Sew a DIY sleeveless raglan tee with scarf neck

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

woman wearing a scarf neck sleeveless raglan tee

Raglan tee pattern (DIY raglan t-shirt pattern or check out raglan tee patterns for everyone for your favorite!) front and back pieces only
tracing paper
strip of fusible interfacing about 12″ long x 3/8″ wide
jersey fabric for your tee: probably less than 1 yard, whatever your size requires
vintage scarf or about 1 yard of ribbon: something colorful!
An elastic threader*(affiliate link) or a large safety pin
Basic sewing kit: Tape measure, sewing machine, stretch jersey needle, stretch twin needle, scissors, pins if you like

How to hack your raglan pattern for this sleeveless raglan tee

Front and back changes

picture showing changes needed to the back piece of a raglan tee pattern to make a facing for a sleeveless raglan tee

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

measuring the seamline on the armhole of a raglan tee

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

picture showing where to trace on the back piece of a raglan tee to make a facing for a diy sleeveless raglan tee

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.

picture showing where to trace on the front piece of a raglan tee to make a facing for a diy sleeveless raglan tee

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

cut pieces for a diy 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!