Tutorial: Wrap Tie Shirt with 1 Yard or Less

This tutorial will walk you through how to turn one yard of fabric into a cute wrap top. The shirt will be more-or-less shaped like a rectangle with ties to wrap in around the front and back of your body. I’ll show you how to make a basic neckline pattern, but feel free to play around and make whatever shaped neckline you want with this top. Super cute and super simple.

This page contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases. That being said, I encourage you to use your local sewing shop whenever possible, or to look for supplies second hand.

Supplies Needed:

Paper, pencil, and ruler
optional: French curve rulers
1-yard of fabric (something medium to lightweight will work best) you can use 45″ or 60″ fabric
Single fold bias tape

Step 1

Measure your neck and shoulder

Measure the hollow in your throat, around you neck, and back to the same point. For your shoulders, measure from the base of your neck to the ball of your shoulder.

Step 2

create your neck hole pattern (part 1)

Make a grid for your neck hole.

Step 3

create your neck hole pattern (part 2)

Make a point 1 inch back for you back neckline.

Step 4

create your neck hole pattern (part 3)

divide your neck measurement by 6 and make a point on both sides

Step 5

create your neck hole pattern (part 4)

add 1 inch to the side measurement and make a point on the front.

Then connect all of these point. If you have them available, French curve rulers are very helpful for getting a nice smooth curve around the neckline, but you can also draw the lines in by hand.

Step 6

create a shoulder slope

Draw a guideline 1 inch down from the fabric fold line. Make a dot on the guideline a shoulder length from the side of the neck. This will give you a sloped shoulder.

Repeat this for the other sides of the grid. These act as the legs of two shoulder darts that we’ll sew together in step 12.

Step 7

Make a test pattern and cut the front slit

Make a slit on the center from of the pattern. To make sure it will fit over your head, make a test pattern with paper. If you can’t fit it over your head cut a deeper slit or widen the sides of the neck.

Step 8

Cut 2 long fabric strips

Cut 2 strips that are the entire width of fabric (60″) that are 4 inches wide

Step 9

cut your neck hole

draw a grid with erasable pen or chalk at the center of your fabric and line up your paper pattern. Then cut the neckhole.

Step 10

cut your slit

Cut a slit in the front side of the fabric based on your mocked up pattern.

Step 11

hem your slit

Double fold hem the slit on both sides. It can be helpful to put a bar tack at the bottom of the slit or a dab of fray check.

Step 12

sew your shoulder darts

Draw your shoulder slope in place on the front and back of the shirt, then sew them together like darts.

Step 13

finish the neckline with bias tape

Use single fold bias tape to finish the neckline. Sew the bias tape to the right side of the shirt, then press it to the reverse side and sew it in place like a narrow facing.