Roman’s head is off the charts big! This is not a figure of speech…it is literally off the charts. See, here’s a chart!! I thought that as he got a bit older it wouldn’t be such a problem, but he still grows out of his tops because the neck gets too tight to pull over his head.
In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to add an opening to the back of a tee. The technical term for this is a continuous bound placket. Fancy hey? This is a bit of a short cut version of a true continuous bound placket, but it cuts down on the bulk and does the job perfectly for a t-shirt. This might look tricky, but I promise it isn’t and it’s quick too. It will work on any knit or woven top.
I’m doing it on a completed tee, but it would work just as well if not better if you are making the whole tee from scratch. In that case, add the placket before adding the neck binding/ribbing.
You can finish the placket with KAM snaps, hammered snaps, sew in snaps, buttons or even velcro. The strip of fabric for the placket will not show from the front, so you can use any fabric you like. Make sure it has been pre-shrunk. I happened to have a piece of the knit I made the tee from originally, but you can use any tshirt weight knit or quilting weight cotton. It’s a nice place to add a fun fabric!
Ok, now here’s the tutorial.
Adding a Neck Opening to a Tee
You’ll need:
A t-shirt
A scrap of fabric
A scrap of medium-weight iron on interfacing
Snaps or buttons
Sewing supplies
To start, decide how long you want the opening and make a line that long down the centre back of the tee. I used 6cm (3.5 inches). Remember this measurement. Next, prepare your placket strip.
The length will be: 2 x (measurement above) + 2.5cm (1 inch)
The width will be: 3cm (1 1/4 inches)
Cut your fabric and a piece of interfacing the same size. Iron the interfacing to the wrong side of the fabric strip. Finish both short ends and one long side of the strip with an overlocker. If you don’t have an overlocker, finish with a suitable stitch on your sewing machine. A wide and fairly short zigzag will do.
Stay stitch along the seam line using a contrasting coloured thread and a short stitch length. Take one stitch across the point of the line. Cut the slit along your mark being very careful not to cut the stitching.
Hold the slit open and straight. Pin the strip to the slit right sides together, lining the centre of the strip up to the point of the slit.
To stitch, put the strip down so the stay stitching is up and stitch on the inside of the staystitching keeping an even 6mm (1/4″) seam along the strip. The raw edges will line up only at seam ends.
Turn to the inside of the tee and press. Fold the ends under and press.
Edgestitch on the outer half of the placket, along the seam line, and then across the top to close in the end of the strip. Stitch across the end of the strip on the inner half of the placket.
Add buttons or snaps and you’re done! I used KAM snaps because I already had them, but I think the hammered in metal snaps would work the best.
Stacey says
Huh, who would have thought it could be so easy to stretch those too tight necklines. This is a fabulous tutorial!
Cirque Du Bebe says
Thanks, very handy and super neat. My boys are big heads too.
samson says
i love the creation
Iliska Dreams says
Interesting to read the chart… at 7 and half months my son”s head measures 48cm. I always thought he had a big head!
http://iliska-dreams.blogspot.com.au/
thingsforboys says
Seems like big heads are common. Here’s the site I used if you want to type in exact info. I get a bit obsessed with it!
Sarah W. says
I have a feeling I will be needing this someday when I bear my husbands children. His mom had to get a C-Section because he got stuck. Yikes!
Love your blog!
thingsforboys says
Ouch! and thanks 🙂
boomtownsisters says
This is so smart! I have a big-headed boy, too, and this is a better idea than just telling him to “hang on!” while I yank a tight neckhole over his face! Thank you!
thingsforboys says
‘hang on’ is familiar in this house too!
Laura says
This is such a great tutorial, I need to do this on some of Casper’s T-shirts. Gotta love our boys with big noggins.
claire says
Boys and big heads – who would have thought they are so common! Currently we just yank it on which usually extracts a few yelps! I probably should try your tutorial 🙂 Excellent blog by the way, just found you via Sew Mama Sew via another couple of websites. Always good to see sewing for boys.
kamsnaps.com says
Such a practical idea! Thanks for sharing!
Judy @ KAMsnaps.com
Elisebet F says
I’m so glad to find this tutorial! My son’s head is HUGE! I just broke out the 6-9 months clothes for him, and there are already several shirts, I had to put right back away, because his head is too big. I never even thought of this solution. Thank you!
TNSam says
Thanks for this. My daughter is also big brained 🙂 I just used this tutorial on a new shirt and for a first attempt turned out really great.
Anonymous says
Nice one, thanks. Easy to follow, just what i was looking for for my new jazzy t shirt kind of thing i am making for myself.I have a normal head i think. Thanks, Andrew
feelincrafty says
I think this is going to be perfect for me and my boatneck tee!! Thanks for sharing with me!
Angela says
What an awesome tutorial! I’m totally going to do this with my daughter’s soccer shirt!
Hey, just a suggestion, maybe add a Pinterest button on the website. This stuff is so useful!
abby says
Hi Angela, glad you like the tutorial. I do have a pinterest button on the site. Not sure why it doesn’t work for you. Perhaps you have a popup blocker installed or something?
Avril says
Thank you so much for this tutorial. I have been looking for this info for ages and meanwhile have destroyed a few t-shirts with my own efforts!!! A little know how goes a long way!! It’s not for big heads I wanted it however….but to convert basic tees into breast feeding suitable ones!! Thanks again 🙂
abby says
smart idea! Thanks for stopping by.
skrambldeggs says
That’s exactly what brought me to this tutorial too! I stretched out a few necklines in my baby’s rush to the boob and now I want to salvage the shirts by adding a few buttons. Thank you!
Sheryll says
Your tutorial worked perfect. Thank you. Wish I could post a picture of the finished item..
Very thankful mama says
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
This is exactly what I was looking for. My both girls have heads of over 99 percentile.
BB says
Thank you for writing this life-changing tutorial! Since my 3 year old daughter decided 6 weeks ago that she would not be putting clothes over her head, we’ve been limited to button shirts or t-shirts stretchy enough to step into. This tutorial has re-opened 90% of her wardrobe!
Abby Rudakov says
thanks for stopping by Bernadine! So glad you found the tutorial useful. Happy sewing!
Emma says
OMG! TY so much. Serging together vest and underpants to make all-in-onesies for a nephew with ASD. Couldn’t work out how we would get him in and out once sewn together . But this technique with a few inches of a longer opening and we have a solution to him stripping off at every opportunity. So grateful!
Abby Rudakov says
so glad the tutorial helped you. Thanks for commenting!
Laura says
I used your pattern idea to turn t shirts for my grandson into port access shirts so he can receive his treatments through his port without removing his shirt.
Abby Rudakov says
that’s great Emma! Such a good use for the tutorial.
Bob says
Thank you for this tutorial. I’m planning to lengthen the neck opening of a sun hoodie for additional ventilation, and your procedure should work well!
Hanna says
It’s 2025 and I’m looking this tutorial and omg! That helped me so much! I made a shirt for my toddler matching with mine and the neck was too tight, I didn’t have enough fabric to sew a new one and it was already finished, now the problem is solved 🤩
Abby says
Thanks for commenting Hanna. So glad the tutorial helped you 🙂