Sew the sides together in this order. Match the underarm seams. Sew from the underarm to the bottom of the sleeve. Then sew from the underarm to the bottom of the shirt. Do this on both sides.

Now you will have this. Measure along the open edge of the front. Start at the bottom of one side, continue along the neckline and go all the way to the edge of the other side. Cut a strip of fabric that is this length, and four inches wide.

Fold the strip lengthwise and pin to the front edge. Make sure the right sides are facing so your seam will be on the inside. Sew this edge to your shirt.

Then cut strips that are the same width as your ties at the bottom. Sew these to the end of the ties to make the ties as long as you want.

Now you will have this:

Measure the ties. Cut strips that are the same length and width of your ties. I had to sew a couple of strips together to get them as long as my ties.

Sew the 'new' strips to your existing ties. Make sure to leave a small amount of space at the top of your strip open so that you can attach it to the front edge. Otherwise, sew along the top, bottom and the edge. The ties will now be long tubes. Turn these right side out.

After they are right side out, sew the top edge of the tie to the bottom of the front edge so that it looks like this.

I used a twin needle to finish off the seams at the bottom of the shirt and the sleeves. I think the twin needle helps knits to lay flat.

Here are some more pics of the finished product. These were all taken after a full day of work. So, the shirt definitely help up well while wearing :)