Reynolds Tops are a perennial summer favourite of mine. I love tank tops in the summer and sometimes you just want to wear one made in a lovely rayon or linen instead of a stretchy knit. Reynolds can feel very put together and chic while still being breezy and comfy. It’s ideal for summer tanks!
Today I want to show you how I modified Reynolds to have a slightly lower neckline. It’s a small change that packs a big punch! I really like how it instantly made the top feel a bit more modern. I also went with narrower straps for this version and I’ll cover that, too.
Get the Reynolds Top and Dress
To make this change you want to draw a new, lower neckline 2” (5 cm) down from the existing one on the front and the back. You can do more or less, but I found this to be a sweet spot.
Next, move your strap notches down, making sure to keep them vertically aligned.
Also draw a vertical line from the edge of the neckline down. Now you can draw in your new armscye curve which is going to be shallower with this lower neckline.
Trim off the old neckline and save it in case you want to tape it back on later.
We need to change our facings too. You can modify the facing pattern pieces using the same method we did for the front and back, but we also need to re-draw the lower curve on the facing.
Measure 2” (5 cm) down from the new neckline and maintain that thickness all along the curve of the facing. It doesn’t have to be perfect.
Last but not least, we need to lengthen the strap to cover the new distance we added between the front and back. We took 4” (10 cm) off the necklines in total, so we added 4” (10 cm) to the strap length. If you want a narrower strap like me, make your strap pattern piece 2” (5 cm) wide and adjust the strap interfacing to match.
You can use this simple hack for the Reynolds top or dress. It’s fun to play with the neckline and the strap width to get your ideal look.
I have also made a spaghetti strap version here if you want to see that option. We had fun taking photos of the top with these yellow flowers! The bees were loving them, too.
