Crew necks are a popular style of neckline for knitted tops. Unfortunately, crew necks don’t suit every body type. If you bought a crew neck and didn’t discover that it was uncomfortable or unflattering until you wore it, you may be wondering what to do. One option is to alter your crew neck into a v neck. This a crew neck to v neck tutorial.

Introduction

Both long and short sleeved t-shirts are available as U-necks, V-necks, and Crew necks. T-shirt knits are stretchy so t-shirt necklines are re-enforced with ribbing. I watched several Youtube Tutorials on how to convert crew necks into v necks and how to sew v necks from scratch. My attempts to use these tutorials to alter a crew neck into a v neck didn’t go well. I examined my wardrobe to see how commercial v necks are sewn. The method I describe below was developed for crew necks using 1” wide ribbing (1” when unfolded) and can be used to alter mens’ and women’s cotton crew necks of any sleeve length.

Step 0 Gather T-shirts

Collect your clean crew neck t-shirts. If your crew necks are overly worn or stained, you may wish to omit altering them. Of course, if you wish to practice this technique on an old, worn out crew neck, feel free to do so.

Step 1 Remove Ribbing

Rip the two seams holding the ribbing to the neckline from the front of your crew neck t-shirt. I used a sharp seam ripper. Stop ripping ~1/2” from the shoulder seams. I ripped the stitches all the way to the shoulder seams on the t-shirts I altered and the ribbing on the shoulder seams made it difficult to sew the neckline ribbing back on properly.

Step 2 Prepare Ribbing

Cut the ribbing in half then stretch both ends gently.

Pin the ribbing ends, right-sides together, making sure they’re not twisted. Straight stitch ¼” from the ends. Press the seam open.

Step 3 Prepare The New Neckline

Fold your shirt in half. Align your side seams and shoulder seams carefully. Measure down from the middle of the front of the shirt no more than 2”. If your v is deeper than 2” you wont have enough ribbing to finish the new v shaped neckline. I find a deep plunging neckline to be overly revealing so I measured down 1.5”. A shallower v (such as 1” down) will be more subtle.

Make a mark with fabric chalks, fabric pencils or washable markers, then draw the “v” on one side of the shirt front.

Cut out the new v-shaped neckline.

Step 4 Pin Ribbing to New Neckline

With your t-shirt right-side out, pin the ribbing to your new neckline starting at the apex of the v. Align the raw edges and make sure your ribbing isn’t twisted. I used a large head pin to secure the centre of the ribbing to the centre of the new neckline.

Step 5 Sew Ribbing to New Neckline

I used contrasting thread so that you can easily see what I did. Feel free to use matching thread if you prefer a more subtle look. Zigzag 1/8” from the raw edges of the ribbing and neckline, making sure to pivot at the apex of your v. Avoid stretching the t-shirt knit as this will distort the shape of the v neck.

Press the seam flat so that the folded edge of the ribbing is along the top edge of the neckline.

Topt stitch through the shirt, parallel to the ribbing seam, catching the raw edges of the ribbing from behind. Use the same seam allowance that the back ribbing is sewn with. In my case, that was 1/8”.

Your crew neck to v neck alteration is now complete!

Here are some photos of my finished v necks. I used the method described in this post to sew the blue one and it turned out great! The green shirt was my first attempt to convert a crew neck to a v neck using a Youtube tutorial. It didn’t turn out so I ripped the stitches and tried again using the method described in this post. Ripping the stitches caused the neckline to stretch in places so the neckline was distorted into a gentler v neck.

Conclusion

Altering your crew necks to v necks is a great way to refresh your wardrobe on a budget. It’s quicker, easier and more cost effective than sewing a new t-shirt from scratch. Get new life out of that seldom worn crew with this crew neck to v neck tutorial.

Did you like this tutorial? Have you tried any crew neck to v neck tutorials? Comment below and/or Pin me for later!

Tanya

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