Easy Crochet Ribbed Summer Top for Beginners

Garments sound scary to beginners, but this top is a rectangle. You work it sideways, so the rows run up and down your body and the ridges of back-loop half double crochet make a ribbing that stretches around you. When the rectangle reaches around your chest, you seam it into a tube and add two chain straps.

There is no shaping and no gauge to match: you check the fit by wrapping it around yourself. The pattern comes from Elise's beginner video on her lilthings channel.

Video tutorial by Elise on her YouTube channel, lilthings: watch "how to crochet top for absolute beginner tutorial | easy crochet summer top pattern" on YouTube.

Written from the video tutorial.

Materials

• 10-ply (worsted / aran) acrylic or a cotton blend
• 4.0 mm hook
• A tape measure, stitch markers, scissors and a darning needle

How the top fits together

Because the work is turned sideways, the two directions swap:

• The foundation chain sets the height of the top, from under your arms to the hem.
• The number of rows sets the width, all the way around your body.

Pattern

Foundation

Decide how tall you want the top to be. Elise chains 46, plus 2 for turning. For a longer or cropped top, chain more or fewer.

Row 1: starting in the 3rd chain from the hook, work 1 hdc in each chain. (46 hdc) Put a marker in the first and last stitches.

Ribbing

Every following row: chain 2, turn, and work 1 hdc in the back loop only of each stitch. (46 hdc)

The back loop is the one further from you. Working only into it leaves the front loop as a ridge, and the ridges stack into ribbing. Our back loop and front loop guide shows where to put your hook.

Keep going until the rectangle wraps snugly around your bust when it's slightly stretched. Elise's took about 72 rows. Count your rows at the marker to keep track.

Seam and straps

1. Fold the rectangle with the right side inside, so the foundation edge meets the last row.
2. Slip stitch the two edges together through the back loops, all 46 stitches. A back-loop seam blends into the ribbing and stretches with it.
3. Turn the tube right side out.
4. Crochet two chains of about 60 and attach them from front to back for straps. Try the top on and adjust the length before you sew them in.

Tips

• Mark the first and last stitch of every row. The last stitch of a row is easy to miss, and a lost stitch every few rows makes the top shorter at one end.
• Measure stretched, not relaxed. Ribbing pulls in a lot; if it fits loosely while you hold it flat, it will slip down when you wear it.
• Leave a long tail at the start: it's handy for sewing the seam.

Frequently asked questions