Vinteco Knits
Bellini Tube Crop Top - Free Knitting Pattern
This beginner-friendly knitting project will quickly become a staple in your wardrobe. Read through my design process or keep scrolling for the free pattern and knit your own Bellini Tube Crop Top. Why not experiment with bold pops of colour, funky stripes or go for the classic solid colour for a simple but sophisticated look.
Quick Introduction
Hello and welcome! You have stumbled upon my first ever pattern! My name is Julia and I am obsessed with knitting, I love being out in the nature and in my free time I also play netball - the only exercise I actually enjoy! It is great to see you here and I hope you grab a hot cup of tea and knit something with me.
About the Design
As it is getting into the warmer season here in England, it came time to knit some summer tops. I have always loved the look of Tube Tops. There is something incredibly stylish about going strapless, so I thought I'd give it a go this summer. I wanted to make sure that this top is SNUG and SECURE to the body. I didn't want to worry about the top sliding down - and this is what I focused on in this pattern. I have sneakily included an elastic waistband at the top so that the tube top stays happily in place. I wanted to create something simple but with unique texture. This is why I decided to go for the Irish Moss Stitch because I love the fact it only uses knits and purls so its perfect if you're new to the knitting world and it has also got a beautiful stretchy finish. I also love that you can bring something totally different to this top by experimenting with colours to give it even more personality!
This top is knitted in the round in one piece to make a rectangle. No shaping is required yay! At the end, the edges are seamed, whilst placing an elastic band at the top edge.
All about the yarn
For this project, I have used Aran weight 100% cotton yarn. For the top pictured below I have used my all time favourite yarn 'Happy Shiny Cotton' from Wool and the Gang in colours Turquoise and White Noise. If you are after a budget option for yarn, I highly recommend 'Cotton Aran' by Paintbox (they have 56 awesome shades to choose from).
You can use any Aran weight yarn and fibre, just remember to check your gauge. Cotton is a great yarn to use for the summer, it has amazing stitch definition and is light and cool to wear. Why not give bamboo, tencel, linen yarn a try or if you're feelin' fancy - why not grab some variegated yarn !
Skill Level
Level 2 - Easy peasy lemon squeezy!
Keywords
K - Knit
P - Purl
CO - Cast on
BO - Bind off
What you will need
-
Aran yarn in two colours (See yarn measurements table for yarn requirements for your size)
-
3.5 mm/US 4 circular knitting needles (40cm/16 inch length)
-
4.5mm/US 7 circular knitting needles (40cm/16 inch length)
-
1x stitch marker
-
3.5mm width elastic band
-
Darning needle
-
Needle and thread (for securing the elastic waistband ends)
Sizing
The crop top is made with approximately 12cm -17cm (4.7 inch - 6.7 inch) of negative ease. This means that your finished piece will be smaller than your bust measurements. This is so that the top can stretch to give you the perfect fit.
- For reference, the model in the photos is 5ft 7 (172cm) tall, true bust measurement is 80cm/31.5 inches and wearing the Bellini Tube Crop Top in size XS. The crop top worn by the model has a finished measurement of 66 cm width and 23 cm length.
All pattern instructions will be listed for different sizes in brackets ( ).
BUST SIZING
76-80cm/30''-31' - XS
81-86 cm/31.5''-34'' - S
87-93 cm/34.5'' -36.5'' - M
94-103 cm/37''-40.5'' - L
104-114 cm/41''-45 '' - XL
115-126 cm/45.2''-49.5''- 2XL
127-139 cm/50-54.5'' - 3XL
140-153 cm/55' 60.5'' - 4XL
FINISHED MEASUREMENTS (Approximate)
Length (L) + Width (W)
(XS) L 23 cm (9''),W 66cm/26''
(S) L 24 cm (9.5''),W 70cm/27.5''
(M) L 26 cm (10''),W 76.5 cm/30''
(L) L 28 cm (11''),W 88cm/35''
(XL) L 30 cm (12''),W 97 cm/38''
(2XL) L 32 cm (12.5''),W 108cm/42''
(3XL) L 34 cm (13.5''),W 122cm/48''
(4XL) L 36 cm (14.5''),W 135cm/53''
YARN REQUIREMENTS (approximate)
Weight/metres/yardage
XS - 160 g - 228m/250y
S - 180g - 256m/280y
M - 200g - 284m/310y
L - 235g - 334m/336y
XL - 270g - 384m/420y
2XL - 310g - 440m/482y
3XL - 360g - 512m/560y
4XL - 415g - 590m/646y
Gauge
10cm x 10 cm = 19 stitches x 26 rows in Irish Moss Stitch (in the round on 4.5mm circular needles)
START YOUR PATTERN HERE
BELLINI TUBE CROP TOP PATTERN
-
Using 3.5mm (US 4) circular needles and Turquoise yarn, CO (XS -118) (S - 126 ) (M - 146) (L - 164) (XL - 184) (2XL - 206) (3XL - 232) (4XL - 258) stitches (note: I have used the long - tail cast on method)
-
Join in the round and place your favourite stitch marker to mark the beginning of the row (this will also indicate the centre back of the top).
Knitted Top Edge:
Row 1-5: Knit
Row 6: Purl (This purl row will later be the folded top edge - the purled stitches will make the top edge look more smooth)
Row 7-11: Knit
*Note: This edge will curl to start off with, but don't worry as this is totally okay! At the end, we will fold the edge over, insert a waistband and sew it so the curling will be completely gone.
Main Body:
Start Irish Moss Stitch Here:
Using 4.5 (US 7) mm circular needles, you will be repeating the 4 rows below until the piece measures approximately (XS - 20cm/9.7 inches) (S - 21.5cm) (M - 23.5 cm) (L - 25 cm) (XL -27 cm) (2XL -29cm) (3XL - 31cm) (4XL - 33cm) from the start of the main body or until your desired length.
-
Now switch yarn to WHITE
For this pattern you will be changing yarn colours every two rows.
Row 1: *K1, P1*
Row 2: *K1, P1*
-
Now switch yarn colour to TURQUOISE
Row 3: *P1, K1*
Row 4: *P1,K1*
-
Now switch yarn colour back to WHITE.
Continue knitting rows 1 & 2 in white and rows 3 & 4 in turquoise until you have reached the correct length. IMPORTANT - Make sure your last row worked is ROW 2 worked in colour WHITE (or the contrasting colour to the edge).
Knitted Bottom Edge:
Now that you have knitted the main body, you will need to finish off with a knitted bottom edge.
Using TURQUOISE yarn and 3.5mm needles, begin the knitted edge :
Row 1: *P1, K1* (Set up Row - This row is worked so that the stitches can blend in with the pattern; you will notice that here you will be knitting the purls and purling the knits)
Row 2 - 4: Knit
Row 5: Purl (again, this row will be where you will fold the edge in half)
Row 6-10: Knit
BO all stitches.
Assembly: (Check out the step by step photos further down)
1) MEASURING: First, grab your elastic waistband and wrap it around the top of your bust - just under your armpits but wrap it so that it is a little bit tighter. This is where the waistband will sit, so make sure it will stay secure without falling. Using scissors, cut the band to this length.
2) Turn your top inside out and place it with the centre back facing you.
3) Place the elastic waistband around the edge of the top (it is up to you which edge as they are both the same!)
4) Now start folding the knitted edge in half over the elastic waistband (the purl stitches should be right on the fold) and using a darning needle and TURQUOISE yarn (or whichever colour your edge is), start seaming the edge to the main body using the instructions below.
How to seam: First, insert the darning needle into the leg of the edge-most stitch and bring the yarn through to the leg/bar of the neighbouring stitch right above the fold. Then, again with the darning needle, return to the next second edge-most stitch and draw your yarn through. Give the yarn a little bit of a tug to secure. Whilst continuing to fold as you go, you will be seaming the legs of the edge-most stitches to the corresponding bars of the purl and knit stitches.
Continue seaming this until you have about 2-3 cm left to sew.
Now that you have a little gap left, using a needle and thread, you will need to sew the waistband ends together. Once you have done this, you can finish off the seaming with the band inside.
Repeat this seaming technique on the bottom edge (without the band inside) and weave in any ends using a darning needle.
1) Turn top inside out and place the band around the top edge between the folded edge.
2) Begin folding the edge in half. Insert darning needle into the leg of the most-edge stitch of the cast on edge.
3) Then insert the needle into the bar of stitch opposite and draw the yarn through.
4) Insert the needle into the leg of next most-edge cast on stitch and repeat steps 2-4 until there is approx. 5 cm left to seam. Once finished, turn your top the right side out.
END OF PATTERN
Congratulations! You have finished your Bellini Tube Crop Top!
Feel free to share your knitted top by using #bellinitubetop on Instagram so that I can see your awesome creations !