My Latest Make: DIY Wrap Top

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Hey Guys! In today's post, I will be showing you my latest make which is a long sleeved wrap top. I've also drawn out some diagrams of how I altered the pattern to make this top, so hopefully you'll be able to make one as well :)

The Pattern

I have broken down the step of creating the pattern below:

Step 1: Basic Pattern



  1. To start of making the wrap top pattern, trace around an existing t-shirt. This top should be made out of a non-stretch fabric. It doesn't need to be anything fancy, just a simple t-shirt. I've used this method on every pattern I've made, just tracing around existing pieces of clothing I have. This is similar to making a basic bodice block that most sewers make.
  2. Locate the waistline on your top pattern (marked with the red line) and mark this on your pattern. Extend the waistline 4 inches from the center front. Connect a line from the neck shoulder seam down to this point. I also curved the bottom of the pattern up towards this point as well. It should look similar to the image
  3. You should end up with something that looks like image 1c)
  4. For the back pattern trace around basic top again.
  5. This back piece will be cut on fold as shown in the image.
  6. For the sleeves, my basic top had short sleeves, but for my wrap top, I wanted longer sleeves, so I just extended my pattern again.
  7. You will need to cut two of the sleeve pattern pieces. You can choose whatever length you want, these were just my preference.

Step 2: Bodice front



  1. Similar to the back bodice, use the same measurement of 6 inches to measure up the side hem. Draw a horizontal line across your top
  2. You will again end up with two pieces, where the top piece remains unchanged, and the bottom piece we will be altering. As shown in the drawing, draw a vertical line down that piece (the dashed line), splitting it into two
  3. Cut the piece along the dashed line and spread apart. I spread it apart by 8 inches again. Connect the pieces together, smoothing out the curve
  4. You should end up with these two pieces, again the top piece unchanged.

Step 3: Sleeves



  1. I wanted to add some gathers at the bottom of the sleeve near the cuff. So start of tracing the sleeve and extended down to the length of your arm
  2. Instead of the sleeve tapering down to your wrist, I just drew a vertical line straight down the side seams (dashed line)
  3. You should end up with this shaped sleeve

Step 4: Back Pattern Pieces



  1. About 6 inches above the bottom hem, mark a horizontal line across the bodice back. This is where we are going to separate the pattern to make the ruffle
  2. You should end up with something like this. The top part of the bodice remains unchanged, while the bottom half we will be altering
  3. Depending on how much ruffle you want, extend your pattern from the fold line. For reference I extended my piece about 8 inches
  4. You should now end up with two pieces as shown, remembering that the top half of the back bodice remains unchanged

Step 5: Final Pattern Pieces



Once you've done the alterations, you are finished. The drawing shows how many pieces to cut of each pattern. I've added two additional pieces; a cuff piece which you cut 2 off, measuring 2 inches wide and length is your wrist measurement. and the belts which you also cut two off and measure 4 inches wide and you can make these as long as you want.

The Final Top

I really really like this top. I absolutely love it! Haha! I love the thickness of the ties as I feel it makes the top look more high-end. I like the length of the sleeves as well. I do wish I made the sleeves slighter more wider at the wrists, to add more gathers/ did more rows of gathering because I think the gathers could've been neater. For this version, I think the fabric is either a heavy viscose or cotton. It was so easy to sew up and I think I'll probably make another long sleeve version as well. I've already cut out a black version which doesn't have the extra ruffles at the bottom, but I've added some design variations to it.

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