Sheryl Tee – Crochet Pattern Review

How to crochet an easy, simple and beginner friendly lacy women’s top perfect for Summer!

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You can find my crochet pattern review below, or hop over to Amazon to purchase the book.

Today is Day 5 – the final day of my made for me projects from this book! I will be sharing a crochet pattern review each day through Friday of my favorite made for me garments from Salena Baca’s new crochet book, Build Your Skills Crochet Tops: 26 Simple Patterns for First-Time Sweaters, Shrugs, Ponchos & More. On Saturday, I’ll review the whole book, and we’ll do a giveaway!

First up was the Vanessa Tee, shown above. Check out my crochet pattern review for the Vanessa Tee.

Second was the Woodbury Poncho. Check out my crochet pattern review for the Woodbury Poncho.

Third was the Woodbury Poncho. Check out my crochet pattern review for the Coboo Top.

Fourth was the Pistachio Poncho. Check out my crochet pattern review for the Pistachio Poncho.

Next up, the Sheryl Tee!

What first caught my attention was the simple fact that it was a lacy tank top, which is perfect for living in Florida, but I also really liked that it is a top that is made in two pieces and sewn together, which makes for a very easy piece.

I went searching through my stash, and pulled out some Berroco Modern Cotton. This top will be versatile top that I can see paired with jeans, shorts or over a maxi dress.

Berroco Modern Cotton has been a favorite of mine for several years all the way back to the Lakeshore Tank Top I made with some Berroco Modern Cotton I found at my local yarn shop, Four Purls Yarn Shop – Check out my post on visiting Four Purls. I now sell Berroco Modern Cotton in my own yarn shop!! It is soft, comes in so many colors, and wears and machine washes well.

This pattern was very easy to follow. The fabric is comprised of simple double crochets and chains, and it’s a basic construction of two identical rectangles sewn together. This a great project for a confident beginner.

Materials I Used:

• 580 Yards of Berroco Modern Cotton in Matunuck [Teal], Arcade [Orange], Del [Yellow] and Bluffs [White]
• J10/6mm Crochet Hook
• Tapestry Needle
• Sheryl Tee, Paid Crochet Pattern in Build Your Skills Crochet Tops: 26 Simple Patterns for First-Time Sweaters, Shrugs, Ponchos & More
• Stitch Markers to help with seaming

Material Notes:

Original pattern uses Lion Brand Shawl in a Ball. I have seen it in stores, but I was not a fan of the yarn – it seemed very fuzzy just from being handled by others at the store.

Berroco Modern Cotton is a yarn I already know and love, and is Florida approved. It’s very similar to Lion Brand Coboo Yarn just in worsted weight (though they do also make a lightweight version, Berroco Modern Cotton DK).

To me, Shawl in a Ball is a rather thin worsted weight yarn, and Modern Cotton is also on the thinner side compared to say Lily Sugar n Cream, and even still, my gauge was really off. Keep in mind that depending on your chosen fiber, it will also vary your gauge, but this top is very easy to adjust as needed using your gauge and measurements.

I love my ergonomic clay hooks from SiennasBowtique and BronzeShepherdStudio! They both have so many fun designs. I have several from each shop because they’re so darn cute and nice to hold onto! We also have lots of beautiful, handcrafted crochet hooks in our Yarn Crafts and Coffee Yarn Shop as well!

Time Spent:

The Extra Large size took me just over 10 hours to complete.

Measurements:

When deciding the size I wanted to work up, I took three things into consideration: my gauge, the amount of stretch in my yarn and my desired fit.

I like fitted tops. I know that this yarn will stretch 6+ inches. My bust size is 42″ so I want panels that are roughly 18″ wide (that’s 42″ circumference minus 6″ divided by 2). Rather than doing the math, I worked a sample of the Medium size, and held it up to myself to see what I thought about it. I ended up taking out 16 stitches from the foundation, and this ended up being somewhat of a mistake. Though the finished top fits pretty well (good in the bust, a bit tight at the bottom edging), I should have only taken out 8 stitches to get close to that 18″ wide panel I mentioned above – with the 16 less, my panel only came out to 15.88″ wide, which still stretched to fit me comfortably except for the bottom edging.

I also decided on 24″ long as I am comfortable with that length. As I mentioned above, I skipped gauging, but I did measure my panel after a few rows.

Before sewing my panels measured 15.88″ wide by 24″ long. My shoulders were 3.88″ wide by 3″ tall, and the neck opening is 7.38″ wide.

Gauge:

• Original Pattern’s: 16 stitches = 5″ wide; 10 Rows = 6″ tall
• My Gauge: 16 stitches (two sets of repeats) = 4″; 10 Rows = 6.75″

As you can see, my gauge was pretty far off, and already being at a J10/6mm crochet hook, I don’t think I could have gone up any number of hooks to meet the width gauge, but the top pattern was simple enough to adjust.

Overall Thoughts:

This pattern was very easy to follow, and I really like the simple tank top and pretty lacey pattern. It is a simple one row repeat, so this pattern is perfect for a road trip, or mindlessly crocheting in front of the TV. The construction is super simple too. It’s made from two identical panels, with the second behind worked right onto the first (unless you change it up a little like I did), and sewn at the sides so nothing too fancy, but it looks fancy.

This top is worked in simple chains and double crochets so definitely a great project for a confident beginner.

My recommendation is going to be to “try it on” before you get too far into it to make sure it is going to fit the way you like. You can check how it will fit at any time by holding it up to your bust stretching in position thinking “half” as it’s only one panel, or you can work a little of one panel and a little of the second panel and slip stitch join at the sides making a tube top, and trying that on. If you think it’s too big, remove chains from the foundation in multiples of 8. If you think it’s too small, add chains to the foundation in multiples of 8.

Pattern Notes:

The written pattern was excellent, and so easy to follow and stitch along.

Usually, when I make tops like this, the foundation chain is at the bottom when sewn and worn, and the shoulders and sides are sewn together, but for this top, the foundation chain is at the top when worn, and the first row of the second panel is worked right into the foundation chain of the first panel. It doesn’t give a reason for this construction, but my guess is because a foundation chain is tighter, and so maybe it was designed to have the more flexible edge on the bottom to make it easy to go over the bust and rest comfortably around the hips?

I really like the idea of being worked in one piece, but two things altered my way of working this up: 1. I was using several yarns from my stash and I wanted to definitely use up the teal, orange and yellow first, and have them in order with the darkest on the bottom; 2. I wanted defined shoulders, and not a boatneck neckline (because I don’t like the fabric up against my throat). So instead of one piece, I worked my top as two separate panels sewn at the shoulders and sides with the foundation chain at the bottom when worn.

For more flexibility and comfort, I worked the foundation row of each panel as a solid row of foundation double crochet (or FDC).

Foundation stitches are worked sideways and include the foundation chain and respective stitch. This is a great technique to use if: 1.) You are working something in the round that needs some added flexibility within the beginning chain, such as a hat worked bottom up, wrist warmers, shirts, pants, etc; 2.) You are working a project like a scarf, but don’t know how many stitches you need. You can work the foundation stitch up until it’s long enough.

To FDC: Chain 3 (counts as a stitch here). Yarn over, insert hook into the first chain, yarn over, pull through (3 loops on hook), yarn over, pull through first loop (to create foundation chain), yarn over, pull through two loops (2 loops on hook), yarn over, pull through remaining two loops. First chain and double crochet (DC) created. Looking at the stitch in your hand, you should see the top of the DC to the right, and parallel on the left side, it should look like the opposite side of the beginning foundation chain. You will be working in these stitches on the left. To create the next stitch and each stitch after, yarn over, insert hook under both loops of the foundation chain (left side), yarn over, pull through (3 loops on hook), yarn over, pull through first loop (to create foundation chain), yarn over, pull through two loops (2 loops on hook), yarn over, pull through remaining two loops.  

The only reason my bottom edging was still a little bit tight for me was because I made the top smaller than I would have liked so it was stretching more than usual to fit me. The easy fix would have been to go up one hook size just for the foundation chain, or just taking out 8 stitches from the foundation and not the 16 that I did.

I worked in pattern until each panel was 21″ long, which ended up being 39 rows, and then I moved onto the shoulders.

I wanted to keep my shoulders worked into double crochets and not any of the chains, so I measured out from one side of the panel to see what I was working with. I decided on 3.88″ wide shoulders by 3″ tall.

1st Shoulder, Row 40: Chain 2 (counts as 1st DC), and turn. DC into each of the next 4 DC, chain 3, skip 3 chains, DC into each of the next 5 DC, chain 3, skip 3 chains, DC into the next DC.

Row 41: Chain 5, (counts as 1st DC + chain 3), and turn. Skip 3 chains, DC into each of the next 5 DC, chain 3, skip 3 chains, DC into each of the next 5 DC.

Rows 42 – 43: Repeat Rows 40 + 41.

Row 44: Chain 2, and turn. DC across, and then fasten off.

For the second shoulder, I continued across Row 40, and counted the stitches from the edge, which in my case happened to the the 11th double crochet.

2nd Shoulder, Row 40: Chain 5, (counts as 1st DC + chain 3). Skip 3 chains, DC into each of the next 5 DC, chain 3, skip 3 chains, DC into each of the next 5 DC.

Row 41: Chain 2 (counts as 1st DC), and turn. DC into each of the next 4 DC, chain 3, skip 3 chains, DC into each of the next 5 DC, chain 3, skip 3 chains, DC into the next DC.

Rows 42 – 43: Repeat Rows 40 + 41.

Row 44: Chain 2, and turn. DC across, and then fasten off.

Then I repeated the shoulders on the second panel, and then seamed them together with a slip stitch through both layers.

I put my top on, and pinched the sides together checking to see where I wanted the armholes to be. The pattern suggests 16.5″ (which is the circumference so 8.25″ tall), but I wanted a little more row, so I went with a 10″ tall armhole.

Tip! Stitch markers are great for matching up the rows when you are seaming. I hate when I get to the end point, and my fabric isn’t matched up, so I just use my stitch markers to take the guess work out. ALSO! I like to slip stitch my seams closed first so I can try it on to see if I am completely happy with the fit before sewing closed with a needle. Slip stitching seams can make the fabric pucker and prevent stretch which might make the top bunch up and not lay flat and that’s why sewing with a needle is better. For this particular top, I felt it was sufficient enough with the slip stitch seam and not compromised on fitting so I didn’t even take it out to sew closed with the needle.

When I slip stitch seamed the sides, I did it from the wrong side (with right sides facing each other), and I matched the color changes just in case it was visible from the right side when worn.

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