Sewing your scarf neck sleeveless raglan tee
1. Prep your hems + sew side seams
First press up your hem on the back and front. I’m using 3/4″ hem allowance here, but go with your preference or what your pattern calls for.
Next, place front on back, right sides together and sew the side seams.
When I drafted this tee, I added 3/8″ seam allowances. Use the seam allowance your pattern calls for here.
Also, I’m using a serger for the side seams. If you don’t have a serger, use a narrow zigzag stitch (0.5mm width, 2.5mm length) and stitch your seam as you would a woven seam. Knits do not ravel, so you won’t have to worry about finishing the raw edge.
When a twin needle is called for, use the same narrow zigzag setting on your sewing machine. Learn more about the magic of the narrow zigzag stitch in the Best Stitches for Knit Fabrics.
2. Finishing the armholes
Match the wrong side of an armhole binding to the WRONG side of one of the armholes.
Stitch the armhole binding to the t-shirt body all around the armhole seam. You’ll need to stretch the binding gently to fit. Be careful to stretch the binding only and not the body of the tee.
Press the raw edge of the binding towards the seam so that it’s lined up right at the stitch line.
Now wrap the pressed edge around the seam.
Topstitch the pressed edge close to the edge. Use a narrow zigzag or a twin needle. (I’m using my coverstitch machine, but it looks very much like the twin needle).
Repeat with the second armhole.
3. Prep your facing casings
Iron a 3/8″ wide strip of fusible interfacing on the wrong side of the armhole edges of the facing casing pieces. Press the edges 3/8″ towards the center of the facing casings.
Topstitch the ends of your facing casings from the right side with a twin needle. Now they’re hemmed!
Press up 1/4″ towards the wrong side on the bottom of the front and back facing casings. If you can believe it, we’re almost done!
4. Make the casings
Match the front facing to the front piece at the neck edge, right sides together.
Stitch the facing to the front along the neck edge with a 3/8″ seam allowance. Press the seam towards the facing.
5. Understitch the casing
Next we need to understitch the seam. Flip the seam open like a book and sew a line on the facing close to the seamline.
Now flip the facing towards the inside. Press the neck edge again so it’s nice and pretty.
6. Hand basting always wins
You can skip this next step, but it’s a big help if, like me you have a hard time topstitching from the right side AND hitting what you’re stitching down without missing.
Take some contrast thread and a needle and make some big stitches to hold down the casing in place. Try to make your stitches straight, close to the pressed bottom edge.
7. Topstitch the casing
Now from the right side, topstitch your front facing down from armhole edge to armhole edge with your twin needle. Use your basting line as a guide for stitching. You won’t need the basting thread anymore, so pull it out now.
Flip your tee over to the back piece and grab your back facing casing piece. Repeat steps 4-7 to make the back casing.
8. Hem the tee
Use your twin needle to sew your hem. The sewing is done, so now it’s time for the fun!
9. Add the scarf to your tee
*Confession*: Maybe I made this project so that I had an excuse to use my elastic threader. It’s a really simple tool, but one of my favorites because what it does, it does really really well.
Thread the looped end of the elastic threader through the backside of the front casing. Keep the threader going through towards the back casing. Poke the end through the side neck.
Now grab your scarf or ribbon and push the end through the loop of the elastic threader. Pull on the opposite end of the threader to bring the scarf all the way through the casing.
You can do the same thing with a safety pin, it’ll just take a little longer. Attach the safety pin to the end of your scarf and carefully move it through the casing all the way around through the front, towards the back and out again at the side.
10. Adjust and tie
Video version of the tutorial
Now you can put on your new scarf neck raglan tee. You should be able to see the scarf at the shoulders between the front and back pieces. Adjust the scarf so that it sits comfortably, and tie the scarf ends together on the side.
And that’s it! I told you this was a super easy top to make! If you ever want to change out your scarf for the laundry or to change up the look, just pull it out through the casing and switcheroo!
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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!