How to construct a simple drop shoulder crochet sweater

The drop shoulder sweater design is the simplest type of crochet garment construction you are likely to come across in many ways. This post will talk you through how the construction works, regardless of the precise pattern.

Although top-down crochet sweaters are easy to make because you can make them in one piece without seaming, the drop shoulder offers a different sort of flexibility.

What is a drop shoulder sweater?

You can learn more about the different types of sweater construction in this article, but, in short a drop shoulder sweater is made from a front panel, a back panel and an panel for each of the sleeves (which are usually identical).

The instructions are relevant for knitted garments too but the focus here is crochet.

In a basic crochet drop shoulder sweater (such as the So What Sweater), the front and back panels are the same, simple rectangles with no shaping. The sleeves may be also be simple rectangles with no shaping – so they are the same size at the shoulder as at the cuff (though many do have some shaping).

Conversely, drop shoulder sweaters can be much more intricate. You would still have the front and back panels, but there may be shaping around the neck, and the sleeves may decrease in width from the shoulder to the cuff. You can use complex stitch patterns or a single stitch.

There is a lot of scope to our humble drop shoulder sweater construction!

There are many ways to construct the drop shoulder sweater, but I am going to show you the most simple approach, the one I take at least!

Once you get the gist you can modify it to suit your style!

How to make a drop shoulder sweater without a pattern

Because of this modular type of construction, drop shoulder sweaters are simple to make without a pattern. You just work your panels to the desired size in whatever stitch pattern works, join them up and voila, there is your sweater!

You’ll want to make 4 panels; two body panels and two sleeve panels.

You should end up with something like the image below. Note that in this example there is no neck line shaping so its important to leave the neckline a bit wider to make sure it is comfortable!

How to join together a drop shoulder sweater

Check out the video below for the tutorial which uses a simple drop shoulder sweater example. Keep reading for the written / diagrammatic instructions.

Start with the shoulder seams

The rest of your garment will hang from the shoulder seams so this bit is important to get right.

Once you have made and blocked your front and back panels, lay them out wrong side facing with tops aligned.

Securely sew together the shoulder seams across the tops, leaving sufficient space for your head. Make sure you join the same number of stitches across each shoulder so you get an even look.

When it comes to seaming, I prefer to use the mattress stitch as it creates a flat seam. However, you can also use a whip stitch or crochet the panels together.

Join the sleeves

Line up the centre of the shoulder-end of the sleeve with the outside edge of the shoulder seam and pin in place.

Make sure your sleeve reaches the same number of rows down from the top on on the front and back body panels to get an even sleeve. You may wish to add stitch markers to the row ends of the body panels to indicate where the sleeve should reach on each side.

Pin your sleeves to the fronts and backs as illustrated below and stitch in place ensuring your seams lie flat and there is no puckering.

Note that in the schematic, I have used slightly tapered sleeves, but the drop shoulder design works with all kinds of sleeve shapes (so long as the shoulder join is flat). You can learn all about crochet sleeve shaping in this article if you like to freestyle your crochet garments.

Finish by seaming the side and underarms

With the wrong side still facing, fold your garment in half along the neckline, align the bottom of the front and back panels, the underarms and the cuffs.

Pin in place then sew together from the underarm to the hem (Side 1 Back to Side 1 Front and Side 2 Back to Side 2 Front) and the underarm to the cuff (U1 to U1 and U2 to U2).

Repeat on both sides.

Sew in any remaining ends and turn your garment the right side round.

You can then add a hem or additional cuff if that is part of the design.

I’ve said it before, I am not a fan of seaming and in many of my earlier designs in particular (such as the upside down sweater (pictured below), which is a drop shoulder sweater with some shaping around the neck), I work the sleeves in rounds directly from the arm holes. I still love doing this today, but it’s not suitable for all designs.

When do you block a drop shoulder sweater?

Although drop shoulder crochet jumpers are simple to make, they should follow the rules of blocking (and most designs, depending on the fibre used) will benefit from blocking.

If you’re not familiar with blocking then you can learn more about it here. I saw a meme recently where it likened a pre and post blocked crochet project to hair that has been left to air dry with frizz, vs hair that has been neatly styled – as someone with mega frizzy hair, it resonated!

Generally I tend to block the panels of drop shoulder garments before I block them. So I would make all four, block them all to size at the same time, and then join them. If i’m adding a trim to the neck, cuffs and a hem etc then I may give it a final spritz block focusing on those areas if needed.

And that is really all there is to it. If you’re newer to crochet garments then starting with a drop shoulder construction is definitely a great place to start.

But don’t forget to swatch!

I hope you find this useful and it gives you a little understanding of how simple crochet garments can be to make!

Happy Hooking

Dx

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