DIY Halter-neck

Jul 25, 2018
2 min read

My friend Jude has recently given me some of her old clothes some i may wear, other i took for fabric and i took a few for up-cycling and making the garments into newer nicer pieces.

This particular green ribbed top caught my eye. To begin with it had a horrible shoulder cut(made for people with super wide shoulders), a turtle neck, strange length sleeves and to wide on the stomach area. Overall a not to great piece. When i first saw the fabric i remembered some other halter tops i was looking at on Pintrest, so; i did some research*.

First i made some sketches of what i wanted it to look like as there are many variations(open back, back lace up, rope, elastic). Then i cut off the sleeves and neck and put it on. Using my white chalk i made a few marks: where the top would sit, the width of the top, the height on the back, the measurement beneath my arms, and where i wanted the top to end. Taking it off i connect all the marks and just started cutting. You need the confidence to just start cutting or you will get nowhere.

If you want to you can leave a seam allowance but i was not that bothered and it will not fray as it is stretchy fabric. Using the bottom hem i cut off the top, i cut several 2cm wide strips(these are also unlikely to fray). I then used my machine to zig-zag stitch(my overlocker was packed away) the straps on at the points chalked on my top. the chords tie behind my neck so they do not need to be accurately measured.

I then tried it on and realised it was very baggy around the middle; so i pinned the baggy section away down one side. After i had wiggled out of that death trap i measured the baggy width and divided by two, this would be the amount need to be taken off each side. Then i zig-zagged down each side to the new width and cut off the extra.

Then i was finished!!

I love my new top, it is super summery and gorgeous!