Crochet Summer Halter Top with a Lace-Up Back

This halter top fits you rather than a standard size, because you measure as you go. The body is a band of half double crochet, made a little shorter than your waist measurement so the back laces up with a gap and the top hugs you. The front panel then rises from the band and narrows in three stages up to the neck, where two long chains tie behind your neck.

It's from Elise's video on her lilthings channel, worked with two strands of cotton held together.

Video tutorial by Elise on her YouTube channel, lilthings: watch "crochet halter top tutorial🧸💛crochet summer top for beginner" on YouTube.

Written from the video. Measure yourself and try it on at each stage.

Materials

• 5-ply cotton in yellow, held double
• 4.0 mm hook
• Stitch markers, a tape measure, scissors and a darning needle

Body band

Sizing: chain until the chain, stretched, is 10 to 15 cm smaller than your waist. For a 76 cm waist, Elise's was 66 cm. The missing 10 cm is the gap at the back that you lace across.

Chain 2 more and work 19 rows of hdc, until the band is about 14.5 cm tall.

Front panel

Wrap the band round you and mark the two underarm points, so that the same number of stitches are left over at each side of the back (Elise had 9 on each side). Join yarn at one underarm point and work only across the front stitches.

Stage 1 (6 rows): hdc across, with 1 hdc2tog at the end of each row only. The start of each row, where the chain 2 is, stays straight. If you want more coverage, work 3 extra rows without decreases.

Stage 2 (9 rows): 1 hdc2tog at both the start and the end of every row.

Stage 3 (5 rows): taper faster with two decreases at each side: [hdc2tog, 2 hdc, hdc2tog] at the start and the same at the end of each row, up to your collarbone.

The three stages make the neckline steeper as it rises, like the shape of a halter.

Neck ties and back lacing

Without fastening off, chain about 40 cm from the top right corner for the first neck tie. Join yarn at the top left corner and chain a matching 40 cm tie.

Make a long chain cord and lace it criss-cross through the row ends at the back, like a corset, then tie it.

Tips

• Measure stretched. Half double crochet stretches more than it looks. Size the chain stretched, or the top will be loose.
• Mirror your decreases. In stages 2 and 3, both sides should taper exactly the same, or the neckline leans.
• Try it on at every stage. It's easy to add or remove a row before moving on.

Frequently asked questions