How to Make a Wrap Top Out of a Shirt in 7 Quick & Easy Steps

Jessica Shaw
by Jessica Shaw
9 Materials
$5
1 Hour
Easy

Today I'm going to show you how to make a wrap top out of a shirt. It’s a really fun upcycle of a men's button-down shirt, and so quick and simple to do. Let's get started.

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Tools and materials:

  • Men's button-down shirt
  • Seam ripper
  • Scissors
  • Pins
  • Sewing machine
  • Elastic
  • Safety pin
  • Dress form (optional)
  • Iron
The men's button-down shirt before the DIY


Cutting off the collar of the shirt

1. Modify the shirt

I started my upcycle by cutting the collar off.  

Seam ripping the buttons off the shirt

Then I used a seam ripper to rip all of the buttons off. I didn't need them but wanted to save them for a future project.  

Cutting off the button bands and pockets

Next I cut off the button bands and removed the pocket off the chest.  

Reshaping the neckline on a dress form

2. Reshape the neckline

With everything ready, I popped the shirt onto a dress form. You can also put it on yourself if you don’t have a dress form.


I wanted to reshape the neckline and give it nice slanted edges. It is totally up to you how you want the neckline to look though.  

Cutting off the excess fabric

Once I decided how I want the neckline, I cut off the edges that were excess.   

Cutting off the bottom of the shirt

3. Crop the shirt

I also wanted to hem the shirt right about at the waistline. I cut off the excess but saved it for later.  

Pinning the shirt to take it in

4. Take in the shirt at the back

To fit the shirt a little better to my body, I took in the back so that it was tighter. I figured out how much fabric I needed to take in, pinned it while the shirt was inside out, then sewed it down. 

Cutting off the extra fabric

Once it was sewed, I cut off the extra fabric. Be sure not to cut the seam though.  

Cutting strips of fabric for the binding

5. Make and add binding

Then it was time to finish the neckline and make it look nice and neat. I took some of the excess fabric and cut it into stips that I used as binding.  

Pinning the binding to the neckline

I pinned it all around the neckline, right sides together and then cut off any I didn’t need.   

Sewing the binding to the shirt

With it pinned in place, I sewed the two together.  

How to sew a wrap shirt

Once that was done all I had to do was flip the binding over to the other side, pinit down, and sew it in place. Doing it this way gave it a really nice, professional-looking neckline. 

 

Making a waist tie for the wrap shirt

6. Make the waist tie

To make the tie for the DIY wrap shirt, I took the rest of the scrap fabric and cut two pieces that together were about 100 inches long. I sewed them together so that they were one long piece.  

Making a DIY wraparound shirt with a tie

I pinned the long piece, right sides together to the bottom of my shirt. I made sure there was some left at each end to use to tie a bow.   

How to make a wrap top

To attach it, I did the same as the neckline and sewed the strip to the shirt, folded it over and then sewed the edges together.   

Cutting the sleeves to shorten them

7. Shorten the sleeves

For the very last step of my DIY wrap shirt, I trimmed off the sleeves and gave them a nice little hem.  

Creating casing for the cuff elastic

I just folded them up twice and sewed them down, making sure to leave a little opening to thread some elastic through. It helps if you press the fold with an iron.

Threading elastic through the casing

To finish off the sleeves, I measured some elastic on my wrist, attached it to a safety pin, and fed the elastic through the sleeve hem. 

Finishing the wrap top sleeves

Once the elastic was through I secured the ends together using a zigzag stitch and sewed up that opening in the sleeve. 

How to make a wrap top out of a shirt

How to make a wrap top out of a shirt

I love how this turned out. It was such a fun, easy upcycle. I hope that if you have a button-down shirt laying around, now you will know how to make a wrap top out of it!


Let me know what you think of this DIY wrap shirt in the comments below.

Suggested materials:
  • Men's button-down shirt
  • Seam ripper
  • Scissors
See all materials

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Comments
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3 of 8 comments
  • Carol de la Fuente Carol de la Fuente on Feb 08, 2022

    Your top looks fantastic and it looks great on you!!!

  • Valari Valari on Feb 07, 2024

    It would be easier to use a pattern and make a shirt

    • Ann Dames Ann Dames on Jun 09, 2024

      But when you have the shirt, the time and the skill there is something to be said for having the satisfaction of doing it yourself and having clothing that fits and functions exactly the way you want it too. I applaud the creativity and ability to see it for what it can be. Thanks for sharing and inspiring others.

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