The Casey Draping Vertical Stripe Crochet Top is a free crochet pattern below that is designed as a made to measure, size inclusive and easy crochet pattern. It is designed and written specifically for beginners.
Beginner crocheters that are excited to move on from dish cloths and blankets to beautiful wearables are our true passion! It’s why we started this blog!
When you first start crocheting clothes, sometimes you aren’t quite sure what you like to crochet and what fits you well. So we thought it would be great to make our crochet patterns freely accessible! If a pattern isn’t working for you (or is not as fun as you had hoped)…you can move on to another one without wasting the cost of a pattern.
Our other major goal is to write made to measure patterns (versus commercially sized patterns XS, S, M etc). This means you are in charge of your measurements, your gauge, your yarn, your hook size and your own crocheting tension. We admit, sometimes it’s a challenge to write made to measure patterns – but we really believe that if you are going to take all this time to make your own clothing, and every body shape is different, then lets try to write and design patterns that cater for that.
The Casey Draping Vertical Stripe Crochet Top is a beautiful striped vertical stitch. We based it off the Quinn Fast Summer Crochet Tank – one of our most popular tank tops. However as much as we love the V neck design on the Quinn, writing that V neck, along with vertical stitching as a made to measure pattern, meant there was a LOT of math. We wanted to create another similar pattern that was even easier…and we think we achieved that with The Casey Draping Vertical Stripe Crochet Top.
The Casey Draping Vertical Stripe Crochet Top has all the beautiful elements of a vertical stitch row, but by making it a square neckline, it cuts out a lot of math. We added a few rows of neckline edging which gives it a more rounded look, however the construction of this neckline is basically square.
We also added a striped effect. We love stripes and you do not need to follow our stripe design of two grey rows and 1 white row. It’s even easier if you want to crochet this in a solid colour. We also went super oversized and increased the armhole depth for that drapey feel. As we expected, it turned out more top vs a tank.
Once again the beauty of made to measure patterns … you get to customize it the way you want.
When it comes to yarn selection, we went with a fine cotton and used a slightly larger hook size for extra drape. It’s one of our favourite 100% cotton yarns, because it’s so soft. Stay away from scratchy stiff cotton and explore cotton blends such as cotton and bamboo or cotton and acrylic. Find out all the details of the yarn we used along with some great substitutions in the section “Crochet Materials” below.
So let’s get started on The Casey Draping Vertical Stripe Crochet Top!
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DESCRIPTION OF The Casey Draping Vertical Stripe Crochet Top
The Casey Draping Vertical Stripe Crochet Top is an oversized sleeveless top with a simple half double crochet stitch that is crocheted vertically and not horizontally. We show you how to crochet a striped effect although it is even easier if you want to crochet this pattern in a solid colour. The top has simple edging around the neckline and base.
The Casey Draping Vertical Stripe Crochet Top is a made to measure pattern, size inclusive crochet pattern. It is designed for beginners, is super fast and easy to crochet.
CROCHET MEASUREMENT & SIZES
The pattern instructions for The Casey Draping Vertical Stripe Crochet Top are made to measure, based on your required measurements.
Kiks + Jack Crochet will always try to write patterns that are “made to measure” (versus graded sized patterns) so that crocheters can get the wonderful benefits of making a garment that fits perfectly. However we do appreciate taking measurements can be inconvenient for some and have also provided standard measurements for those who wish to use it.
To use this pattern you will need the following measurements and you should write them down for easy reference:
Finished Length Measurement: Measure from your hips (or where you would like the top to end) up to the top of your shoulder.
Finished Width Measurement: Measure around the fullest part of your chest/bust and divide by 2. Do not draw the tape too tightly. Add 2-3 inches depending on how oversized you would like your top (we added 3 inches).
Shoulder Strap Measurement: Measure from the edge of your shoulder to the start of your collar bone. If you want your strap oversized so they hang over your shoulders like little mock sleeves (see our version) you can add 1-1.5 inches (we added an inch). If you want more of a tank look, then keep the shoulder strap measurement as is.
Length to Armpit Measurement: Measure from your hips (or where you would like the top to end) up to your armpit
Armhole Depth Measurement: Measure from the top outside edge of the shoulder down to the armpit
If you would like to use standard sizing for the chest/bust – then for XS (S, M , L, XL, 2XL, 3XL, 4XL, 5XL) use approximately 28-30 (32-34, 36-38, 40-42, 44-46, 48-50, 52-54, 56-58, 60-62) inches or 71-76 (81-86, 91-96, 102-107, 112-117, 122-127, 132-137, 142-147, 152-158) centimetres.
If you would like to use standard sizing for armhole depth – then use approximately 6-6.5 (6.5-7, 7-7.5, 7.5-8, 8-8.5, 8.5-9, 9-9.5, 9.5-10, 10-10.5) inches or 15.5-16.5 (16.5-17.5, 17.5-19, 19-20.5, 20.5-21.5, 21.5-23, 23-24, 24-25.5, 25.5-26.5) centimetres
Note: The Casey Draping Vertical Stripe Crochet Top is designed as a classic fit with significant positive ease.
CROCHET GAUGE
Using a 4.5mm hook (US 7), approximately 14 stitches and 14 rows of half double crochet in 4″ x 4″ (10 cm x 10 cm).
The Casey Draping Vertical Stripe Crochet Top is a made to measure pattern and can accommodate for different gauges, however we suggest you select a yarn and hook that has a similar gauge to ours.
CROCHET MATERIALS for The Casey Draping Vertical Stripe Crochet Top
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We only recommend products that we love and that we use.
Yarn brand: Milla Mia Naturally Soft Cotton. Weight 2/Sport/Fine. 50g per skein and 180 yards (or 165 metres). Approximately 5 skeins or 900 yards (or 825 m) used for our garment (approximately S) with a finished width of 19 inches and a finished length of 23 inches approximately.
Color used is Mid Grey and Off White. Our stripe pattern is 2 grey stripes and 1 white stripe so we required approximately 2:1 ratio of grey to off white.
Other yarns we would love to use with this pattern include:
Yarn brand: Truboo by Lion Brand Yarn. Weight 3/Light/Light Worsted.
Yarn Brand: Rainbow Bamboo by Hobbii. Weight 2/Fine/Sport.
Alize Diva Silky Effect: super affordable and lots of colours
4.5 mm crochet hook (US size 7). We use many different crochet hooks and if you are looking for some great budget friendly ergonomic crochet hooks try these from Amazon. It comes in a set and the grip and the shape is amazing for beginner crocheters. However our absolute favourite, slightly more pricey crochet hooks are clover crochet hooks.
Measuring Tape. We use a super budget friendly measuring tape. Make sure it has cm and inches (not all patterns are written with both). We are always crocheting on the go so we like our tapes small and compact and we put one in our design area, one in our bag and one in our car. Retractable works best! We use these super cheap mini measuring tapes from Amazon.
Stitch Markers. We use these locking crochet stitch markers from Amazon and these stitch markers that do not lock. They are cheap and colourful.
Blocking Pins. You should buy more pins than you think you need. If you are going to take the time to block don’t skimp on the pins. We like T shaped stainless steel pins that don’t rust when they get wet. We love these blocking T pins from Amazon and the tin means the pins don’t fall out on the floor.
Yarn Needle. Buy blunt needles with large eyes for yarn. We use these Yarn Needles because we like the convenient bottle, they are budget friendly and we get lots of them!
Scissors. We love these thread snippers because they are cheap, we get two of them AND they come with a case (some don’t). Don’t carry these without the case! After you use thread snippers you won’t want to snip with scissors.
CROCHET STITCHES & ABBREVIATIONS
The Casey Draping Vertical Stripe Crochet Top uses US terminology.
ch = chain (With one loop on your hook, yarn over and pull through the loop)
hdc = half double crochet (Yarn over and insert hook into desired stitch. Yarn over and pull through the stitch. You now have three loops on your hook. Yarn over and pull through all three loops)
sl st = slip stitch
tch = turning chain
st = stitch
sk = skip stitch
* = repeat the instructions following the * as directed
Note unless stated otherwise turning chains do not count as a stitch if there are 1 or 2 chains and the turning chain does count as a stitch if there are 3 or 4 chains.
SUMMARY OF CROCHET CONSTRUCTION for The Casey Draping Vertical Stripe Crochet Top
The Casey Draping Vertical Stripe Crochet Top is made by first crocheting a front panel. The panels will be crocheted vertically (up and down rows) and not horizontally (side to side rows). We will crochet a shoulder strap, then start to crochet the square neckline. We will finish off by crocheting the shoulder strap on the other side.
Next we will crochet a large rectangular back panel that is the same width and length as the front panel. We will seam the two panels together to complete the top. We will crochet a large ribbed edge around the neckline and edging at the base.
This top is made primarily from half double crochets.
If you would like little “mock” sleeves as in our version, you will need to increase the width of your panels and shoulder strap width. See Crochet Measurements & Sizes in the section above.
PERMISSIONS & COPYRIGHT
Please do not publish or share The Casey Draping Vertical Stripe Crochet Top pattern as your own. You may crochet items to sell using this pattern upon permission by email at [email protected]. Please link back to this post in exchange.
Please do NOT use my photos as your own photos.
PATTERN INSTRUCTIONS for The Casey Draping Vertical Stripe Crochet Top
Crochet the Front Panel Left Strap
Use Yarn A (In Kiks +Jack Crochet’s version this was grey)
Chain a length equal to your “Finished Length Measurement” (not width) and count the number of chains at the same time. Write down the number of the chains for future reference. Turn.
Row 1: ch2, hdc in the 3rd st from the hook, hdc in each st across until the end. Turn
Row 2: ch2, hdc in 1st st, hdc in each st across until the end of the vertical row. Turn
Switch to Yarn B (In our version this was white, see note below):
Row 3: repeat row 2
Just a note: Kiks +Jack Crochet’s stripe for this version are two rows of grey and one row of white. We absolutely love the end result, however there was quite a bit of weaving in at the end. Another option is to crochet two rows of grey and two rows of white and draw the strings up the ends of the row without fastening off each time. Kiks +Jack Crochet will be crocheting an edge around the bottom and neckline. You can customize a stripe pattern that works for you, you do not need to follow ours. Of course if you are crocheting this as a solid, then you have very little weaving in at all.
It is a good time to check you are completely happy with the length of the top. Hold the three rows up against you. If you want to make changes to the length, we suggest you frog and start again.
Continue to repeat row 2 based on your desired stripe pattern (ours is 2 rows of grey and 1 row of white) until the width of the panel is equal to your “Shoulder Strap Measurement”.
Kiks + Jack Crochet example: Our finished length is 23 inches. Our shoulder strap measurement is 4.5 inches. At this point, our panel looks like this (not to scale illustrative only)
To summarize, you should now have a thin rectangular panel that is the “Finished Length Measurement” long and the “Shoulder Strap Measurement” wide.
The neckline instructions below assume you are now at the bottom edge of your top and the next row is heading up towards the neckline.
Crochet the Front Panel Neckline
Let’s start crocheting neckline.
The square neckline is created by shortening the vertical rows from here. How much do we shorten the row by? We do not crochet the entire “Finished Length” but instead stop short once you have reached your “Length to Armpit Measurement“.
We assume you are at the bottom edge heading up towards the neckline and you are following your desired stripe pattern.
Row 1 (heading towards the neckline and count your stitches as you crochet this row): ch2, hdc into the 1st st, hdc in each st. Stop when this row has reached the “Length to Armpit Measurement”. Write down the number of stitches. Turn
Kiks + Jack Crochet example: Our finished length is 23 inches (85 chains). Our length to armpit is 16 inches (60 chains). Therefore we crochet from the bottom edge towards the top and stop after 16 inches and we do not crochet the remaining 7 inches.
Row 2: (heading away from the neckline): ch2, hdc into the 1st st, hdc in each st until the end of the row. Turn
Row 3: (heading towards the neckline): ch2, hdc into the 1st st, hdc in each st until the end of the row. Turn
Repeat rows 2 and 3 in that order and follow your desired stripe pattern until the total width of your panel (including the width of the left strap) equals your “Finished Width Measurement” minus your “Shoulder Strap Measurement”.
Kiks + Jack Crochet example: Our finished width measurement is 19 inches. Our shoulder strap measurement is 4.5 inches. We repeat rows 2 and 3 following our stripe pattern for 10 inches and the total width of our panel at this point is equal to 14.5 inches (19 inches – 4.5 inches).
At this point, our front panel looks like this (not to scale illustrative only):
Crochet the Front Panel Right Strap
Remember to keep following your stripe pattern as you crochet the instructions below.
If you are at the bottom edge (away from the neckline) then:
Row 1: (heading towards the neckline): ch2, hdc into the 1st st, hdc in each st until the end of the row. At the end of the row, chain a length that takes the row back up to the full length of your top. You wrote down the number of stitches for the “Finished Length Measurement” and the “Length to Armpit Measurement” so the difference between the two will be the number of chains you should chain here.
In Kiks + Jack example: Our Finished Length Measurement is 23 inches (85 chains). Our Length to Armpit Measurement is 16 inches (60 chains). Therefore after we have finished crocheting the neckline width we chain 7 inches (25 chains) to start crocheting the right strap.
The diagram below (not to scale illustrative only) shows how we crochet a chain of 7 inches (25 chains) to start the right strap.
Row 2 (heading towards the bottom edge): ch2, hdc into the 3rd stitch from the hook, hdc in each chain stitch (this may be a little fiddly), when you reach the row, hdc into each stitch until the end of the row. Turn
Row 3 (heading towards the neckline): ch2, hdc into 1st st, hdc in each st up to the end of the row. Turn
Row 4 (heading towards the bottom edge): ch2, hdc into 1st st, hdc in each st up to the end of the row. Turn
Repeat rows 3-4 in that order following your stripe pattern until the strap on the right side is equal to your “Shoulder Strap Measurement” (and equal to the strap width on the left side).
Fasten off.
If you are at the top (at your neckline), then immediately start your chain upwards to achieve the “Finished Length Measurement” and continue to Row 2 above.
Our front panel looks like this upon completion (not to scale illustrative only)
Crochet the Back Panel
Use Yarn A (In our version this was grey)
Chain a length equal to your “Finished Length Measurement” (not width). Turn.
You should crochet the same number of chains as your wrote down for your front panel and you should double check after a few rows it is the same length as your front panel. For example we would crochet 23 inches or 85 chains.
Row 1: ch2, hdc in the 3rd st from the hook, hdc in each st across until the end. Turn
Row 2: ch2, hdc in 1st st, hdc in each st across until the end. Turn
Use Yarn B (In Kiks +Jack Crochet’s version this was white):
Row 3: repeat row 2
Repeat rows 2 based on your stripe pattern until the width of the panel is equal to your “Finished Width Measurement” and is equal to the width of your front panel.
Fasten off.
Assembly and Finishing the Casey Draping Vertical Stripe Crochet To
Kiks + Jack Crochet highly recommends blocking your panels before assembly. We block our panels by pinning all the pieces on to an old yoga mat and manipulating the shape and edges so the front and back panel are similar. We then spray it with water focusing on the edges and ensuring it is well saturated. Do not remove the pins until the panels are completely bone dry.
Step 1: Seam the Front and Back Panel at the shoulder.
Place the front and back panels together with the right sides facing together. With a yarn needle, seam the two panels together across the shoulders on the front panel starting from the edge and across the top.
Fasten off.
Step 2: Seam the Sides Together
Measure from the top at the shoulders and down the side, your “Armhole Depth Measurement” + 1 inch and place a stitch marker through both panels. Do the same on the other side.
Kiks +Jack Crochet Tip: Try it on and see if you are comfortable with the arm opening. Adjust the stitch markers if necessary and make sure it is even on both sides. We wanted an oversized arm opening and increased this by 2 inches in total.
Double check the panels are facing wrong side up (right sides together). With a yarn needle and matching yarn, seam the two panels together from the bottom, up to the stitch markers, on both sides.
Fasten off.
Crochet around the Neckline
Using Yarn A (grey) attach the yarn on the left side of the neckline.
Round 1: ch2, hdc around the neckline evenly, sl st to join
Kiks +Jack Crochet Tip: It is more important that the hdc are even rather than the actual number of hdc stitches.
Round 2: ch2, hdc in 1st st, hdc around, sl st to join
Using Yarn B (white) – note this is based on our stripe pattern but feel free to customize this to your stripe pattern or desired neckline edging.
Round 3: repeat round 2
Fasten off.
Crochet around the Base of the Top
Using Yarn A (grey) attach the yarn on the left side of the top at the seam.
Round 1: ch2, hdc around the neckline evenly, sl st to join
Kiks +Jack Crochet Tip: It is more important that the hdc are even rather than the actual number of hdc stitches.
Round 2: ch2, hdc in 1st st, hdc around, sl st to join
Using Yarn B (white) – note this is based on our stripe pattern but feel free to customize this to your stripe pattern or desired neckline edging.
Round 3: repeat round 2
Kiks +Jack Crochet Tip: If you crochet in any strings as you crochet this edging around the base, you may possibly reduce the amount of weaving in.
Fasten off.
Finish & Celebrate The Casey Draping Vertical Stripe Crochet Top
Weave in all your ends.
Congratulations you have finished the Casey Draping Vertical Stripe Crochet Top!
We hope you enjoyed this free crochet pattern.
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