How to make a cowl top - the easy way

For the birthday of one of my daughters, I had ear-marked some stretch silk jersey, and found the cowl hack I'd used earlier.

I adapted a simple tunic or blouse pattern to make into a cowl top, it's easy to do, and I think looks effective. She's happy with the top and wore it to work the very same day. I did make her a belt to wear with it, but she liked it as it was without.To find out how easy it is to adapt a pattern into a cowl neck pattern, read on.

There are a lot of 'How to' tutorials and videos on the internet on how to make a cowl neckline. Most involve slashing a pattern in several places and resticking it. For example as in this video. However, I learnt (from the internet) what I think is a much easier way some time ago, and used it on my other daughter's maternity top.  The method is described by Made with Love by Betty.

This is one similar, but not the one I used.


First, you need to measure how deep a cowl neckline you want - perhaps to just above your bust (or deeper, if you wish - that's not up to me to judge!) Use a tape measure like a necklace to measure from one side of your neck to the other, letting it droop down to where you want the neckline. Halve this measurement and call it A-B.

Start with a basic bodice pattern you like the shape and fit of. Something like this, say.

Then, lay the front bodice pattern on a new sheet of paper, slightly wider than the pattern, and about double the height of the armscye or more. Lay it just under the armscye. Lightly draw in the existing top of the side seam, the armscye,  shoulder, neckline, and top of the centre front. (As in the previous picture.) Then, extend the centre front line up your piece of paper. Now swivel the pattern round using the point where the armscye meets the side seam. Keep swivelling, until the distance from the point where the shoulder meets the neckline (A), to the extended centre front line at (B) gives you the measurment A to B that you already measured. Make sure the line you measure meets the extended centre front line at right angles. Temporarily, stick the pattern down with tape.

 Now draw the new armscye, shoulder, neckline and centre front. (The top of the side seam won't change.) You are almost done!

Next, fold piece of paper on which you've drawn the new pattern along the line A-B. Trace the shoulder line on the folded under part (so that when opened up, it will look like the picture below). Then, make a nice curve to join the extended part of the centre front. This will form an integral facing. 

Having that facing already attached is so much easier and neater than having to bind the front top of the cowl neckline - though of course you still may need to bind or face the back neckline.

Here you can see the new pattern, together with the oririgal front bodice. You could make a whole pattern, but I kept the cowl extension separately, so I could still use the original bodice as it was, if I wanted to.

I have to say that with hindsight, using a basic pattern with a horizontal bust dart wasn't ideal, as it meant I had to change the position and angle of the dart - or the point of it would drop well below the bust because of the cowl folds. That hadn't mattered the last time I used this in 2017, as I was actually using a maternity top pattern without bust darts.

It wasn't too difficult to modify the dart position, by measuring where the point should be, but if you are looking for the easy version, then choose a basic bodice without that dart! You can see I had to slope the dart upwards.

I attached the back neck facing from the original pattern before joining shoulders or anything else. Then I was able to make up the top pretty much as the original bodice, except for the front neck facing.  And my daughter was pretty happy with her new top - she wore it to work the next day!