1
00:00:11,290 --> 00:00:15,110
Hey. Welcome to another episode of get thready
with me. Today, I’m going to show you all

2
00:00:15,110 --> 00:00:20,980
how to make a high-neck sleeveless crop top.
This style of shirt is a really nice, basic,

3
00:00:20,980 --> 00:00:26,430
yet flattering piece to own, and they go with
pretty much – anything.

4
00:00:26,430 --> 00:00:27,240
So let’s go!

5
00:00:27,240 --> 00:00:31,490
Okay, so the first thing I need to do is to
make the pattern, and to do this I pick out

6
00:00:31,490 --> 00:00:36,649
a t-shirt that fits me well, is fairly tight-fitting
and is made out of stretchy fabric. You can

7
00:00:36,649 --> 00:00:40,260
pretty much use any tight-fitting t-shirt
– but the most important thing is that the

8
00:00:40,260 --> 00:00:43,100
t-shirt needs to have a high back of the neck.

9
00:00:43,100 --> 00:00:47,050
So to make the pattern, I first turn this
t-shirt inside out. It needs to lie with the

10
00:00:47,050 --> 00:00:50,480
back of the shirt (which is usually where
the tag is) facing up.

11
00:00:50,480 --> 00:00:55,180
First I make a mark 2 inches away from the
neckline, on both sides, on the top of this seam.

12
00:00:55,180 --> 00:00:57,510
Then, I make a mark directly underneath each armhole seam.

13
00:01:00,300 --> 00:01:02,180
Then I need to work out what width the bust

14
00:01:02,190 --> 00:01:05,439
measurement needs to be.
So I took my bust measurement.

15
00:01:05,439 --> 00:01:10,540
Then, I took 2 inches off this measurement.
And then I divided this by 2.

16
00:01:10,540 --> 00:01:14,659
This gives me 17 inches.
So, I make two marks at the same height as

17
00:01:14,659 --> 00:01:19,430
the armholes, just bringing them in so that
this is 17 inches across.

18
00:01:19,430 --> 00:01:22,840
Now I’m going to join up these two marks
with a curve.

19
00:01:22,840 --> 00:01:27,110
Now you can either use one of these French
curve rulers if you have one, or you can just

20
00:01:27,110 --> 00:01:31,640
eyeball it. With the curve, you want to kind
of follow the shape of the curve of the armhole

21
00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:35,900
on the t-shirt that’s already there, but
bringing the curve in at the top so that it

22
00:01:35,900 --> 00:01:37,310
meets up with your other mark.

23
00:01:37,310 --> 00:01:41,579
The next step is to decide how long you want
the shirt to be. I wanted my top to be around

24
00:01:41,579 --> 00:01:46,799
17 and a half inches long. I took off an inch
to allow for the turtle neck, but then added

25
00:01:46,799 --> 00:01:51,790
it back on for the hem allowance at the bottom
of the shirt. So, I made a mark 17 and a half

26
00:01:51,790 --> 00:01:54,549
inches below the centre of the t-shirt’s
neckline.

27
00:01:57,380 --> 00:02:01,660
The bottom of the crop top is going to sit
pretty much at your waistline. So, I took

28
00:02:01,670 --> 00:02:05,930
my waist measurement and then again, I minus
2 inches, and then I divided this measurement

29
00:02:05,930 --> 00:02:06,469
by 2.

30
00:02:06,469 --> 00:02:12,489
So, for me, I got 14 inches. So I’m going
to make this bottom line 14 inches long, by

31
00:02:12,489 --> 00:02:17,160
connecting up these 3 marks in a straight
line.

32
00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:23,300
And then lastly I need to connect up these
two lines.

33
00:02:23,300 --> 00:02:26,819
And this is what my basic top pattern is going
to look like.

34
00:02:26,819 --> 00:02:29,750
Now I need to transfer this pattern onto some
paper.

35
00:02:29,750 --> 00:02:34,459
I fold the shirt exactly in half and I put
a piece of paper inside, matching up the edges

36
00:02:34,459 --> 00:02:36,140
of the paper with the fold.

37
00:02:36,140 --> 00:02:40,849
Then, using some pins, I press through the
shirt, following the chalk lines, all the

38
00:02:40,849 --> 00:02:44,030
way around.
This creates small holes on the paper below.

39
00:02:44,030 --> 00:02:50,930
Then, all I need to do is simply connect these
small holes together just like a join-the-dot picture.

40
00:02:52,620 --> 00:02:56,610
And I cut this out. See! They're the same
size! Woo hoo!

41
00:02:56,610 --> 00:03:00,540
Okay, so this is the only pattern piece that
I'm going to need, and it’s going to be

42
00:03:00,540 --> 00:03:02,720
used for both the front and the back of the
shirt.

43
00:03:02,720 --> 00:03:06,959
Now that's done, on to fabrics. The fabric
that I’m making my shirt out of is a very

44
00:03:06,959 --> 00:03:11,760
stretchy, 2-way stretch ribbed jersey, but
you can pretty much use any stretchy jersey fabric.

45
00:03:12,670 --> 00:03:16,950
To copy my pattern onto the fabric, I fold
the fabric in half, and then I place the pattern

46
00:03:16,950 --> 00:03:19,430
piece on top, with this edge on the fold.

47
00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:24,300
Now because I don’t trust myself to cut
it out accurately while it’s just on top

48
00:03:24,300 --> 00:03:29,670
like that, I pin it on, trace around it, then
remove the pattern piece, put pins in to hold

49
00:03:29,670 --> 00:03:33,050
the two layers in place, and then I cut around
the traced lines.

50
00:03:39,340 --> 00:03:43,709
And when I unfold it, I have this!
Now I simply need to do this once more, so

51
00:03:43,709 --> 00:03:46,340
that I'll have 2 pieces.

52
00:03:46,340 --> 00:03:49,820
Now that I have 2 identical pieces, I sandwich
them together,

53
00:03:54,709 --> 00:03:58,549
and then I sew the two pieces together at
the sides and at the shoulders.

54
00:03:58,549 --> 00:04:04,090
And it’s also a good idea to pin pin pin
when you’re working with stretchy fabric.

55
00:04:04,090 --> 00:04:08,599
To sew the front and back pieces together,
I am using a zig zag stitch. Some extra tips

56
00:04:08,599 --> 00:04:12,129
to make your life easier is to also use a
thread that’s very similar to the colour

57
00:04:12,129 --> 00:04:16,829
of your fabric, and to use a ball-point jersey
needle, instead of a regular sewing machine needle.

58
00:04:17,410 --> 00:04:20,890
Once these two pieces are sewn together, I
turn the top inside out so that the seams

59
00:04:20,890 --> 00:04:22,560
are on the inside.

60
00:04:22,570 --> 00:04:26,380
And it’s a good idea to try it on at this
stage, to make sure that it fits alright,

61
00:04:26,380 --> 00:04:29,949
and that you can get your head through the
neckhole, etc.

62
00:04:29,949 --> 00:04:34,030
Now I’m going to make the "cuff" for the
neck. I measure the circumference of the neck

63
00:04:34,030 --> 00:04:38,590
hole, which is 10 inches.
I then take HALF an inch off that measurement,

64
00:04:38,590 --> 00:04:42,180
and so I cut out a strip which is only 9 and
a half inches long.

65
00:04:42,180 --> 00:04:47,330
It’s also 3 inches wide, but if you want
more of a turtle neck, you can increase this,

66
00:04:47,330 --> 00:04:52,110
or if you LESS of a turtle neck then decrease
this and make the strip thinner.

67
00:04:52,110 --> 00:04:56,919
Anyway, after cutting this rectangle out I
fold it in half like this, and then I sew

68
00:04:56,919 --> 00:04:59,470
down here, with a half inch seam allowance.

69
00:04:59,470 --> 00:05:03,520
Then, I turn the piece inside-out so that
the seam is on the inside, and then fold it

70
00:05:03,520 --> 00:05:08,720
in half length-ways like this, to give myself
this kind of cuff… thing.

71
00:05:08,720 --> 00:05:19,789
Then, I place 4 pins equally around the neck
hole. So, one pin on each shoulder seam, and

72
00:05:19,789 --> 00:05:24,940
one in the centre front and one in the centre
back. I do the same thing on the neck cuff,

73
00:05:24,940 --> 00:05:29,220
with 4 evenly-spaced pins.
I’m going to match these pins up when I

74
00:05:29,220 --> 00:05:30,700
sew the two pieces together.

75
00:05:34,060 --> 00:05:38,900
To sew the cuff on, I’m first removing this
doobly-doo from my machine so that the cuff

76
00:05:38,900 --> 00:05:40,240
will fit over the top.

77
00:05:40,270 --> 00:05:45,710
Then, I slide the neck cuff on, with the raw
edges facing this way, and the neckline of

78
00:05:45,710 --> 00:05:50,030
the shirt goes underneath it. So, the cuff
is going to be sewn onto the right side of

79
00:05:50,030 --> 00:05:51,490
the shirt.

80
00:05:51,980 --> 00:05:57,420
Once I match up the raw edges, I sew the neck
cuff onto the shirt! I do this by using a

81
00:05:57,430 --> 00:06:02,860
zig-zag stitch, and at the same time stretching
the fabric underneath so each set of pins

82
00:06:02,860 --> 00:06:04,920
basically match up.

83
00:06:10,639 --> 00:06:14,770
When I get to the next set of pins, I remove
them, and then I do the same thing – I stitch

84
00:06:14,770 --> 00:06:20,740
along the edge, stretching the fabrics so
that the next set of pins line up.

85
00:06:20,740 --> 00:06:26,060
And I do this all around the neckhole until
I reach the point where I started from.

86
00:06:26,060 --> 00:06:28,520
And – that's the neckline done!

87
00:06:28,520 --> 00:06:33,130
For the armholes, I’m basically going to
do the exact same thing, however the strips

88
00:06:33,130 --> 00:06:36,259
are going to be a little bit thinner.
I measure the armhole circumference (which

89
00:06:36,259 --> 00:06:41,919
for me, is 15 inches), then this time I subtract
1 whole inch from this measurement. So,

90
00:06:41,919 --> 00:06:45,770
I cut out a strip that’s 14 inches long and
1.5 inches wide.

91
00:06:45,770 --> 00:06:51,099
Then I do the exact same thing that I did
for the neck. I fold this strip in half, sew

92
00:06:51,099 --> 00:07:00,319
here, turn it around, fold it in half lengthways
to get a cuff, quarter it with pins, quarter

93
00:07:00,319 --> 00:07:05,990
the armhole evenly with pins, and I sew them
together, raw edges matching, with the cuff

94
00:07:05,990 --> 00:07:11,190
on the right side of the shirt. And again,
I stretch the fabric while I sew so that each

95
00:07:11,190 --> 00:07:15,450
set of pins matches up with each other.

96
00:07:28,919 --> 00:07:31,880
Now the last thing that I need to do is to
hem the bottom of the shirt.

97
00:07:31,880 --> 00:07:39,190
So, I turn the shirt inside out, and then
I fold the bottom up about inch, and then

98
00:07:39,190 --> 00:07:43,139
sew across it.
Now I recently got myself this special sewing

99
00:07:43,139 --> 00:07:49,220
foot called a “walking foot”. This thing
makes sewing with stretchy fabrics A DREAM.

100
00:07:49,220 --> 00:07:53,520
Basically, it helps feed all the fabric through
evenly to stop the hem from ruffling when

101
00:07:53,520 --> 00:07:58,560
you sew it. If you don’t own a walking foot,
however, I recommend sewing the hem using

102
00:07:58,560 --> 00:08:01,979
a piece of paper underneath, just like I did
in this video here.

103
00:08:01,979 --> 00:08:05,780
Here’s a close up of the walking foot in
action.

104
00:08:05,780 --> 00:08:08,669
And – look at my nice, flat hem!

105
00:08:08,669 --> 00:08:13,750
So, I finished the top - but then I tried
it on a decided that the armholes were slightly

106
00:08:13,750 --> 00:08:18,940
too tight. So I actually wanted to try and
make the top again, but modify the pattern

107
00:08:18,940 --> 00:08:23,639
slightly to make the armholes larger.
So, back to my pattern - all I simply did

108
00:08:23,639 --> 00:08:27,590
was to make my armhole a little bit larger
by extending this curve.

109
00:08:27,590 --> 00:08:33,620
And, I tried again, this time using the same
fabric but in black. And I’m not going to

110
00:08:33,620 --> 00:08:39,260
film the whole thing again because all the
steps I used are exactly the same as before!

111
00:08:39,260 --> 00:08:40,360
SO – that’s it!

112
00:08:40,360 --> 00:08:43,420
[MUSIC: electronic dance music]

113
00:08:57,640 --> 00:09:02,820
So, yeah, that's it. That was actually surprisingly
easy to do. The second top that I made - so,

114
00:09:02,830 --> 00:09:05,850
this one - actually only took me about an
hour to make, and that was because I wasn't

115
00:09:05,850 --> 00:09:09,050
filming, I was sewing at my normal sewing
speed. So, yeah, you can pretty much whip

116
00:09:09,050 --> 00:09:13,470
up a bunch of these in all different colours
in no time. And while it's a really nice basic

117
00:09:13,470 --> 00:09:17,360
shirt to own that'll go with a lot of things,
you can also do some more interesting things

118
00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:23,200
with it, with say T-shirt transfers, or fabric
paints, or embroidery, or using different

119
00:09:23,200 --> 00:09:26,500
fabrics for the cuffs and the collar, to make
some really interesting tops!

120
00:09:26,500 --> 00:09:28,380
And - I'll see you all for my next video.
Bye!

121
00:09:28,380 --> 00:09:31,041
[music plays]