DIY easy rectangle top
This one’s a favourite of mine—and it’s so simple! All you need is two rectangles of fabric, a little pressing, and some neat stitching. It is brilliant to practise straight sewing, edge stitching and pressing. I made my one (yes I made two, really love it) using a 1m piece from a closing-down sale. The fabric has this beautiful edges I wanted to keep, so this project became the perfect way to show them off. And the second one is made of a light salmon colour voile, so light and breathable for tropical weather.
Preparation
🧵 suitable fabric types
Lawn
Seersucker
Cheesecloth
Light weight linen
Voile
Cotton eyelet
🧵 Fabric dimensions
- Length of the top: I used the width of my fabric (115 cm), so it drapes over from front to back.
- Width of each rectangle: 50 cm (my fabric was 1 metre wide, so I just split it in half).
💡 You can absolutely adapt this to suit your own measurements and preferences.
Just remember: while my sleeves starts of to be 50 cm wide, I subtract for the neckline facing (5 cm folded, double-folded 2.5 cm) and armhole finish (3 cm folded, double-folded 1.5 cm). So my final look will be 42cm sleve from the neck.
🪡 Let’s get sewing!
1. Cut your fabric
- Two rectangles (mine were 50 x 115 cm)
- Short edges will become the front and back openings, clean finish them by pressing in 3cm, and folding in 1.5cm, stitch down using an edge stitch footer.
2. Prepare the neckline/shoulder facing
- Fold the long edge in by 5 cm, press
- Fold again by 2.5 cm, press
- Stitch down using an edge stitch
3. Create armholes and sew sides
- On the remaining long edge, fold in 3 cm, press
- Fold in again by 1.5 cm, don’t sew yet
- Line up both pieces, wrong sides together, and pin 2 cm in from edge
- Open one fold and, from the top (shoulder), measure 25 cm down for the armhole
- Start sewing from that point downwards along the pressed fold
- Refold, pin again, and edge stitch the full side seam
4. Sew centre front and back
- I used 27 cm for the front neckline and 9 cm for the back, pin down
- Try the top on and adjust pins to test the neckline shape
- Once happy, stitch around to secure.
🔥 Pro tip: Use a heat-resistant ironing ruler to help with pressing!
You can DIY one from thick cardboard—*just avoid plastic or laminated materials.*
🎉 And there you go!
An easy, breezy top made in under 2 hours. Great for showing off a beautiful fabric, playing with details, and practicing straight stitches and neat finishes.
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