I had these two Arlington shirts that I loved. The fabric was soft and comfortable and they fit just right with no pinching or pulling. I loved the band around the bottom. However, I didn’t love that they had mock turtlenecks. They look super cute when I wear them, but it’s just too hot where I live for me to be able to wear these shirts as much as I wanted to. For this reason I decided it was time to change the neckline. This is what I did.

Let’s Make it Square!

I wanted the neckline to match the shirt’s cuteness so I wanted to try a square neckline. I have seen a few other people do this too and I loved the idea. Luckily I have another pattern with a square neckline I could adjust to fit this shirt. I just used the facing portion of the square neck pattern. You could easily make your own if you don’t have a pattern to swap necklines with. Or simple trace a square neckline on the front of your shirt.

 

First things first!

I turned the shirt inside out and then cut off the mock-neck. Then I folded the shirt in half and  adjusted the facing portion of the pattern to fit my shirt by folding the pattern a little.  Once I had done that I traced the square part on to one side of the shirt and cut it out. Then I flipped that piece to the other side and cut it out. 

I left the back of the shirt alone because it was already the right shape and size that I needed. It matched the facing almost perfectly. Only had to fold the pattern a little. 

Neckline facing….

I used the adjusted facing pieces to cut out the front and back facings and iron some fusible interfacing onto them. After I interfaced them I sewed them together at the shoulder seams. Before I attached them to the square neckline though, I did a staystitch around the neckline so it wouldn’t stretch out and lose its shape. Then I pinned the facing to the neckline and sewed it at a ⅜ inch seam allowance.

Then I snipped into the front corners and notched the back curve. This would help the facing lay flat when I turned it to the inside. Once turned to the inside I pressed it in place with my iron and did a 1 inch stitch around it. Then I cut off the excess fabric on the inside.

Liked it so much, I did it again!

I tried it on and absolutely loved the change! I could tell right away that this was going to be worn so much more now. I immediately did the same thing to my long sleeve mustard colored shirt that had the mock-neck too! 

I’ll put more information below about the patterns I used in this post. But you ca do this with almost any pattern you have in your stash.

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The Shirt Pattern I used was….

The Arlington Sweater is a great transitional piece for your fall and winter wardrobe. Choose from three body styles: hip length, banded shirt length and above knee dress. Neckline options are turtleneck, mock turtleneck and cowl. Mix it up with five different sleeve options: long, bishop, elbow, puff short and puff long.

This pattern comes in sizes XS-5X and includes an optional full bust piece. The Arlington Sweater is meant for those cozy, warm fabrics.

Arlington Sweater Features:

• Meant for knit fabrics
• 3 lengths: banded shirt, hip length shirt and above knee dress
• 3 necklines: turtleneck, mock-neck and cowl
• 5 sleeve options: short & long puff sleeves, long sleeve, bishop and elbow length sleeve
• Full bust option

Sizes: XS-5X (See Size Charts here)

Skill Level: Confident beginner

 

The Neckline Pattern came from…… 

The Saltwhistle Top and Dress is a cute and flirty pattern ideal for your Spring and Summer wardrobe. It is meant for woven fabrics and features a stylish square neck design. The unique scalloped hem adds a beautiful feminine touch. Pair the peplum top with jeans for a casual day or colorblock the layered dress to turn heads. Take it down a notch and make a simple dress using just one layer. Easy to fit and wear with a slightly blousey silhouette and elastic to cinch the waist. Ladies sizes XS -5X with optional Full Bust pieces. This pattern is meant for woven fabrics.

Saltwhistle Top & Dress Features:

• Meant for woven fabrics
• 2 views: Peplum and knee length dress
• 4 sleeve options: sleeveless, ruffle, short puff & 3/4 bishop
• Square, faced neckline
• Three tier options
• Full bust option

Sizes: XS-5X (See Size Charts here)

Skill Level: Intermediate