Is your neckline gaping open and showing your bra? Learn how to fix a gaping neckline with this easy pattern adjustment for darted and dartless garments.
There’s nothing more frustrating than sewing a beautiful top or dress, trying it on, and discovering that the neckline is standing away from your body and giving everyone a peek at your bra. Sound familiar? You’re definitely not alone—a gaping neckline is one of the most common fit issues sewists encounter, and thankfully it’s an easy fix once you know how.
Before You Grab Your Scissors
First, let’s rule out a sewing issue rather than a fit issue. Necklines can easily stretch out during construction, especially if they are cut on the bias like V-necks. Compare your muslin to the original pattern piece—if the neckline is bigger than the pattern piece, it’s stretched out, and you’ve identified the issue. Make sure to staystitch your necklines (a line of regular-length stitching just inside the seam allowance, sewn before you do anything else to the piece) in the future to avoid this happening.
If your neckline matches your pattern and you did staystitch, then yes—you need an adjustment. Let’s fix it!
How to Tell If You Need a Gaping Neckline Adjustment
- Your neckline is standing away from your chest
- You can see down the front of your garment
- The gap tends to be worse when you lean forward
Measuring How Much To Adjust By
Put on your muslin and use safety pins to pin the excess fabric into small darts, evenly placed on each side of the neckline (one dart per side). Pin until the neckline sits nicely against your body. Mark the dart positions on your muslin, then take it off and measure the distance between the dart legs. This measurement tells you how much fabric you need to remove from your pattern.
Fixing a Gaping Neckline on a Darted Garment
Step 1: On your front pattern piece, draw a line through the center of the bust dart all the way to the bust apex (the fullest point of the bust – typically about 1.5”/3.8cm past the end of the dart)
Step 2: Draw a second line from the bust apex up to the neckline, positioning it where you pinned the dart on your muslin.
Step 3: Draw your neckline dart on the pattern, with the legs the distance apart that you measured on the toile, ending at the bust apex.
Step 4: Cut out the neckline dart completely.
Step 5: Now cut along the line you drew through the bust dart, but stop just before the bust apex—leave a tiny hinge of paper so the pieces stay connected.
Step 6: Swing the piece above the bust dart upward and to the right, closing the neckline dart gap. As you do this, you’ll see your bust dart getting larger—that’s exactly what should happen!
Step 7: Tape everything in place, then trace your new pattern piece, smoothing out the neckline as you go.
Step 8: Redraw your bust dart using the new, larger dart legs. Don’t forget to true your dart (make sure both legs are the same length).
That’s it! The excess fabric that was causing the gape has now been redistributed into your bust dart, where it’s actually useful.
Fixing a Gaping Neckline on a Dartless Garment
If your pattern doesn’t have a bust dart (common with knit tops or relaxed woven styles), you can still fix minor gaping—up to about 1/2″ (12 mm)—with this simpler method.
Step 1: Draw the dart from your muslin onto your front pattern piece, in the same position where you pinned it.
Step 2: Fold the dart closed by creasing down the center and bringing the two dart legs together.
Step 3: Flatten the pattern piece as best you can and tape the dart closed.
The paper won’t lie perfectly flat—and that’s absolutely fine! This technique works beautifully for most knit fabrics and for small adjustments on wovens.
Step 4: Trace the piece, smoothing out the neckline as needed.
You Did It!
A gaping neckline might seem like a big problem, but as you’ve just learned, the fix is surprisingly straightforward. Once you’ve made this adjustment to your pattern, you’ll never have to worry about that particular neckline issue again—your pattern is now customised to your body.
Remember: as always, it’s the pattern needed to change, not you. Your body is just right exactly as it is!
Want to dive deeper into fitting? This adjustment and many more are covered in detail in Ahead of the Curve, our best-selling book on fitting for curves. And if you’d like in-depth video tutorials that go much deeper, check out Cashmerette Club’s library of fitting masterclasses.
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Thank you Jenny! This is brilliant and never in a million years would I have thought to do this. Tips on fitting issues are ALWAYS appreciated!
Thanks Kathleen!
It’s a useful tutorial, but why separate the sections? Just leave a little hinge of a few mm attached and swing it around. Much easier.
You can hinge, it’s just hard to keep it in one piece. But by all means, give it a go!
A someone who typically doesn’t need a bigger dart, I use the standard “hollow chest adjustment” for almost all my patterns (though I didn’t actually need it for my springfield!). I remove a wedge horizontally from the armcythe (used as hinge point) to the neckline (sometimes up to 2″ total removed), which fixes the problem right up and doesn’t alter the dart or side seam. Just wanted to offer another solution for those that don’t want to alter the dart. The “curvy” drafting built into the cashmerette patterns (i.e. the shoulders don’t get ridiculously wide like the upper range of standard patterns) typically means I don’t have to do the hollow chest adjustment, which is awesome!
Precisely! The less to move the better.
Although I gotta admit, I was vaguely hoping this post was a ‘you already sewed it and it’s gaping and please help me’ hint here. I’m looking for something better than my sneaky darts and redoing the facing technique.
Let me know if you figure that one out Ernie k!! I almost always take the hollow chest adjustment before cutting, but sometimes it’s not enough! Grr. Only so many neckline dart design details I can have in my wardrobe before someone figures it out! I have thought about using gathers at the center front for the same effect but haven’t actually tried that out yet…
Hi Ernie, if you already sewed a top with a gaping neckline you could sew radiating mini darts (like tucks), either as a feature on the outside or the normal way. Just make it look as if it was a ‘design feature’ you had intended like that from the very beginning! Turning a bug into a feature can get some really nice results.
The outside tucks would definitely make it look like an intended feature.
Thank you!!! This is exactly what I needed!
Thanks for posting this. I often read about people taking a wedge out for the centre front but never tried it as it would alter the bust apex locations. This seems like a much better option.
In one of my sewing books about flat patterns it said you could take up to 1/4″ off the inside neck edge of both the front and back piece. Essentially you have a slightly curved shoulder seam. It’s just a thought. I’ve had patterns with this before, but never understood why the shoulder seam wasn’t straight.
Great tutorial. Thank you. I was wondering if you might also address necklines that are too deep and how to change them. When I buy ready to wear, I’ll often take them up in the shoulders. It brings the armholes up as well. How would you do this with a pattern?
@Sandy P in NC I have this problem because I’m short between my shoulder and bust point, shirts will often have gaping armscyes on me as well. I find that if I shorten the pattern between the shoulder and the bust line, then it doesn’t move the shoulder seam, shortens the neckline, and creates a better fit at the armscye. If you don’t have this fit issue, why not redraw the neckline up a bit?
This is perfect. I have this same exact issue and you’d think after altering so many tops I’ve made I’d remember to do it at the beginning, but I always have this false idea that it won’t happen with the next pattern. I’m researching what exactly to alter on every pattern going forward and this solution is it! Thanks!
You can pretty much just draw the new neckline that you want onto the pattern – if you’re only changing it by a few inches it should be just fine.
Thanks Jenny! How would you do this on a princess seam, armscye or shoulder? If it has a Dior dart, can I rotate it there?
Using this approach would add an additional bust dart if there isn’t one there already.
I was wondering where you got the white fabric with colorful dots and splashes on it? The top is shown in this fabric on my FB feed and I love it! I looked around here, but did not find it. Thanks!!
I got it at Gather Here in Cambridge MA
Thank you for showing this tip – I always have this problem! I’d just like to ask, is this technique instead of a bust and shoulder adjustment, or would you recommend doing it afterwards if the problem is still there? Thanks! 🙂
Thank you, Jenny! I just found this post and have a constant problem with a neckline that gaps and shoulders too wide. I must have teeny tiny shoulders for my bust or some such deformity. My question is, do you have to or can you also remove width from the back neckline this way as well or do you have other suggestions for that?
Brilliant! I have a gap problem due to lung issues and i have all kinds of books here but they seem very complicated. This i understand and can do. Thank for the simple tutorial and great illustration.
Hi, I get back neck gaping. If I pin it out the shoulder seams ride up my neck. If I pin less out the back neck gaping comes back. I have tried so many different ways to fix this but nothing works. Do you have any suggestions?
Sounds like you might have a high round back, in which case there’s a different type of adjustment: http://curvysewingcollective.com/tutorial-how-to-do-a-high-round-back-adjustment/
This looks great. Does this method work on back neckline as well? With a dart from the waistline to the middle of the back? Sorry if I made mistakes, english is not my native language.
If you don’t have a dart, I would do it in a slightly different way. This technique is covered in my online class, Fitting for Curves (https://workshops.cashmerette.com/p/fitting-for-curves-pattern-adjustments-for-the-upper-body) but I don’t have a blog tutorial for it I’m afraid.
I don’t have a blog tutorial for that, but I cover it in my online workshop, “Fitting for Curves”
What do you do if the pattern doesn’t have a side bust dart?
I don’t have a blog tutorial for that, but I cover it in my online workshop, “Fitting for Curves”.
If you also need to do a FBA say on the scout tee, which do you do first?
I would do the FBA first.
Where on your body do you measure to know how much you will need to cut out of the neckline?
Hi Kim, we recommend making a muslin to determine how much you need to take out of the neckline.
-Ayelet at Cashmerette
Thanks… I had no clue prior to reading this.
Great article! I do that all the time with my patterns. However the question remains. With the bigger front bust dart, the side front will be shorter than the side back. To compensate, should I increase the bottom level of the front armhole on the front piece or lower it on the back piece?
Actually, a bigger front bust dart won’t change the side seam, as all the extra fabric is inside the dart – once it’s sewn up, it’s exactly the same as before.