Continuing with my raglan tee series, today we’re sewing a scarf neck sleeveless raglan tee.
What’s awesome about it?
It’s a hot weather top that’s something different than a tank top.
It’s even easier to sew than the classic raglan tee!
Because…no neck binding!
Even cooler? That neck binding gets replaced with a colorful silk scarf. Pop it out and exchange it for another one whenever you want.
It’s an easy way to add a little color to an otherwise plain jersey tee and it’s so so easy for summer wearing. I’ll show you the quick pattern hack, what you need to get it done, and then we’ll sew it. So grab your favorite scarf and 45 minutes and let’s get this done!
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Table of Contents
Supplies for your scarf neck sleeveless raglan tee
How to hack your raglan pattern for this sleeveless raglan tee
Front and back changes
First let’s lower the neckline a tiny bit on the front and back.
Draw a line 1″ below the seamline on your original raglan tee pattern. Do this on the front and the back pieces.
Now we need a new cut line.
Draw a dotted line 3/8″ above that new seamline you just drew on both the front and back. This is the where you’ll cut the body of your t-shirt.
Armhole bindings
No pattern changes here, but you do need to measure how long to make your armhole bindings.
Take a tape measure and stand it on end to measure from your new neck seamline on the front armhole to the bottom of the armhole.
Add this number to the same measurement on the back armhole.
Subtract 1″ from this total. That’s how long your bindings should be. And when we get to cutting, they need to be 1 1/4″ wide.
Facing casing
Now we need a facing casing. Say that 5x fast. It’s a funny little piece, but it’s going to finish off the neckline and make a casing for your scarf to go through.
Draw another dotted line, 2″ below the first one. Do this for your back and front pieces.
Grab your tracing paper (I’m using soil separator cloth from Home Depot) and trace the dotted lines, center front/center back, and the side seam.
Voila! You now have 2 facing casing pieces! Let’s move on to cutting out your scarf neck sleeveless raglan.
Cutting your scarf neck sleeveless raglan tee
From your jersey, cut:
| Pieces to cut | How many? |
| Raglan back | cut 1 on the fold |
| Raglan front | cut 1 on the fold |
| Front facing casing | cut 1 on the fold |
| Back facing casing | cut 1 on the fold |
| Armhole bindings | cut 2: 1 1/4″ wide X the length you need |
Now it’s sew time!
Elizabeth Farr is the writer behind the Elizabeth Made This blog where she shares helpful sewing tips, step by step sewing tutorials and videos to help you explore your creativity through sewing. She has written sewing Eguides and patterns, been a featured teacher at Rebecca Page’s Sewing Summit and Jennifer Maker’s Holiday Maker Fest and her work has appeared in Seamwork and Altered Couture magazines. She also created a line of refashioned garments for SEWN Denver. When her sewing machine isn’t humming, she’s playing and teaching violin, and hanging around a good strategic board game with her husband and 4 kids.
This is such a great idea with an amazing outcome
Thank you Sonja!