Tutorial: Braided Neckline

After seeing some braided neckline tops on Pinterest I started thinking about how I could make my own.  It really was easy once I figured out that it wasn’t braiding, but crochet. For this project you will need knit fabric(I used some t-shirts from dollar days at the Goodwill, but next time I’ll start with just knit fabric), scissors, and a large crochet hook.I started by cutting the neck band and sleeves off of my tie dyed shirt and making the navy blue shirt into two inch wide yarn (how to here).Next I cut 1/2” wide slits around the neckline of the shirt, about 1/2” from the edge.  I then cut another row of 1/2” wide slits about an inch from the edge, staggering my cuts.If you know how to crochet this will be super easy, but don’t worry if you don’t, I know you can do this.  In the middle of the back, starting with the row of slits that is 1” from the edge pull a loop of the t-shirt yarn from the wrong side through to the right side using the crochet hook. (I know there are two loops in this picture, I got carried away and forgot to take a photo of the one).Put the hook, from the outside of the shirt, into the next hole to the left and pull another loop of yarn to the right side.  You should now have two loops on your hook.Pull the second loop you made through the first loop, you have just made one chain stitch.  Continue pulling another loop through the next hole to the left and through the right hand loop on the hook.
Go all the way around.  When you get back to the hole where the first loop came through make one more chain stitch and then work the next row of slits by pulling a loop through the closest hole to the left of where you are.When you are finished tie working end to the beginning tail where you started. I know it sounds complicated, but it’s not and if you need help you can ask here or email me.
Things to remember:

• your slits don’t have to be perfect, they are going to stretch and you can’t tell if they are wonky
• This technique gathers the fabric, use a shirt that is larger than you normally wear
• crochet loosely, you want the neckline to remain stretchy
• you don’t have to used t-shirt yarn, you can just crochet the slits.  This makes a smaller, rigid braid and more gathered fabric
• after you finish the first round you can switch directions with your crochet so the rows look different (that’s what I did)
• knit fabric doesn’t fray, so you don’t have to finish the edges, but you can

I haven’t finished this top (hemmed the sleeves or adjusted the length because when I finished the edging I realized that there was a hole in the fabric right in the middle of the front, so I’m going to think on how to remedy that situation.  I might end up making this a bubble dress for Little Miss, we'll see.
Have a super crafty weekend!!!