Summer Top Tutorial -- The Yoke

Whew, it is hot out here in South Carolina! It's cool having fireflies swarm every evening, but the days are absolutely brutal what with the humidity. So, I'm making a cool new top to enjoy while hurrying from the air-conditioned car to the air-conditioned grocery store. Seriously, I've never been so happy to stand in front of the veggies or milk!

Those summer clouds turn into thunderstorms real quick

If you saw my last post, then you saw one of the fabrics (the main one, really) that I'll be making my top out of. It's deliciously soft and flowy, but as I've been working with it, I can only say it's more fun to wear than to sew. I wanted the yoke to stand out a bit, so I made it with some plain black knit fabric I had lying around. It's just as soft as the woven fabric, so it's a good match!

I've split the tutorial into two parts (making the yoke, and putting the top together) to make things easier and give people a chance to breathe. Now, on to the tutorial!

Supplies:

Main Fabric (depends on measurements, I had about 1 and a half yards)

Contrast Fabric (about half a yard)

Thread

Sewing Machine

Serger (if you have one, if not, don't worry)

Pins

Scissors

Ruler

Curve

The main and contrasting fabrics

Since the tutorial is split in two, I can take a little extra time to explain the yoke pattern. I drafted this one myself, using my lovely dress form. If you don't have a dress form yourself, there are ways to "flat-draft" the pattern, or you can use a specific yoke pattern from another source. You can even use a well-fitting t-shirt as the basis for your yoke pattern! If you are doing this, fold the t-shirt down the middle lengthwise (front side out) and trace the shoulders, neckline, and arm holes (stopping at the middle of the armhole, roughly), and making modifications as you choose for the front yoke piece. Then unfold and refold the t-shirt so the back side is out, and do the same for the back yoke piece. The ruler and curve help make the lines smoother if you are making your own pattern. I wanted a little interest in the front, so I dipped down the middle of the front yoke a bit. I also made a half loop in the middle of the back yoke for a heart-shaped cutout (which is still under consideration). Don't forget to add seam allowances -- I almost always use 1/4" -- along the sides and bottoms, but not on the fold line.

Yoke pattern

Once you've made your pattern (and hopefully tested the size with some scrap fabric or muslin) proceed to cutting two of each from your contrasting fabric. If I were making this yoke out of a sturdier fabric, I might hand embroider some designs into it, but this knit is stretchy and I don't really want to mess with it.

Yoke patterns cut out twice

Now we'll sew the shoulder seams on each pair of yokes. Consider one the lining and one the main yoke. Begin by pairing up one front yoke with one back yoke, right sides together, and pinning together the shoulders. Do the same with the other pair. Sew with a zig-zag stitch, or (if you have one) use a serger to finish up those seams and sew them together in one go. I love my serger, and probably used it more than my sewing machine on this project, because it just handles the knit fabrics so much more easily.

Pinned at the shoulders

Lay out your newly united yoke pieces right sides up. You'll note that mine are wrong sides up in the following picture. That's just so you see those nicely serged seams.

Shoulders sewn/serged together

Now flip one yoke onto the other, so they are right sides together, and pin the neckline together. I started with the shoulder seams -- pressed to the back and neatly laid on top of each other. Then match the center front neckline, followed by the center back neckline. And finally just add as many pins in between as you think you need. You want it to be as even as possible.

Going pin crazy? Maybe.

Sew or serge your way around the neckline, being careful to keep the shoulder seams matched.

Serged neckline

Turn the yoke right sides out by flipping one of the yoke pieces through the hole (neckline). Use your fingers to roll the neckline so the seams are properly turned out. If I were using a sturdy woven fabric, I'd have to clip the curves before turning, but that's not a big deal with knits.

Pretty neat neckline

Now comes the funny bit. To get the arm holes to turn out nicely, we're going to take the left arm scye and enclose the rest of the yoke inside it. Basically you unfold the arm scye along the left side, place the top piece over the rest of the yoke, and wrap the bottom piece around to meet the arm scye on the other side as well. Pin away. It's kind of like a stuffed sausage yoke, so to say. I got this technique from Made By Rae by the way, and if you click this link here you can follow to her videos regarding this method. Or you can follow along with my pictures and instructions.

Pinned from bottom edge of front side to bottom edge of back side

Sew or serge the seam here, making sure you don't catch any of the other yoke pieces in between.

Serged neatly

Pull the yoke right side out again through the sausage stuffing arm casing. Now you have one lovely side completed! We'll repeat the same process on the other side.

Arm on the left side is completely enclosed

Wrap up the right arm scye around the rest of the yoke like you did with the other side. Pin in place and sew/serge the seam closed.

Right arm scye pinned right sides together

Once it's sewn, turn the casing right side out again. Your arm scyes are now both enclosed and all seams are nicely hidden.

Serged

Here's what it should look like now:

Roll the seams between your fingers to ensure they are turned all the way out

Press the seams, being careful not to stretch the knit fabric too much. If you'd like to add top-stitching, now is probably the best time to do it, but only on the shoulder seams or around the neckline! Testing the yoke for fit is probably a good time now, too. And that's it for the yoke. In the next post, we'll make the main body patterns and attach them to the yoke to finish the summer top!

Beautiful simple yoke front

Yoke back

Thank you for visiting, and come back to see the rest of the tutorial!
Questions or comments are always welcome!

Happy Sewing,
Lea